Jill Pomerance interview with Jennie Teskey

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Jennie Teskey begins this recording with a discussion about traditional Jewish food eaten on the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Hanukkah. At 6:06, she describes that she prepares kugel, cheese blintzes, and knishes partly from experience and partly from written recipes. Then at 9:53, Teskey explains that keeping kosher is easier because of modern conveniences like prepared meats and refrigeration, and provides an overview of the kosher tradition of separating meat and milk. At 16:13, she outlines how to cook matzo balls for Passover, blintzes for Shavuot, and hamantaschen for Purim. Next at 21:17, Teskey recalls growing up poor in Kobryn, Russia (later part of Poland and then Belarus), during the German occupation in World War I. Then, she remembers her favorite dishes at 23:37, as well as how to prepare tzimmes, strudel, and chopped liver. Teskey returns to childhood memories at 27:31, specifically bombings she experienced during the war and frequent regime changes between Germany, the Bolsheviks, the Cossacks, and Poland. At 29:22 she shares a story about Bolsheviks attempting to capture brother and extort money from her family, as well as a humorous story about an issue receiving her citizenship papers. She also explains that several of her relatives adopted American names and different birthdays because the lunar Jewish calendar does not align with the Gregorian calendar. Next, at 37:42, Teskey discusses Passover, specifically reading the Haggadah, drinking raisin wine, and roasting beef. She also talks about baking challah for Rosh Hashanah and cooking special dishes for Shabbat. To conclude the interview, at 43:40 she argues that she has noticed a decline in the observance of Jewish holidays in America, but there are still some communities that more strictly observe traditions. Jennie Wilensky Teskey (1906-2005) was born in Kobryn, Russia (later a part of Poland then Belarus), to Joseph and Leah Wilenskey. She immigrated to Augusta, Georgia, in 1921 where she lived until moving to Atlanta in 1991. She married Isaac Titievsky (1908-1989), also known as Julius Joseph Teskey, in 1932, and they had one child, Evelyn Ruth Teskey (1934-2017). Po G:er3 JOO TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Bioc;raphical Material ..................................... 1 II. Discussion of traditional Jewish foods and customs A. Rosh Hashana 1. use of honey . . . . . . . ................. -6 2 . kreplach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... -6 P.. Yam Kippur 1. fas tine,; .... " .... '. '.' 6 C. Svkkot 1. huts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2. kugel . . . . . . . . . ....... , . . . . ......... 7 a. potato . . . . . ................................. 7 b. noodle ..................................... 8 D. Chanukah 1. latkes E. Cheese Blintzes ...... . F. Knishes Kosher .............. . ' ' . . ............... ' . . . .. -8 " ......... ' ............... 9 ................. 9 . .................. 10 H. Passover 1. 2 changirnc,; dishes .. matzah balls .... I. Shvuot . . -12 13 1 blintzes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -14 J. Purim 1. hamantashen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................... -14 K Cookinv Techniques 1. 2 use of recipe ........ . measuring ... ~ . . . . . ~ . ~ . ............... ' .. ' . . . 15 . ................. ' ..... J,5 L. Deserts 1. 2. tsimmes str12.c:l el . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' ..................... -15 . ' . . . . . . . . . . . ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... -16 f;1 Chopped Liver ....... _ ............................ _ ... 16 1. raisin wine ................... . 2. gefilte fish ... . .............. . 0. ,Sabha th .17 . .17 1. ohalah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................. 18 2. cholent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3. Orthodox observances ............................... 19 4-. parve ............................................ 