Tag #120744 - Interview #100343 (Meer Kuyavskis)

My mother was raised in a religious family and strictly observed Jewish traditions. She always wore wig and only in postwar times she took it off keeping abreast with the times. We only had kosher food. Meat and poultry was bought only in kosher meat stores. Live poultry, purchased on the market, was taken in synagogue to shochet by some of the elders. When I grew up a little bit, it became my responsibility. I always observed how shochet made a precise cut on fowl’s throat, put it on the hook over the funnel, where blood was trickling down. By the way, the meat purchased in kosher store was twice or thrice more expensive than non-kosher meat. I remember such a case from my childhood. Mother was sick and was put in the hospital. Father asked one of the ladies who worked with us to buy meat for us and gave her money for that. When she brought the meat, father was surprised that there was so much of it. It turned out that the lady bought us non-kosher meat as she did not stick to the traditions despite being a Jew. Father decided to conceal that blatant fact from mother, but some of the workers told her about it later on. Mother said to my father: «Well. Shleime have you saved a lot of money? - Now buy me new dishes». She threw away all the dishes, including spoons and father had to buy new one.