Once upon a Time Jews Lived in Kirklareli: The Story of the Adato Family, 1800-1934 9781463225469

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Once Upon a Time Jews Lived in Kirklareli

Analecta Isisiana: Ottoman and Turkish Studies

A co-publication with The Isis Press, Istanbul, the series consists of collections of thematic essays focused on specific themes of Ottoman and Turkish studies are brought together in Analecta Isisiana. These scholarly volumes address important issues throughout Turkish history, offering in a single volume the accumulated insights of a single author over a career of research on the subject.

Once Upon a Time Jews Lived in Kirklareli

The Story of the Adato Famüy, 1800-1934

Eroi Haker

The Isis Press, Istanbul

gOt^íaS pre** 2010

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2010 by The Isis Press, Istanbul Originally published in 2003 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of The Isis Press, Istanbul. 2010

o

ISBN 978-1-61719-091-9

Printed in the United States of America

Erol Haker (formerly Elio Adato) was born in Istanbul in 1930. The families of both his parents hail from Kirklareii. The Adatos of Kirklareli can be traced back five generations to the years of the turn of the 18th century. Erol Haker is a 1950 Exact Sciences graduate of Robert College (Istanbul). He holds a Graduate Diploma in Social Sciences from Stockholm University (1951), a B.Sc. Econ. from the London School of Economics, and a 1954 MBA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1964). He speaks Turkish, English, French, Spanish and Hebrew. Since 1956, Erol Haker has made Israel his home where he has spent most of his adult years. He has a forty-year career behind him as a Transport Economist and Planner and has spent about half of this time working in several developing countries, mostly for the World Bank, other international and regional institutions, and bilateral aid giving agencies. Since his retirement in 1997, he spends much of his time researching his family history and of the Kirklareli community from which his parents hail. Erol Haker is married to Yael Aronson. They have three daughters and ten grandchildren. The Turkish translation the present book was published in 2002 as Bir Zamanlar Kirklareli'de Yahudiler Ya§ardi... (Istanbul: iletigim). Extracts from Reviews on the Turkish Translation of the Book "This is a story of an exile, love, ambition, personality conflicts, man-to woman problems, in their detail, years of plenty, years of famine, wars, occupations, oppression, persecution, murder, voluntary and involuntary population movements, all described together. This is the story of the Kirklareli branch of the Adato family who has lived in Turkey for hundreds of years; the story is at times funny, at times sad, and at times angering." Emel Armutcu, Hurriyet, Istanbul, September 22, 2002. "The Book tells us many facts that we did not know about Jews and others that we were wrong about. It reminds us of the value of friendship, peace, tolerance, and empathy towards fellow human beings." Professor Mithat Atabay, 18 March University of fanakkale, §alom, Istanbul, October 2, 2002. "Erol Haker tells the story of five generations of his family that preceded his, describing their virtues, their sins, in a sincere way and an unguarded fashion. Reading the book makes one smile occasionally, but more often causes sadness. Reading the book, I realized how little I knew about my ancestors". Tuna Saylag, §alom, Istanbul, October 2, 2002. "We congratulate the writer of the book and those who prepared it for its publication. The book should serve as a model for similar investigations. This is because we want that the memories of other persons be shared with readers, the way Erol Haker has done with his family members, before they are taken to their graves with them, Professor Mustafa Kulu, The Faculty of Science-Literature and History 18 March University, fanakkale" Tarih ve Toplum (History and Society) Number 228, Istanbul, December 2002 Issue. "With his book "Once Upon a Time Jews Lived in Kirklareli", Erol Haker, an Israeli writer with Kirklareli roots, has rendered a great service to the history and culture of Kirklareli". Nazif Karacam, Trakya Gundemi, Kirklareli, January 20, 2003.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION The Story Content (11), The Story Sources (13), Personal Documents and Photos (15), Trips (15), Language (15), Names (16), Acknowledgements (17), Annex 1-A Turkish letters with unusual pronunciations (19) CHAPTER 2. THE ADATOS OF KIRKLARELI THE FIRST GENERATIONS The Adatos in the World (21), The Origin of the Adatos in the Ottoman Realm (22), Menahem Adato, The First Adato in Kirklareli (23), Mordehai Adato (27) CHAPTER 3. MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) RAISING A FAMILY Burying the Dead (29), The Adatos' Fight Against the Angel of Death (31), Attempts at Tricking the Angel of Death (32), Annex 3-A Menahem Adato's Year of Birth (35) CHAPTER 4. MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) MAKING A LIVING Everyday Life Before 1870 (39), 1870-1880, Making a Living (39), Business Activity, 1880-1912 (42) CHAPTER 5. MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) HIS INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNITY LIFE Membership in Community Organizations (47), Education Related Deeds (51) CHAPTER 6. MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) HOME AND FAMILY The House El Moravi Built (59), House Amenities (60), Daily Life in the Adato Home (62), Preparations for Winter (64), Behavioral Norms (65), Sultanucha (67), The El Moravi-Esther Relationship (70), Eating Habits and Dishes (73), Annex 6-A Food items which at that time were prepared at home but are now purchased from stores; Foods that are no longer eaten (76)