20 III. FhotoQ;raph, .............................................. ,21 "IV. 3elease Form Mrs. Jennie Teskey, the informant:of my project, is my aunt, more specifically, her father was my mother's i;,:randfather. She is a very 11 youn1s" sixty-el.1~ht years olcl, and her vibrant wanmth, plump fir,;ure, and rather stron,<:; Jewish accent, quickly hrino; to mind the stereotyped image of a "typical Jewish mother". Jennl.e was born the youngest of seven children in Kobrl..en, dussia (what is nc>!wPolana). She recounted to me that they were very poor; the only money to he hacl was sent hy her father, who came to the U. S. the year she was born. He worked as a peddler, sellini>: items from a cart in Aur,;usta, Ga., saving his money in hopes to brinr,; his faml.ly to the States Thinkinp; of her childhood, Jennie most vividly recalls the ber,;inning of the waf: "My sister was coml~inr; my hair and she had me seated. upon a hio;h chair. I must have been about seven then, ancl the first thing; we knew there was um, airplanes, you know, bombard in; the town. So we startecl runninp; to where my older brother was livinn;, he was married, and the bombs really fell right l.n front of us. I remember that, 1 111 never forget that. And I also remember when um, let's see, who was, who was comino: into town at that ti.me, when the, uh, when the waP um, when they were chanr,;ino; u~i, we had cl i fferent, we had Germans ancl then the Bolsheviks wen'e comino; ln, and then they had. uh pe9ple like the Kosaks ana the Petrull.s (unclear on tape). And uh, I remember when they came in one nip;ht, l.n the middle ,of: the nic,ht, ana they um, that yea, that was um when my brother Harry left, left,for, for America, and six months later the:: I think it was the Bolsheviks - they were coming in, and in the mid.dle of the night they knocked at the door, and at that time um my mother had, we han some money on her, that we 1d just gotten from my father wa8 in the U.S. at that time And she was havinr; the money on her and she ran out the house, and she, and she took the money, she hail it in, in a belt 011 her and she threw it in a garden, and they came in, and they first they wanted to know where ... they were told that we had a young boy here, ( referring to her brother Harry, who had already escaped to the U.S.), where is he? And they couldn't find him and then they say where did the old lady went to? And uh, she start yellinp; you know for help. And we had, in a different street, uh, there was a family they uh, they used to be friendly with the uh, with the soldiers, with them that was there at that time, and they were expecting trouble, and they were sittinr~ there that nir;ht, some girls with the soldiers, and very late, one of the soldiers who must of been an official or somethinr;, and he took his gun and, and, start shootinp;, so::the robber-s whoev<'lr- they were, heard them, and they ran away. So were saved that way. But that's another nip;ht I'll never- forp;et." Jennie related. this to me in an informal interview at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Evelyn Lefkoff, who resides in the N.W. section of Atlanta. Jennie, who lives in Augusta, Ga., was staying 'ivith her daughter, as she (Jennie) was recuperating from sur,,;ery. Jennie I s visits with her daughter- and family most always occur on Jewish holidays, at which time she prepares huge feasts, complete with all the traa i tional holiday foods and customs accompanyinr>; them. When at home, Jennie often cooks for friends, and frequently aemJs delicl.ous treats to friends and relatives here 2 in Atlanta. As Jennie was the youngest of her family and as they were extremely poor in ll.ussia, she did not really begin to cook until she arrived in the States. Having almost no money in Rus~ia, Jennl.e remembers digging frozen potatoes from the e;r,ound to eat. Once in the States, after the death of her mother, Jennie was responsible for all the cookine; and housekeeping for her father. She continued this even after her marriar,;e, up until the death of her father. Vlhen asked by my mother, who was also present durin11: the interview, if she recalled her voyar;e to the States, Jennie laughingly told us 5iie remembered beiflf; very sick on the boat. And with her rlawi;hter 1s prompting, she also recalled a humerous i.ncident conC<' lrninr: how she and her brother got their birthdays, and how she received her citizenship papers. Evelyn: Tell ,Jill the story about uh, when you were named. 