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There was a stove in the kitchen. My mother cooked on it on Friday when she had to make food for two days. On other days my mother did her cooking on a three-legged stove. My mother cooked traditional Jewish food: chicken broth, Jewish borsch, buckwheat and stewed meat. There was chicken and goose meat on the table. My mother also baked pastries.
My mother was very religious, but my father was an atheist. He wasn’t a communist, but he demonstrated his negative attitude towards religion. My mother started Shabbat on Friday evening lighting candles. She didn’t do any work on Saturday. She didn’t even strike a match on Saturday. Our neighbor came to us to start a fire in the stove. My father, vice a versa, took a cigarette so why the neighbors had to come – because it is forbidden for a Jew to do any work on Saturday, rode his bicycle in the town enjoying himself – he did it demonstratively to show his independence. My mother hated it, but she was a wise woman and kept her temper. My father was a devoted husband and father and my mother avoided any scandals. On Friday morning my mother got up at 5 in the morning. She started baking pies: lekah, knyshyks and kihl. Lekah is honey cake. Kihl – rolls and knyshyks are ties with cereal or jam. Cereal stuffing was rice or millet pudding with milk. Knyshyks with Keiz are small pies with cottage cheeses and stewed onions. She made hala bread and twisted buns – popolkes. My father liked to have them with goose fat. My mother had all bakery done before my father had to leave for work. She also had dinner for Saturday stored in the oven. Our mother told us about the history and traditions of the Jewish people. She wanted to raise us religious.
My mother went to synagogue on holidays, but my father didn’t go to synagogue before the WWII. At Pesach we didn’t have any bread at home. We only had matzah. When the Soviet authorities started persecution of religious people (5) matzah was made in secret in a house and while it was made the house was guarded by Jewish men. Before Pesach my mother got a box with fancy dishes for Pesach from the attic. A woman came to our house to clean and wash our everyday dishes on the bank of the river where she scrubbed all dishes and bowls with sand and washed in the floating water. Then this kitchenware was taken to the attic. My mother always followed kashrut. The rabbi in our town, a very religious man, visited Jewish families asking them whether they needed help. He was treated to food in their houses, but he refused to eat, but when my mother treated him he accepted with pleasure, confident that all kosher rules had been observed properly.
My mother was very religious, but my father was an atheist. He wasn’t a communist, but he demonstrated his negative attitude towards religion. My mother started Shabbat on Friday evening lighting candles. She didn’t do any work on Saturday. She didn’t even strike a match on Saturday. Our neighbor came to us to start a fire in the stove. My father, vice a versa, took a cigarette so why the neighbors had to come – because it is forbidden for a Jew to do any work on Saturday, rode his bicycle in the town enjoying himself – he did it demonstratively to show his independence. My mother hated it, but she was a wise woman and kept her temper. My father was a devoted husband and father and my mother avoided any scandals. On Friday morning my mother got up at 5 in the morning. She started baking pies: lekah, knyshyks and kihl. Lekah is honey cake. Kihl – rolls and knyshyks are ties with cereal or jam. Cereal stuffing was rice or millet pudding with milk. Knyshyks with Keiz are small pies with cottage cheeses and stewed onions. She made hala bread and twisted buns – popolkes. My father liked to have them with goose fat. My mother had all bakery done before my father had to leave for work. She also had dinner for Saturday stored in the oven. Our mother told us about the history and traditions of the Jewish people. She wanted to raise us religious.
My mother went to synagogue on holidays, but my father didn’t go to synagogue before the WWII. At Pesach we didn’t have any bread at home. We only had matzah. When the Soviet authorities started persecution of religious people (5) matzah was made in secret in a house and while it was made the house was guarded by Jewish men. Before Pesach my mother got a box with fancy dishes for Pesach from the attic. A woman came to our house to clean and wash our everyday dishes on the bank of the river where she scrubbed all dishes and bowls with sand and washed in the floating water. Then this kitchenware was taken to the attic. My mother always followed kashrut. The rabbi in our town, a very religious man, visited Jewish families asking them whether they needed help. He was treated to food in their houses, but he refused to eat, but when my mother treated him he accepted with pleasure, confident that all kosher rules had been observed properly.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
Faina Volper Biography