The Grunstein couple at a wedding

This photo was taken from above, from the platform [bimah] at a wedding. The bride’s mother was a good friend to Lili Rosenfeld, the doctor’s wife; Lili asked us if my husband would be the groomsman, because the boy didn’t have a father, only mother. Lili told them we would accept it, but without any obligation; yet we gave them a present. On the left is my husband, next to him is me with a candle, then the young. The first on the right is the bride’s mother.

The groom was a Jew from Szekelyudvarhely, he repaired televisions. They emigrated to Israel, in the meantime his mother emigrated as well. They have two grown-up sons, but they divorced. We were in contact with them, and when we were in Israel, we even slept for one night at them.

When we celebrated a wedding in the synagogue, there is an armchair in the little room, where Seder night is organized today, so we covered it nicely, I put a carpet in front of it I had brought from home, and the bride was sitting in that armchair. A rabbi of small stature came, I think from Kolozsvar, and he married the couple inside. From there they went over the synagogue, to the large room, and the chupa was installed there: it had four columns supported by four boys. The last wedding celebrated in Marosvasarhely, as far as I remember, was the wedding of Aladar Scheiner; his first wife had died, then he married Juci Mestitz [Julia Scheiner]. A shochet came then too. And it wasn't organized in the synagogue, but in the small room. I was asked to make the cookies.

We organized baptism too. [Editor's note: Of course she doesn't talk about baptism, but circumcision ceremony.] Once a student came, because their baby had been born, and he wanted the baby have baptized. They studied here; they weren't from the surroundings, I think they were from Moldova. I don't remember their name anymore, and I also don't remember when this happened. In fact I didn't know them, they just simply came in to the community. We were talking, once they asked about baptism. Of course we would do it, I said. I was in for every such occasion. The brit milah, the circumcision was kept in the great hole. Somebody came, I don't remember anymore who, and he did it. After the couple finished the university, they emigrated to Canada; we kept on corresponding for a long time, because after the baptism I invited them for lunch several times.

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