7,arlie (Yiddi.sh word for> grandfather) thouri;ht your name was one thinr: and you. Jennie: Oh, that's when I went for my citizen papers. Jlll: What happened? Jennie: Well, see my daddy was here fo1 fourteen years. I, I was born the same year that he left for, for the States so I really clidn 1 t know my father And it must have been like when he was .o;ettin,o; ready, you know, to brim>; us or come back, and fourte<'!n years there, so when I came here, when I went to p;et rny ct ti.zen papers my dacldy had to be, you know, a witness for rne. So I harl uh, I, I harl on my papers - I know my mother always told me that I was born on, you know, the holiday Tu Bl.shvat, I was born on that particulalJ day, so I knew that that was in the winter 3 time, so the year that I came here, when that holl.day fell out, fell out, like February first, I made my birthday February first, because I knew I was born that day. ( Refer1irw; to the fact that in Europe they went by the Jewinh Calendar, and upon arriving in the U.S., Jennie did not reallze that she could have used an Ameeican calenilar to obtain her actual hirthdate) So I had that <'lown as Fehruary the first. Ana uh, when I went t;o school, my brother, I, I say I was ,q;oinr; t;o call myself like a different name, her na111e is Jennie (referrinr; to her brother's wife) because my Jewinh name was Shena and that could have been, you know, an American name or it could have been Sylvia or so111ethin1; - but his wife was named ,Jennie also, the same name Shena, and she was named Jennie (f!eferrinrr, to l;he fact that her brother's wife was named Shena also, but she went hy the name of ,Jennie) , so she named me Jirnnie. Well, when my father took out his :[Bpers, he had me named Sophte, and he had me horn, that I wan born in, in the summer time (laug;hter) in June or July, I don't know. You see I didn't know that I had to look over all his papers but l.t wasn't rl.ght anyway, and then, he say that uh, that I was born in Russia but hy the time I came here it was already Poland, so the jud,q;e looks at it and 1.t says uh, I was born in .the2,summeii a.adr.I say this, my name is Sophie and I say this, and uh, I say born in Poland. and he say born in Russia, or I either I say Russia and he say Poland, 00 the judge say "Is she your d.aughter or isn't she!". (laur;hter) Because everything was di.fferent. That's true. Evelyn: But thl.s is how they r;ot their birthdays, Jill, they were not born on say Au1;ust 1, or like Uncle Harry was ... Jennie: No, Uncle Harry (referrinp; to her brother) took hio hi rth<'lay when he was si.x, when he felL.into the creek, and a idn' t i,;et drowned (laughter) and that was on July the 19 and he was born-- Evelyn: And your daddy was with him, Lorraine ( speaki.nP; to my mother) Jennie: Yes, hut he was horn in that particular month anyhow, 80 he took that as his birthday, (lauo:hter) Evelyn: But they didn't really have American birthdays. There were horn in Europe-- Jennie: Well see, when I came here I couJld have looked up on what year it, Tu Bishvat, when I was born, but I didn't know that. And I know that they have fifty year calendars, forty year calendars, but I d idn I t !mow that. So when I came here and Tu Bi shva t camt out February the firnt, so I took that as my birthday. It was really my Jewish birthday at that time, but ther-e's always a differ-ence in a week or- two or sometime, uh, but that's the way I R;O by. // Towards the end of our interview, I asked my Aunt what her feelings were concerning the p;eneral lack of observance of the Jewish lhradi tions. tod.ay .. She replied that parents must teach their children these traditions or the traditions will'.inevitably die out.:. Then, when the children get older, it will be up to them to decide if they are to observe them OP not. But that it is the parent's duty to observe them while their children are youn1;, or there wi 11 be no chance of the traditions surviving. 5 Jill: Lilrn about on New Year's (Beferring to the Jewish New Year, liosh Hashana), what wePe you sayinp;, that they make thin1r,s with honey? They use. . . Jennie: Usually, you know they make uh, they use, they rnalrn, that traditional cake is like honey cake, and they also use, honey the firi:t nir,;ht to dip apples i.n honey. And this is the, like uh, for, for to have a i:weet year, to start off the year with, with, sweets, you know, ancl theTe we Pe lots of foods and thinr:s like l;hat. And you make, uh, any,Jdnd of food that you une on hall.clays, lilie ,,efl.lte fish, ancl_ chicken soup, and uh, and you make uh, for kreplach . . Jill: What, now what's kreplach? Jennie: It's, it's made out of clour<h filled with uh, with cooked meat - You never ate it? Jill: Uh uh, it's kinda just meat with dough around it? What's it 11.ke? We never had it, have we (speaking to my mother)? Evelyn: It's just, it's likeuh it's meat with dow,;h around it. Jennl.e: You bake it, you put it in chicken soup. And you never had it? Jill: No ( laup;hin~) ,Jennie: Oh, Lorraine, I swear ( laughirrn;ly admonishing my mother for no longer bakinp; it). Well, you just cool<, you lrnow, all kinds of rr,oocl foocl. Jill: Yea. Jenni<'l: And then, then you hav<'l the, within a we<'lk you have the, the Day of Atonement (Yorn Kippur), you know, before you fast. ( 1 t is a traditional custom to fast on that