Tag #157186 - Interview #78001 (Salomea Gemrot)

Everything was very strict on Sabbath. Mother used to light candles. Everything was cooked a day earlier. The servant [shabesgoy] would heat the chulent. I remember Yom Kippur prayers. I remember that very well. Everyone fasted. I remember when I was 20 years old I came down with appendicitis, just before the holidays and I had to have surgery. They brought me home just before Yom Kippur and Father went to the rabbi. He asked about what they should do with me, whether I had to fast. Father, this progressive man. And the answer was that they should buy me some grapes and I was to eat one grape every five minutes. The boys went off laughing that I had to do this. But Father bought me these grapes and put them next to my bed, so I could eat them. Well, this means he must have been a religious man, because he couldn't have a guilty conscience. I don't know what rabbi that was who prescribed that diet for me. I remember that different rabbis visited Father and I think they must have been quite progressive people.