Tag #123047 - Interview #99947 (Samuel Birger)

We marked all Jewish holidays. Usually the whole family including grandfather Alter with grandmother Haya, aunt Leya with her family and aunt Vera got together in our large kitchen. I remembered Pesach best of all. We started getting ready for the holiday beforehand. The preparation was thorough. There was a large pot in the middle of the yard over the fire. All dishes- pots, casseroles, pans -were put in it for koshering. There were special Paschal table dishes and silverware. It was a festive set. It was kept on the garret and taken out only before the holiday. In the evening before seder all non-kosher dishes as well as bread and loaves were put in special sacks and taken to the garret so that there was no leavened bread in the house. The children were bought new clothes before the holiday. I remember one funny story in connection with this. Parents bought me new clothes- a suit consisting of velvet pants and jacket, hat and patent leather shoes. My cousin Rahmil and I played ‘war’ game in the yard. During the game I tore my pants when I was climbing down the fence –my pants were caught in the fence and when I was trying to free myself, they got ripped. I decided not to go home. At dusk, I heard worried voices of my parents, who were looking for me in the orchard. I was hiding in the bushes. Of course, father found me very quickly. I was not punished strictly as it was a big holiday and people were supposed to be kind, towards their loved ones and especially to children. There was another Paschal story. This time father had to take a strap. Father was on the cabstand, the place at the end of the street we lived in Jonava, where freight and passenger cabs were parked. Clients came over there to hire a cab. When I was a teenager there was another frollick on Pesach. As a kind of childish protest I climbed to the garret, took a chunk of bread with a piece of sausage and went to the cabstand where my father was working. Having seen me father was in stupor because of my boldness. Then he darted out after me with a whip. Father bore a grudge against me for a long time and could not forgive me that foolish prank. Usually the celebration of Pesach was very ceremonious. Mother, grandmother and aunt Vera cooked a lot of scrumptious dishes. Some of them were made from matzah. There were also chicken broth, chicken stew, fish and deserts- imberlakh and matzah cake. In the first Pascal evening the relatives got together. As a rule aunt Leya with her husband and children came over. There were other relatives as well. Grandfather Alter, clad in festive white shirt and a vest was reclining on the pillows at the head of the table. He carried out seder. Grandpa hid a piece of matzha under pillow. I and other children had fun looking for it. One of the children asked four traditional questions. First I was the one who asked questions, later the youngest was asking them.