day) Jill: uh, huh Jennie:You eat mostly like chicken soup, ancl noodles, foods that 6 wouldn't make you too thirsty because you're f~sting for like twen ty;;,eic,;h t hours. Ji 11: And. then, do people usually have certain foods when they break the fast? Jennie: When they break the fast it's, lt's uh, a lot of people have uh, somt,thinp; lir;ht, like pickled herrinp; and boiled potatoeJs and some people like to have heavy meals, so they have a rep;ular, you know, steak or any kind of food they feel like ea ting. Jill: Yes. Jennie: That's, then the next holiday is urn, that we just got throu<>;h with is Succot. It's where the Jewish people build um, huts, like outside, you know, covered with um, pine straw-Jill: Yes, I remember that. Jennie: And the real religious ones even sleep and eat in it for eii>:ht days. And it also you eat the traditional Jewish foods like p;efilte fish, and soup, and noodles, and uh, you know. Jill: Yes. Jennie: Some of them make potato kur;els and diffe.rent things. Jill: What do you put in .a kup;el? Jennie: In a potato kugel? Well, you have to r,rate, ,o;rate the potatoes, after peeling; them, an<l you grate the potatoes and I usually put in a,, a, egp; in it, a little bit of flour--- Evelyn: This book has every holiday (showing me a book on the Jewish holtdays) Jennie: That's right, will tell everything. (Everyone speaking at once) J:1.11: I want to hear how you make the foods. Tell me how you make the kup:e 1 . Jennl.e: You grate the potatoes, and I p;rate the potatoes, I grate 7 in a onion., and uh, I put in um, a ep;g and a little bit of flour, salt, and so I mix it all up, and I put it in a p;reased pan, you know, l. f you want a real thick one, you know, you put it in a, in a deeper pan. You know, some of them like it more crisp, so you cut it'in smaller pieces. And you make it, uh, you know, like Chanukah, which is p;onna be the next holiday coming up. It's traditional to make potato latkes. Ji 11: Umm, I like them. JenniE'!: Now, you do the same thing like you make a kugel but you, you fry it into little pancakes. The other one you bake ancl this one you fry on top or the stove. And you know what, what potato latkes are. You eat it with applesauce and that's traditional for ChanukaJ<r, tha 1s comi.ne; up. Ji 11:t' Can't you a] so make a noodle kugel? You make that about the same way? Jennie: No, you have to cook the noodles first. And put in eggs, and uh, butter. But, whatever you know, ingredients you like. Rutter, or in the olden days you used chicken fat, but they didn't use that anymore. Jill: Does kt1<>;el, is that a Hebrew word or Yiddish word, or--Jennie: No, It's Jewish (meanin~ Yiddish). Jill: Do you know what it means? Jennie: Well, it means, uh, just what, uh, I f;uess that what ..... Just that's the way, I don't !mow exactly what it means I know that's the name of puddine;, is in ,Jewish it's call<,d ku,:,;el. It's really a puddi.n,o;. And you make it uh, with cottage cl1eese if you ll.lrn, aml sour cream, anrl it comes out; real good. Bake it in the stove arnl lf you want; it fancy you balm it a little while, then you O'lzae it with some thine:, uh, marmelade jelly or any kind, 8 any flavor you want. And it's r:ood. Ji 11: Umrn, it souncl s ,:,;oocl. Jennl.e: You learn how to cook. And uh, Jewish people usually make meat and cabbar;e, rolled in cabbar~e. That's a Jewish foorl. What elne? Jill: I think ;you've(alt~le norne cheesr'l blintzr'ls for us before that were just r:reat, they were <lellcious. How do you make them? Jennie: Well, actually you make the dou~h like a cPepe, and the way I do it, I mix, I beat up er:r:n, like to four eggs I would take a cup of water, a cup of flour. And mix it up real good. And then I !{f"eaBe uh, a fryllw; pan!, And let i l; get real hot, that l'Jhen you put in the, when you put in the dou,o;h, you Jmow, you Ghape lt wh,~re it nhould he even, real thin, and you take lt out. Then you fill it wi. th cheese, wl. th farmer I fl cheese or cottage che,;se. Which you rnl.x tha. t v1i th uh, yea, you ha. ve to put a little sa.1 t in the mixture, you know, you take the cottage cheese and you put in a e~p; and a ll. ttle bit of flUgar, you know, and fill thin wlth the uh, each one, and you fry it. And it's !'ea1 ,ooc')d. ,Jill: !low about, let's see, lrnisheB, what are they? Jennie: Knishes? Jl.11: They're ld.nrla like meat too, inin 1 t.:tt? Jemil.e: Well, they're all kinds of knl.nhes, you can make lmishes flllerl with pote,toes, ancl lmishes fllled vii th meat. You have to 1.011 out the rl ou0;h, you ]mow, an<l put in a pan. Jill: You have all these rccipen written down, or do you just rwrta know how to inake