Tag #153664 - Interview #103357 (Leonid Mariasis)

We celebrated all Jewish holidays in our family. I remember Rosh Hashanah. Just before the holiday the Jewish community organized a lottery on this holiday and my mother and father went to the building of the Commercial Council for a whole night. They were all dressed up. My mother was a very beautiful woman and she was nominated to conduct the charity lottery and the auction. The collected money was sent to give education to Jewish children from poor families and support poor Jewish families. At Yom-Kipur my father and mother fasted. My parents always supported Jewish talents. Sidi Tahl, a Jewish singer from Chernovtsy used to give concerts in Bendery. My mother and sister took tickets to the rich families to collect money for her concerts. At Yom-Kippur my father and mother fasted. On Purim mother baked hamantaschen3, she also prepared, chicken broth with dumplings. Father read a prayer. In the evening musicians came and played Jewish melodies and later mother would give them money and feed them. I don’t remember Purimshpil, I only remember meals at our house. On Hanukkah candles were lit by our father. We had a beautiful Hanukkiah. For Passover we bought matzoh. There were special bakeries that made it. We had matzoh delivered in a giant canvass sack. No bread was consumed over Passover, God forbid! Mother was in the kitchen all day long. She had beautiful Passover, dishes, which were never used on other occasions. We heated geese fat and made cracklings. We roasted potatoes with cracklings, made different kugels – from potato and matzoh, we made gefilte fish and chicken broth. Each day we had visitors and a lot of food had to prepared. Of course I always helped. During Passover, the kitchen was very animated and fun. I crushed matzoh in a large mortar and made flour. It was then sifted. Fine flour for cakes and whatever remained in the sieve mother would mix with eggs and make dumplings for chicken broth, the kneidlach. Mother also baked delicious Passover cookies.