Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Fred Ferber - September 11 & 25, 2001

One quick question about this. Were you observant at this point of your life? Did you, did you go to shul?

You referring, at what point?

This is in the 50's now.

In the 50's, I, I will tell you. Eh, I, I was pretty much the same way as I am today. Observant, the word observant means, eh. Where today I go more Saturdays to the synagogue, at that time I did not go. But came to major holidays I did go to the synagogue on the major holidays. When everybody else did. It, it...

Did your mother light Shabbos candles?

My mother always did light Shabbat candles, right. My mother always lit Shabbat candles. We do it now at home. It's a tradition. It's, it's a tradition, that the day off supposedly eh,, eh. Supposed to--seven days, the six days. That, that the world was made seven days, supposed to take a break. Eh, the idea is to eh, to have one day different from all other days. And to uh, express to Almighty the thanks for uh, for the bread and the health that's given to us.

Last time I asked you to tell me about Friday night and you described this wonderful scene in your house. Did you do that in the United States? Was Friday night the same?

I will tell you, eh. When you're referring before I got married, while I was with my mother in the 50's.

Yeah.

Eh, no. We still lit candles together with my mother. My mother always made it Shabbat dinner. Many times we invited my friends or my mother's friends. Many of my friends eh, still remember my mother's dinners. Uh, uh, and they, they talk about it quite a bit, even Erna, who you know so well, uh. All I can say that sometime my mother ask me to, let's say uh, to sing uh, a couple of the songs that my father sang.

Zemirot?

Right, right. And I did, uh. But the spirit-- in, in, it was, in this country it was never the same as in the old country. Because in the old country before the war eh, Shabbat was uh, more of a holy day where people truly do not work. The Jewish people did not work. And uh, in here America is a busy place.