The Museum of |
rites of passage |
|
The Bar Mitzvah The Soviets Come to Czernowitz "In the spring of 1941, I was about to be Bar Mitzvah. A few days after the Soviets entered our city, I had stopped my Hebrew lessons. My teacher, who was a communist, (this one, too) wouldn't continue, since it was dangerous, being considered either religious or Zionist propaganda, both forbidden. Now, I knew enough Hebrew to be able to read the few lines, but young people were strictly forbidden to enter a synagogue. Finally, my father or my grandfather, I don't recall which, arranged with a willing rabbi to have the whole ceremony very early in the morning, before school started, at 5 a.m. Naturally, there were other people present in order to have a Minyan, I don't think there were any friends of mine, probably just some of the 'regulars.' I had only to practice how to put on the phylacteries. Everything went well, nobody saw me, and I got to school on time. My grandmother baked a delicious honey cake, which we consumed when I got back from school. She promised me a cake for every day I would get up early and put on the phylacteries, but although I was (and still am) very fond of sweets, once was enough for me, besides, my father had also never done it." -- Gerhard Schreiber
|
Copyright İ 2007-10 Museum of Family History.
All rights reserved. Image
Use Policy