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59

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CHAPTER 7. MENAHEM ADATO RELIGION, THE CELEBRATION His Religion (81), The Celebration A The Sabbath Menus (88), Annex in Present Day (89)

FAMILY

(EL MORAYI), HIS OF THE SABBATH ... of the Sabbath (82), Annex 77-B The Kirklareli Synagogue

CHAPTER 8. M E N A H E M ADATO (EL M O R A Y I ) , CELEBRATION OF HOLIDAYS, HIS LAST YEARS IN JERUSALEM Passover (91), The Celebration of Purim (97), The Commemoration of Tisha be Av (99), The Last Days of El Moravi in Kirklareli (100), In Jerusalem to the End Epilogue (107) CHAPTER 9. LIA ADATO, HIS YEARS THROUGH YOUNG ADULTHOOD From Birth to Early Adulthood (109), Business Life (112), Life at Home after El Moravi's Departure to Jerusalem (113), The Period of the Balkan Wars and its Aftermath (116), The Return to Kirklareli and Emigration (122) CHAPTER 10. LIA ADATO, WORLD WAR ONE YEARS The First World War Year (125), The War Years of 1915/161917/1918 (132) CHAPTER 11. LIA ADATO, LIFE IN THE YEARS UNDER GREEK OCCUPATION Business Life (153), Life at Home (154), The Education of the Children (156), Distancing From Religion (163), The Political Environment (164) CHAPTER 12. LIA ADATO LIFE IN THE NEW TURKISH REPUBLIC The Changed National Environment (167), Business Life (168), Religion, Home Life, Ismail Bey (171), Simanto and Family Leave for Mandate Palestine (174) CHAPTER 13. MENAHEM, BARZILAI, AND SULTANA ADATO AS TEENAGERS AND YOUNG ADULTS Menahem Adato (My Father) (177), Barzilay Adato (178), Sultana's Education (181),The Double Marriage (183), The Professional Life of Menahem Continued (189) CHAPTER 14. THE CHIPRUT FAMILY Barzilai Chiprut (191), Bohor Chiprut (196), The Sons-in-Law of Barzilai Other than Lia Adato (200), The Picnics at the Streams Near Kirklareli (202)

81

91

109

125

153

167

177

191

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 15. THE SALINAS FAMILY Moshe Salinas (207), Bohorachi Salinas (208), Moshon Salinas (211), Mixed Marriages (215), Nessim Salinas my Grandfather on my Mother's Side (217), Rashel Salinas (my Mother) (219), Sinyora Buka Behar-Adato (Salinas) my Mother's Mother (221), The Behars (223) CHAPTER 16. THE JULY 1934 ANTI-JEWISH RIOTS OF EASTERN THRACE AS THEY O C C U R R E D IN KIRKLARELI Introduction (227), The Adato Experience (229), Relatives (233), Distant Relatives (237)

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227

CHAPTER 17. LIA ADATO, AN EPILOGUE Business Life (247), The Education of Lia's Youngest Children (249), History Years (252), My Dealings with Lia (253), The End (257)

247

CHAPTER 18. NUPTIALS Introduction (261), Story One (262), Story Two (264), Story Three (265), Story Four (265)

261

Appendix 1: The Regional, Township, and Community Background Appendix 2: Biographical Notes Bibliography