the,111? J,rnni.A: Hell some recipes I have written down, and BDrne I makP. out of my head. Now, I have one knishes, potato knishes, recipe 9 ri 0;ht here with me. T3ecause I \mew I woul,1 have to make Gome arnl bu.t, after I saw that I Im not r~oirw; to be able to, to make i tf so the nay before I ,,at the the hos pt tal I mane them. (1aur,:htor) Ann I te&l you., when I p;et home, :l f God wi 11 be good to me and I feel r,:oorl, I'm p;onna make up some and yes I am, if anybody comes tto Atlanta), 1 1m gonna send it to you, and I really mean it! And it will be in my freezer! (Until someone from Augusta comes into Atlanta) And it will wait for you! Ji l.l: How about keeping J,osher? What all does that involve? It's kinda hard to ao now, isn't it? Jennie: Well, it's not hard to new as it used to be. It used to he a tl.me wh<'ln you would buy the meat, and you hail to kosher i.t yourself. Jill: How ao you do that? Jennie: Ana then you ha,1 to soak, for I think, I've alioeady forr;otten, for thirty minutes. And. then you had to take it out ancl salt l t for a whole hour, let it lay l.n the salt, and then you had to wash it. But now, when you buy it .. ; most of the butcheP shops kosher it themselves. So you go in, you can, if I wanted to like, in the morninr:, I decide I want for dinner, fop the afternoon, you know, dinner used to be afternoon, I wanted q]Jick meat, it would be a whole pPoduction till I would kosher it, see, But now, lf I want it, I can run, run itito the butcher shop, you know, and n;et it. Course, they I re not open every day. Get it, ana then come home ana cook it the same day. If I wanted to have a chicken I had to buy a live chicken and take it to the butcher, and I've done tt many a time. Not to the butcher, to the uh, shoi.chet, whatever you call it (a Shoichet is a man who 10 has stucliea the ,Jewish laws of slauP;hter. He kills the animal or fowl by cuttino; the jw~ular vein with one stroke of the Chalef a very riharp lmi fe - r~i vl.nrr, the animal the least pain) . And he would kill it, thr,n you har1 to pi.ck it, and then you had to clean it, and kosher i ti: and I 'd 1 i ke to have the money how many I a id in m)fi ll.fe! Now you don't do that, you p;o l.n and buy a kosher one, ana it's ready for you. Keepinp; kosher now 1s not as hard as it UR(,d to he. Because you have freezers, and you can buy for eveP lenr:th of time you want, if you have the money, you have the place wh<'lre to keep it. Jill: Are you supposed to keep the milk, the dairy products separate ,Jennie: Yes, milk l.s separate and dairy is separate. You're not, accord inr; to the Jewish la19, you I Pe not allowed to eat anything milk after meat fop nix hours. I thl.nk they modi.fled it now a little bit, four hours wlll do. But, uh, you can I t have milk, You can eat milk first, you can have a glass of mllk, and then you can eat a meat dinner f'ir;ht away if you want to, hut you can not do the opposit~. Jill: Why ls it like that, why did it start out that way? Jennie: Well, I Peally don't know the real reason for it,it's uh, they believed that uh, it I s not really heal thy. You know, the Jewish religion, accordinp; the the 'rorah, a lot of it, it had a lot of . . I !mow my father, you know, Zadie, he used to cure himself with the different medicines and with different thinr,;s that were written in the Torah. If yo.u do so and so, you'll fr-.el this way, you know, anrl it would tell you exactly --- Jill: Tells you just what to do. Jennl.e: That's rir,;ht. 11 Jill: Do you have to have separate dishes? Jennie: Definitely. Glass, r;lass you can use for either one. But when it comes to wooden thinr;s and china, you know, where it has cracks, you know and it would r;et i.n, you can I t use it. You have to have, I have separate milk, I have separate meat. Aml cllrtain pots and pans I have that's neith<'lr one. [io if I want to cook somethinr; that I could use for both, like I want to cook a desert that I want to have with my meat dinner. But it's too much and I want to also use it when I have my milk dinner. So, I cook it in a pot that's neither one. Ana I have a oepaPate spoon. Well, I do that. And I put it in a 1slass rl:lsh, OP container's, you know, which is neither' one, and then: I use it ao I want, for anythinr; I want. Lorralne: You want to aok her about Paosover, when you chnnr:e the rllnhen and the traditions? J.,,,nnie: In Passover, you change over the dishes completely and the reason for that is the same thin;~. ~'hecn shouldn't br:, any cr11cks or somethinr;, you know, in the dishes, that is not uh, that has uh, crumb!'