Tag #119989 - Interview #87381 (Simon Meer)

My grandmother, who lived here, in Dorohoi, was very fanatical, and so was my aunt. On Friday evening, for instance, they set the table, lit the candles – before sitting down to eat, before entering the Sabbath, you had to light the candles. Grandmother used to light 3 and 5 candles – odd numbers. Sometimes she lit 3 candles, sometimes 5. There is also a short prayer that is recited when you light the candles. It is in Yiddish. And you must wear a kerchief to cover your head; you aren’t allowed to light the candles without covering your head. Both my aunt and my grandmother covered their head with a kerchief. After the prayer is over, the woman who is reciting the prayer must say “Ghit Soibas!” – “Shabbat Tov” in Hebrew, meaning “A good Saturday.” And after that, we sat down to eat. Sometimes, our grandmother invited us over. Not all four of us ate at our aunt’s. Two of us used to eat at our grandmother’s, two at our aunt’s – we pleased everybody that way.