267 307 315

December, 1, 2002 To my daughters Tammy, Orny, and Carmel The story which I will be unfolding before you in this book is the history of the Rirklareli branch of the Adato family into which I was born. This family is therefore credited with half the genes that you have inherited from your parents. The history begins about the year 1800, when my greatgreat-great-grandfather founded the branch in Kirklareli, a small town in eastern Thrace, in the present-day Republic of Turkey. The town is situated not far from the meeting point of the borders of Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. Until 1912, all the members of the family lived in this little town. Members of the family started leaving Kirklareli in 1913, looking for a better future elsewhere. By 1945 about two third of the family members had left the town for good, and by 1977 none were left. The family thus followed the rest of the Jewish population of Kirklareli, who also left the little town to settle elsewhere. In 1912 there were 1300 Jews living in Kirklareli. In February 1997, I found only seven remaining there, each of whom was more than seventy years old. Before their arrival in the Ottoman Empire, the Adato family lived in Spain. In 1492 the newly united Kingdom of Spain had just completed the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. Following an Edict then signed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, all the Jewish population of Spain was expelled. A large majority of the exiles settled in Istanbul, in the Balkan provinces of the Ottoman Empire and in western Anatolia. The following is a quotation from the Ferman issued by Beyazid II in which he granted asylum to Jews in Ottoman territories who were expelled from Spain: " . . . They say the King of Spain is a wise King. Can you call such a King wise and intelligent? He is impoverishing his country and enriching my Kingdom..." The Sultans who ruled the Empire were of Turkish origin and of the Muslim religion, and represented its ruling culture. This notwithstanding, they had no objections to Jews preserving their way of life and customs which they had brought with them from Spain. The Jews were officially recognized in the Ottoman Empire as a millet, (nation), equal to all other "nations" of the Empire in both rights and duties. In such an environment of good will, there developed mutual respect and ties of personal friendship between Turk and Jew. The small cultural compromises Jews made to reach this state of affairs, they did willingly and without being pressured by the Ottoman establishment to do so.

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Any Jew of Spanish origin whose family had settled, at the turn of the 15 th century in one of the Balkan provinces of the Empire, would have felt comfortably at home as a house guest of Menahem Adato, my grandfather's father, born in 1842 at Kirklareli, with the liturgy of the town Synagogue, with the language spoken, and the names of his fellow Jews. He would have known the songs they sang, enjoyed the food they ate, and shared similar social customs. Portends of change started to appear only at the beginning of the 20th century when Lia Adato, my grandfather, was twenty-one years old. Real change started to occur during the years of my father's youth. By my generation, the world of the Jews of Spanish origin was lost, almost in its entirety. The last few people who lived in that world are now over eighty years old. In my generation this lost world exists in childhood memories only, and in the stories which members of our generation heard from their parents and grandparents. In your generation and the one of your children the old world does not exist, even in memory. With this background in mind, I thought it would be useful to put into writing the world of the Spanish Jew in the context of a family story, and of a small community of 300 Jewish families living in Kirklareli, a Balkan town of the Ottoman Realm numbering 25000 inhabitants at the turn of the 19 th century. Your father Eroi

INTRODUCTION

The decision to write this book was triggered by the confluence of three events, two of which were random ones, and the third not so random. The first event took place in 1995 when I came across an article written by Warren Baum of the World Bank in a periodical published by the retirees of the organization in which he urged his fellow retirees to write about their past, while adding that those who did would be surprised by the interest they would generate in the process. The second event was a visit in 1996 to the ethnographic museum of Judeo-Hispanic culture in the Old City of Jerusalem. During my visit I struck up a conversation with the person in charge who told me that stories on Safardi families that have reached print are very rare, because the people of that culture are reluctant to open the doings of their families in a historic context to a general audience. I told her that to my knowledge the Judeo-Hispanic culture had inspired a considerable volume of literature, and as three outstanding examples I gave her the works of Yehuda Burla, Alef Bet Yehoshua, and Yehoshua Bar Yosef. She answered me "what I meant were family stories as social history, with real people, names, photographs, documents, and with the telling of it the way it was." The third event was my decision to stop working for a living at the end of 1996, resulting in my having plenty of time on my hands, and leading to my second decision, to write the story of the Adato family of Karklareli of which I am a direct descendant.

The Story Content My story focuses primarily on three Adatos. The first is Menahem Adato representing the generation of my grandfather's father; the second is Lia Adato, Menahem's son and my grandfather, and lastly, Menahem Adato, Lia's son and my father, namesake of my great-grandfather, through his years as a young adult.

