The Museum of |
Shabbat and the Jewish Holidays |
|
Sukkot Only Father observed this tradition to the letter. Mother and we, the children just made the blessing over the etrog - a perfect lemon from Palestine - and the lulav - a palm branch, a sprig of willow and myrtle - every morning for eight days. Father went to the synagogue every day and made those prayers there. Sukkot being a harvest festival, we blessed these symbolic fruits and grains of the land of Israel.
My greatest enjoyment, as a
child, was the privacy that a sukkah offered me and my childhood friends
Chavale and Lucie. Since none of us had ever had our own room, we were
chatting for hours, unheard and unseen by the adult world. Here I found
out about the differences between boys and girls and about sexual matters,
of which I was completely unaware up to the age of six or seven. I was
much too bashful to ask whether all this was true, but I trusted Lucie,
who was a little older than myself and had older brothers and sisters who
were more outspoken than my own family.
|
From Pearl Fichman's memoirs, "Before Memories Fade," 1989. |
Copyright © 2007-9. Museum of Family History.
All rights reserved. Image Use Policy