! or whatever it:.is. So, you change completely to new dishes. You use everythinp; completely (new), and you n;o through the same process as every day, you know, dairy and meat. Jill: So you clon't want to have any trace of bread OP anything 1:1.ke that? Jenni ii: Nothinp;. You don't have any trace of anythine; that could sour. You clon I t une any kind of food that like, butter beans, or- peas, or that if it gets wet, it sproutr, and it becournes sour. You can't use any of this kind of food at all. That's why you don I t use br<'lad, you don't use, you only use the vegetables 12 l:ik<'e uh, you kno11, thal; (1oesn't rwur. You can't use corn And you use most any kinds of ~reen loaf ve~etable and thin~s like that. Anr1 you alr,o have the traditional, you know dishen, you know that, whi.eh you une for resach. ,Jill: It seemri like it would lx;, reall;y harc1 to make Matzah balls, to "et them rea1 1ioht? Jennie: ,Jill: No it'" very a ny , . "l , , c; ._, . What all ~oes into it? Jennie: Well, there are ilifferent ways of makin~ it I make it, I uric um, 1.ike, I separate the e.cr,r~s from the whites. Anrl I 1rne uh, two tahlespoonrs of matzah meal to every e<~r,. And some sa1t. Anrl you mix it up, anil then fold in the white, and you let it stay for an hour Ot" so. And then you, you boil the water, put salt in it, you also put a littl<o salt in the matzah meal, in the battc,i;, anrl then you make it. You let the water boil, then you make them out, and in round halls, and you let it start hoilin,"; and then you make the fire all covered up. ArnJ you cook it 'bout thirty rninutfls. And it comes out real o:ood. But you can also mak<'e matzah balls, but you can also make matzah balls where you ,Jim t heat the ep;r,;s tor,;ether, ana then put, I don I t measure how much water, you !mow, you put in. And mix it with salt and pepper. Put the matzah meal in and make it l.oose and let it stay till it it <>:ets where you can roll it. And it wl.11 corpe out good too. Some of them like real fluffy ones, some of them like it harder, so tf you make it, separate the ep;.,r,s fr'orn the white, it comes out fluffy. Jill: Do you make all these too? Evelyn: No. Ji 11: ( lau~hinrr,) You let your mother make them. 13 Evelyn: It's terrlhle, I really do. Mother comes for the holidays and I really do. Rut I can ,Tennie: She can. If she follows a recipe, she's a vood cook, I'm surprised, and she bakes ,o;ood. Evelyn: But everythinp; is stria tly by reel pe. Jennie: That's rie;ht. Well, now-a-days you got to cook by a recipe Jill: How did you learn to make all this 1i;ood food? Jernnie: I really don't know. I never cooked when I was a child becaurie I was the baby in the family. (At this point there is a skip in the tr!lnscription because the tape :ls on bior;raphical material which is at the beginnin.cr, of the paper) Evelyn: And the blintzes for Shvuot? Jennie: I sid how to make blintzes. You use that for the holicl ay of, that uh, the Sh vuot of urn :. . Evel;vr1: The r;i vinr; of the '.l'orah --- Jennie: '}oil .o;ave the ten commandrnen ts to . . . 'I'ha t I s traditional to eat hlintzes. That I s the holiday afte.r Passover. Evelyn: Diil they come to Purim with the hamantashen? Jennle: We forr:ot about that, that's rip;ht. I forget about, the um, hamantashen. Jill: What are they made with? Jennie: Well, they're made with, some of them are made with poppy seed, and some of them are made with um, nuts and raisins, you Jrnow. Jil.l: It's sort of like a danish, ri~ht? Jennie: Yea, but j ts shaped in, llke Haman I s hat, like three corners. (Referrin~ to the story, of Purim, in which Haman attempts to have all the Jews put to death. Harnantarihen are triangular 14 ln nha pe to represent Harnan I s hat) (Skip in transcript ion. Biographical material which is in be:~ginnln. r; of paper. Jill: When you cook, is it real important to measure everything out exaotly, or do you just sorta put it in, you know Jennie: Not everythin,i;, not everythin1',. Now, when you make Kreplach, I never measure the dour;h. I ,,;et so many eggs, you know, an(] I just fix it. Ana I never know, 1n1d most of the tlme I o;uess the dough and the inr;redients, it oomes out pretty good T ,Just look at how muoh meat I have. I know how much dough I have to make. You know, thinr;s like that. But I, I d.or1 1 t have exactly the, the recipe. I can make, hut there are certain thingB that you need it with. Jill: It seemB like most really good ooodB don't meaBure too many thi np;s. Jennie: Not exactly. They have an idea, you 1-lnow, of what to make. But oertatn cakes ot different things, you do have to have a recipe. Ji 11: Are there any other deserts other than hamantashen that ;you make? ,Tennlecd You mean that uh, Jewish people make? Well they make tnimmen. They make it out of oarrotn mine wl th carrots and prunes. Jill: What's it called? Arnl, you know, anc1 I make J enn:ie: Tsimmes. And BOme people make it out of' :1weet potatoes, prun1"n. Cook it you know with a pierne of meat or sornethi.ng and uh, you put in uh, some Huc,ar i.n :l.t. Ancl lt's ,~oo<l, l;r,J.mrnes, Lor1al.ne: She makes good strudel (referrtnp; to ,Jennie). ,Tem1l..e: Oh, ntrudel. Jill: Tell. me about that. ,fonnie: Well, there's different; ways of making strwlc], you lrno1,1, different kinde. Some people fill it. You have to have a dou1~ You make ti up either by recipe or it's made out of --- they're two kinds. 