Bulisa Rafael Alhalel

Bulisa Rafael Alhalel

This is my mother Bulisa Rafael Alhalel. This photo was taken in Vidin in 1937. My mother was a seamstress: she sewed ladies' underwear and men's shirts. My aunts' clients also went to my mother. They were mostly intellectuals, public figures, merchants, or industrialists. Their opinions shaped Vidin society. I remember that my mother sewed laced and silk ladies' underwear, all kinds of corsets from expensive materials, and fine men's shirts. The materials were mostly from abroad and were transported by salesmen from various parts of Western Europe. At that time the European traveling salesmen came to Bulgaria themselves to sell their expensive merchandise. I remember that we also had a maid for a short time, because my mother was a seamstress and didn't have much free time for anything else. We hired some village girl. She helped mostly with the cleaning. My mother always did the cooking. We observed the kashrut, because my parents were religious. We also followed the traditions during the Jewish holidays. We didn't go to the synagogue often, only on holidays and sometimes on Sabbath.
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