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We used to go to Shishli Synagogue [12] with my daughters. Especially on Yom Kippur evenings, I used to take them to the synagogue to listen to the shofar. There were no bat-mitzvah celebrations then. That’s why when they reached 12 years of age, we did not have bat-mitzvahs.
We always paid special attention to Passover. Seder is held two nights. We eat matzohs all week. We do not have a separate Passover kitchen, but we eat traditional meals during the Passover week without fail. We always eat leek meatballs, lamb dishes and special Passover meals like these.
My wife cooks Jewish dishes. My favorite is navy beans with spinach. My wife’s dolmas [refers to dishes labeled “stuffed”] are delicious too. She prepares very good dolmas. Both stuffed grape leaves and cabbage rolls. My wife learned how to cook first from her mother, then from my older sister. Because my older sister’s husband was fond of good food, my sister used to cook very well.
My father is in Haskoy Jewish cemetery. At my father’s funeral, we fulfilled whatever our religion dictated, with a rabbi. I did not go to work for 8 days. I went to temple every day. We recited the kaddish.
I still observe the yartzheits of my mother, father, mother-in-law [Viktorya] and father-in-law [Izak]. I recite the kaddish myself. Even if we cannot observe the yartzheit, we do not neglect lighting a candle at home in the evening. We recite the beracha [religious prayer] without fail. I have the death dates of all of them registered. I lost my father at the end of 1956 anyways, my father-in-law around 1967, and three years later we lost my mother-in-law.
We always paid special attention to Passover. Seder is held two nights. We eat matzohs all week. We do not have a separate Passover kitchen, but we eat traditional meals during the Passover week without fail. We always eat leek meatballs, lamb dishes and special Passover meals like these.
My wife cooks Jewish dishes. My favorite is navy beans with spinach. My wife’s dolmas [refers to dishes labeled “stuffed”] are delicious too. She prepares very good dolmas. Both stuffed grape leaves and cabbage rolls. My wife learned how to cook first from her mother, then from my older sister. Because my older sister’s husband was fond of good food, my sister used to cook very well.
My father is in Haskoy Jewish cemetery. At my father’s funeral, we fulfilled whatever our religion dictated, with a rabbi. I did not go to work for 8 days. I went to temple every day. We recited the kaddish.
I still observe the yartzheits of my mother, father, mother-in-law [Viktorya] and father-in-law [Izak]. I recite the kaddish myself. Even if we cannot observe the yartzheit, we do not neglect lighting a candle at home in the evening. We recite the beracha [religious prayer] without fail. I have the death dates of all of them registered. I lost my father at the end of 1956 anyways, my father-in-law around 1967, and three years later we lost my mother-in-law.
Period
Location
Şişli/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Nesim Levi