'f.'here is a clou,r,h which you make which stretches out real, real thin. '.f.'hat only r-equl. res water aml flour. And then you fill it with if you want to fill it with glazed fruit or- cherries with ra.iill.ns and nuts. And then you make some flour and oil and a little sugar and e~gs. And you make--a little baking powder. Anrl yo.u roll that out in round roll and you fill that with anythlne; you want, you know. Ana you bake it, and then cut l. t l n small pit'lces. 'I'hat's struclel, you've eaten strudel.? Now chopped liver--- ,Jl.ll: Oh, that'ri 0;ood too. We always r~et ours from the store. Jennie: Chopped liver? fo;ve1yn: You a on I t make chopped liver at homto? (Adrerrninp; my rnother. My poor mother - who hy the way is a great cook - took a lot of ahuse that nir~ht) ( Lau.~h ter) Jennie: First you have to bake the liver if you want to chop it. Chop it, then you prime up be liver with uh, with uh, you o:rate in a onlon in it, and hard hoiled er;1~s. You put some chicken fat. Or J. f you don I t want chicken fat, you can uh, sautee some onlons in oil, ancl put that l.n. But mostly it's the chicken fat is what makes it p;oorl. (Skip in transcr>ipti.on) ,Jennl.e: And uh, first; we went throur;h the reli.glous pact, you know, we would reacl the Hagacldah which l. s the story of the, when the Jews r;ot out of uh, r,;gypt. And then, we woulrJ eat the trad i- 16 t:l.onal thin;s. We nould have uh, wine. I remember, I uned to maim the wine for that partlcular year. (She is rlPl~aking about the Seder on Pasnover) Jill: You made the wine? ,Jennie: I used to make raisin wine every year, five or six P:allons. And we would all drink r1uri.r10; I'asnoveP. You r-emember? Rvelyn: You may r;et put in jail! JenniP: (lau,,hinr;) That's right, that's right Jill: What all do you have to do to make wine? Jennie: Made out of raird.ns. You use r-aisins and sur;ar and water, you let l.t fermate (ferment). Then you have to squeeze it out, you know, let the juice fermatesome mor,, and then you have to strain it. Ana it would come out just as clear as a glass of tea. You remember the wine? Evelyn: Yea, I do remember- the wine. Jennie: That's rip;ht. And then we'd have the traditional meal with roast beef Rvelyn: Did you tell heP how you make the gefilte fish? J~~~ia: nefllte fish Jill: You make your own r;efilte fish? Jennie: Yes, I even make it now. Jill: How do you do that? Jennie: How do you do it? You filct the fish And you uh, pr:lme it up with onions and eP;,~ and put l.n a little matzah meal, arn1 a ll.ttle sui.,:ar-. And you make it out in balls. And cook it in, in juice, you know, where you cut up oni.ons and celePy and uh, car,ots. And you let it bo:l.l. You cook it like two and a half or three hours. I made it ror ,1osh Hashana; it came out real s,:ood. Wasn I t it r,;ood? 17 Evelyn: It's better than the jared (stoY'e bou~ht) JenniP-: Oh, much better-. Jl.ll: You have to learn to m/'\ke all these, Or I will ( to my mother) (Skip in tr-anscription) Evelyn: No, it does not have to be tweisted. (Speaking of chalah) Jennie: No, don't you ,o;et chalah that it is not twisted? Jill: You have it on Friday night? Jennle: The only time that I know of, when it comes for the holiday of um, Rosh llashana. Then, they make it like a bird. They call it a fagel. You know, they have a d.ifferent shpae. Otherwt se, I aon I t know of any reason why it should be twi slted. Lor-raine: What started the tradition of having Chalah on F:ciday nio;htR, or is it just that kind of bread? ,Tennie: It's uh, wel'.)