Selected text
Las Fruitas [6] was also a merry holiday. We now know it as Tu bi-Shevat, but we called it Fruitas then. Our parents made big bags and filled them with fruit. They put inside carobs, oranges, pomegranates, nuts – walnuts, almonds, peanuts. The children also got candies.
We also celebrated many Bulgarian holidays. For example, I don’t remember us celebrating Rosh Hashanah, but we celebrated New Year’s Eve on 1st January, especially when we were young. On Easter my parents visited at least four or five other Bulgarian families and came back with Easter eggs [painted eggs]. I don’t remember Bulgarians coming to our Jewish holidays, however. We didn’t observe Bulgarian rituals. I remember that my grandmother made fun of the Resurrection of Christ, telling jokes in Ladino.
Like my sister I studied in the Jewish school in Dupnitsa. It was a two-story building very close to our house. There were some gyms on the first floor and the classrooms and a large hall were on the second floor. Besides all the usual subjects, we also studied Hebrew. We weren’t taught to read the Torah, but the spoken language in Israel. The headmaster was Alkalay. We had a Hebrew teacher who hit us with the pencil on the fingers when we couldn’t answer his questions. It was horrible! Only Jews taught us. We had a teacher named Mrs. Ester. The school was very nice, but it was only an elementary school. There was one class in each grade; ours included no fewer than 25 students. All Jews sent their children to study there. There was even a pre-school before the first grade, which I also went to. At the end of each year an expert from the Ministry of Education came to check whether we could pass to a higher grade. At school we were also told various stories about the life of the Jewish people.
Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to learn Hebrew. Well, I know enough to make myself understood in Israel, but I don’t know it well. My favorite subject at school was maths. The classes given in Bulgarian were very difficult for me, maybe because everyone at home spoke Ladino. Until I went to high school I found it very hard to read in Bulgarian, but later I got over it.
When I turned 13, I had my bar mitzvah. The ritual was very interesting. The hakham [wise man] gave me a speech, which I had to learn by heart and say in front of everyone. I don’t remember it in detail, but it was about goodness and treating people well. I also don’t remember whether it was in Ladino or Bulgarian.
We also celebrated many Bulgarian holidays. For example, I don’t remember us celebrating Rosh Hashanah, but we celebrated New Year’s Eve on 1st January, especially when we were young. On Easter my parents visited at least four or five other Bulgarian families and came back with Easter eggs [painted eggs]. I don’t remember Bulgarians coming to our Jewish holidays, however. We didn’t observe Bulgarian rituals. I remember that my grandmother made fun of the Resurrection of Christ, telling jokes in Ladino.
Like my sister I studied in the Jewish school in Dupnitsa. It was a two-story building very close to our house. There were some gyms on the first floor and the classrooms and a large hall were on the second floor. Besides all the usual subjects, we also studied Hebrew. We weren’t taught to read the Torah, but the spoken language in Israel. The headmaster was Alkalay. We had a Hebrew teacher who hit us with the pencil on the fingers when we couldn’t answer his questions. It was horrible! Only Jews taught us. We had a teacher named Mrs. Ester. The school was very nice, but it was only an elementary school. There was one class in each grade; ours included no fewer than 25 students. All Jews sent their children to study there. There was even a pre-school before the first grade, which I also went to. At the end of each year an expert from the Ministry of Education came to check whether we could pass to a higher grade. At school we were also told various stories about the life of the Jewish people.
Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to learn Hebrew. Well, I know enough to make myself understood in Israel, but I don’t know it well. My favorite subject at school was maths. The classes given in Bulgarian were very difficult for me, maybe because everyone at home spoke Ladino. Until I went to high school I found it very hard to read in Bulgarian, but later I got over it.
When I turned 13, I had my bar mitzvah. The ritual was very interesting. The hakham [wise man] gave me a speech, which I had to learn by heart and say in front of everyone. I don’t remember it in detail, but it was about goodness and treating people well. I also don’t remember whether it was in Ladino or Bulgarian.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Mordohay Madzhar