Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

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Saul Raimi - July 7, 1982

Uh, could you tell us what Shabbos was like in your house? How did you, how did you celebrate?

Shabbos started in our house way before Shabbos actually started. I mean, was supposed to start because of preparation for Shabbos actually started on Thursday night. My mother would cook all, start cooking all the uh, Shabbos food and make the challah for Shabbos. Friday was the day of really, it was the--a day actually to uh, food they prepare for the Shabbos and it was also a busy day in the store but yet we always managed about an hour before Shabbos to close the store. And I remember going every Shabbos, before Shabbos, to the mikvah. You know what the mikvah? Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah, that was like you had to go also because you had to cleanse yourself for the Shabbos. And uh, as soon as my mother uh, lit the candle and everything and yeah, all us children when we went to shul every Friday night, I mean especially the boys and our father. We come back, I remember uh, the first thing my father would say the Shalom Aleichem uh, which is customary and the Kiddush and uh, the food and then the Zemirot, Shabbos songs and we were very uh, singing and nice singing family and we really had a wonderful time harmonizing uh, singing Shabbos Zemirot. And most of these was in an Hasidic uh, uh, melodies and ??? and singing to the appropriate uh, ???

Mm-hm.

Or uh, the Shab...the Zemirot, the difference in interpretation. My father had uh, different nickname uh, for the, for the uh, ???