., you have to rnak,~ .. , There 1s a difference on Friday nir,;ht, for Saturday, they make a distinction from every day In Europe, I remember, we would never eat black bread on Saturday, was terrible. It had to be a chalah. It should have made a difference that all week we ate like black; brearl. Chalah was a spec:ialty. It was expensive, you know, you had to rr,o to the trouble of fl.xing; it, of baking l.t. Ana uh, I think that is the reason for it. It's, it's to show the difference, then you know it's for the, you know, for the Sabbath, A lot of pP-ople clian I t Aat chicken all weP-k, They saved the chicken for> Friday nio;ht. The{)e should be a dl.fference. You eat a dl.fferent, we en joy the food on, for the Sahba th. Anrl we used to tix, you ever heard of a cholent? Ji lJ: What? Jennie: You never heard of that, when you would keep the food 18 over riin:ht in a stove. Jill: What is it called? ,Jennie: Cholent. They would take uh, barley and butter beans and meat, let's see what else did they put in there? Some of them made it with potatoeB and meat and all that. And like Friday evenin_g they would put insid.e the stove You know, we had, we didn't have that kind of stove (pointinr,; to her daughter's stove) We had stoves that were, u,ey heated with uh, wood. And you know, it would. burn l:i.ke a11 ni.0;ht long. And, when everybody would come from the Synagor:.ue, you know, they would eat, they would eat that. I made it one time. While I was here, I don't make it much. But I don't make it. That's just a novelty now, just to remember. Nobody makes it too much. 8velyn: We really don't observe the holidays like they used to. Jennie: Well., Evelyn, they say, they say that over here people don't know any difference from any day to Saturday,. They eat food every day. They eat ,c,;ood Saturday, you know, the same food They don't make a difference And they know Saturday is a day of ohserva. nne. 'rhey know they have to r:.o to Synar,;ogue. They know they have to eat a different food that they didn't eat all week. So, they would have enjoyed and all that. Now there are some people that still do that 'rhe real, the Orthodox. 'l'he r,ia.l Orthodox, now I don't mr;an ,just because you helon,, to an Orthodox Shuel you I re Orthodox. But there are some people that cl on I t do anythinr; on Sa turclay. They don't ride, if they want to /;O anywhere they walk 'rhey clon' t do any cooking, they don't turn on any lir~hts, they don't even answer a telephone. And, not only people that are fanatic. I mean, doctors. We have a cloctor, a couple in Augusta. He 1's the 19 head doctor of p;ynocolop;y in the medical college. And he does not work on Saturday, but he works on Sunday. At the medical, a1; the Talmud Hospital. Every Sunday he 1.s there, but he's never there on a holiday. And they keep strictly, strictly Orthodox. '.rhey don't buy anythin1, that doesn't have an OU on it, that's passed by the Orthodox Unl.on of Orthodox rabbis. You ever seen articles with OU on it. That I s passed by the Union of Orthodox rabbis. Then it's ntrictly kosher. And if it's clairy, it tells you dairy. And if it's neither one, it's marked PA n V E, paPve. '.rhat means it's neither dairy nor meat. And you can use it for either one. You see a lot of people -- when I go buy a loaf of bread, it says kosher, but it says dairy. But if I don't want one, J want one to be used for either one, I look for one that's parve. It I s very haPd to p;et. 20 Mrs Evelyn Lefkoff' (left), Mrs. Jennie Teskey (right) 21 -RELEASEny letting us collect your traditions--stories, sonr.s, music, rememberences, or beliefs of earlier. days--you have made a valuable contribution to pr.eservinr, and understandinr. Southern history, and especially the 1-1ay of life of your coununity, Because you have r,iven unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preservinr, these traditions, wants to protect your rir;hts to this material by guaranteeinr, that it uill not be used for unocrupulous conimercial profits, By signinr, this sheet, you arc giving us permission to uae this material for educational purposes so that people 1-1ho are interested can under.stand how life was in the old days, If you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to privacy, Thanl, you for the time you have r,iven to help us record a herita1;e that in an ie,portant part of American life, "In connideration of my intent in helpin[': to preserve my folk heritar,e, I hereby grant per.mission to the Georgia Folk Archives and its Director, John Burrison, to publish, ot otherwise make use of, the material recorded from me by the arent of the Georgia Folklore Archives whose name appears on this sheet, Sigqed Address , JO ~ /I lo!ik!i l tLlf/; {i ~l:J Agent of Georeia Folklore Archives_,-"o.ilic,. ,..,_Ji,~9~-'-----'-l"':;,"''"'"'"'"'-'''-' ""' 4, 6"-.,,o=~~--""'-"Q _____ _ J Additional Hitness ~. ~:~~':Q"""':::__ ______ _ Geor13ia Folklore Archives c/o Pro~essor John Burrison Georgia State University 33 Gilmer Street Southeast Atlanta, Georgia 30303 A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.