Reyna Lidgi at a Sephardi evening

This is me at a Sephardi evening at the Jewish center. I am wearing the inherited dress-relic. On the back of the photo there is a stamp KONIKA and an inscription in pen: ‘At a Sephardi evening in Bet Am on 23rd January 2003’.

A relic has remained from granny Sarah - a dress that is called bindali. My mother used to protect it like something sacred during all our journeys. When I was a child she didn't allow me to even touch it. It was bought in Turkey and was part of the dowry of the Jewish girls. It was wine-red in color - silk velvet with ornaments embroidered with a silver thread. It was being worn during different celebrations - engagements, births, weddings but it is not a wedding dress and it wasn't granny Sarah's wedding dress. I decided to put it on at a holiday organized by OJB 'Shalom' and then it became the emblem of the organization.

My maternal grandmother's name was Sarah Beniesh (nee Eroham). She was born in Ruse in 1880 and died in Ruse in 1918. She had three brothers - Solomon, Eroham and David and three sisteers - Duda, Sulcha and Esther. (I have absolutely no information about these brothers and sisters. When I visited Israel in 1960 I met with Esther only, who was living in a home for elderly people, and I found out that she had not been married and didn't have children while all the other brothers and sisters had children.)

Grandma Sarah spoke Ladino, she was religious and she was an unbelievably good housewife. From her my mother inherited and mastered her sense of order. Nonetheless, granny Sarah didn't allow my mother to spend too much time in the kitchen because granny wanted her to study. That is the reason why mother couldn't cook when she was very young.