Invitation for celebrating the Chanukkah

This is an invitation sent by the Jewish Community of Botosani for us to take part in the lighting of the candles on Chanukkah. 

It reads: "You are invited to take part, together with Your family, in the traditional festivity of lighting the candles on Chanukkah. The festivity will take place on Sunday, December 12 1971 at 16:00 o'clock at the Main Synagogue. 

His Eminence, Chief Rabbi of the mosaic cult and President of the Federation of Jewish (Mosaic) Communities of S.R.R., Dr. Moses Rosen, will deliver the sermon on the occasion.

Chorister-in-chief Willy Harnik and the choir of the Choral Temple in Bucharest will perform the religious service."

The Jewish Community of Botosani has a Canteen, and they invite us at the Canteen, when we celebrate Chanukkah, the Light of Lights, they call us then and serve us all sorts of dishes, especially dumplings filled with potatoes. The Canteen is located on 7 Aprilie St. There was also a synagogue there, ran by Moscovici, but it no longer exists now. The Canteen is near the old cemetery, a little further up the road. But it is no longer functioning, only on Passover, on the first seder evening, and on Chanukkah, when they organize a meal - that is all. The rest of the time the Canteen is no longer functioning.

Formerly, we celebrated seder at home. I always celebrated seder with my husband. Just us, the family - we, my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, when they were still alive. Now, they don't celebrate it as they once used to. Now people no longer celebrate it at home, now they invite us at the Canteen, and that's where we celebrate the seder evening. I go there myself, and my children do too, every year. That's when we eat a piece of kosher meat, for they send meat from Bucharest. And they cook soup at the canteen, they do everything that is required for Pesach, and they serve us a nice a plate of soup, and meat, matzah, potatoes, latkes, this and that. Formerly, they made matzah for Passover here in Botosani as well, but now they send it over from Israel. And they give us rations, they don't give us as much as we need.

Now they no longer observe tradition as they once used to. Everything has been shattered. But we all remember just a little bit.