Bina Iliya Beraha

This is my mother Bina Iliya Beraha, nee Bidjerano. The photo was taken before she left for Israel in 1949. My mother was a housewife. She was also a singer. She sang in amateur singers' groups in Kazanlak. When she was young, she took part in theater performances in the 'Iskra' [spark] community house, which was run by the famous Bulgarian writer Chudomir Chorbadzhiski. She sang Ladino, Bulgarian folk songs and German classics based on poems by Heinrich Heine and translated into Bulgarian. One of her favorite songs was 'Palestine, muestra santa tierra' [Ladino: 'Palestine, my holy land']. When she was young, she was very active in the social and political areas - she took part in congresses of the social democrats. She led a rich spiritual life, in contrast to my father. He was more narrow-minded, a silent man and very kind. They even left people with the impression that she bossed him around. At the time this photo was taken my mother lived with my brother Iliya. I had just started studying. Up until then my mother had lived with me. But she decided that it was best for her to live with my eldest brother. He was about to leave for Israel. So, she left with him for Kfar Hitim. She felt very good in Israel. She was a housewife both in Bulgaria and in Israel. My mother died in Kfar Hitim in 1970. In 1976 when I went to Israel, I visited her grave, which was on a hill just above the Kinneret Lake. The view over the valley was magnificent.