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My great-grandfather's generation represents the last one during which cultural stability still prevailed, with reference to the way of life that existed at the time of arrival from Spain. However, even in this period the seeds of change were already showing up as young shoots. The period ended in 1912. The choice of the year 1912 is deliberate. It is critical in family, community, and general historical terms. In April of that year Kirklareli became linked for the first time to the European railway network in the West and to Istanbul in the East. During the same year, the Alliance School formally opened its doors to the children of the community. In July of the same year, Menahem Adato, my grandfather's father took his irrevocable decision to spend the last years of his life in Jerusalem in study and prayer, and before leaving town drew up his will, the execution of which he personally supervised. He left the town in one of the first trains that ever operated out of Kjrklareli, probably with a heavy sense of a Fin d'Epoque feeling. And he was so right! Three months later, at the end of October 1912, "all hell broke loose" almost in the literal sense of the expression, in Thrace in general, as well as in Kjrklareli; and it continued over a period of ten years through 1922, with brief interruptions, in the form of four successive wars and two successive occupations in between, the Bulgarian and then the Greek. At the end of these events the processes which brought about the demise of the world of Menahem Adato, including the Ottoman Empire itself, the long-kept traditions of the Spanish/Jewish world, and much more, was completed. Menahem Adato was no doubt one of the principal inventors of the sense of "presentiment" if such a sense was ever invented! The period 1912 to 1934 covers the years of fully developed adulthood and middle age of Lia, my grandfather and his generation. The thrust of his story is in the description of the conflict between old and new values, and how well he coped with the conflict. The period includes the formative years of my father's generation, and his years of young adulthood during which he achieved economic independence and started raising his own family in a world, which had changed beyond recognition by comparison with the one that existed during his early childhood. 1934 is the year at which my story ends. The years beyond 1934 are treated as an epilogue, mostly covering Lia, my grandfather, whose doings are fully covered through 1958, the year of his death. This means I leave out the mature years of my father's generation, entirely exclude my generation, and of course, the two succeeding ones, those of my children and theirs. The reason why I do this is a feeling of a lack of sufficient historical interest, and also my reluctance to get involved with narrating times and events which I have taken part in, believing that because of this I may be less objective.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

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A legitimate question Still remains at micro level which is this: why the cut-off year of 1934 and not, for example, 1933 or 1935? The choice of 1934 as the cut-off year was made because this was the year of the anti-Jewish riots that took place in Eastern Thrace in July 1934. These riots dealt the coup de grace to the Jewish Community of Kirklareli. The doings of other Adatos from all generations I treat as a secondary matter, introducing them when their doings shed light on the times they lived in or on the personalities of the three main characters with whom they interacted. In a similar way, I also include the doings of members of the Salinas family (my mother's side), the Chiprut family of my father's mother, and to a lesser extent that of the Behars with whom the three mentioned families intermarried not infrequently. With respect to these families my narrative is confined to doings of "cultural" interest and to a few outstanding personalities. In both cases the objective is to further bring out the characteristics of the period and it's setting.

The Story Sources The main source of information for the family story is the interviews I conducted with members of the family. All told, I interviewed 38 persons (in 123 interview hours) of which only a few were less than 70 years old, the oldest being 92 at the time of his death in February 1998. To date ten of the 38 persons I have interviewed have died. The bibliography I benefited from had three uses: The first was to act as a supplementary information source for identifying additional deeds of Adato family members as recorded in Alliance Israélite Universelle (henceforward the Alliance) 1 documentation. These members were functionaries of the Community Council of Kirklarcli and of the Alliance Branch of the town. For one reason or another not all their deeds in such capacity were retained in the family memory. The second use of the bibliography was in creating a framework for the family stories that I heard in the interviews, to corroborate and place them, especially with regards to the timeframe of their occurrence.

Rodrigue 1, p. 15. 'The Alliance was established to fight for the liberation and the regeneration of Jews, to provide assistance to all Jews who suffer as such, and to utilize all means available in the field of communication to achieve these aims. The central instrument the Alliance established for this purpose was a school system." For further information on the Alliance see Appendix 1.

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Thirdly and lastly the bibliography was used in the preparation of Appendix 1 that contains the broader background to the family story. The appendix is constructed in three concentric circles. The first circle represents Thrace, which is the geographic region in which Kirklareli is located, the second is the town of Kirklareli itself, and the third and most detailed one is the Jewish community of Kirklareli. Appendix 1 is not intended as a capsulized but nevertheless balanced version of either one of the three circles in a historical or any other context, but was prepared while having in mind readers of the Adato story who do not have sufficient knowledge of the area or of its Jewish communities. In terms of their importance for my story as an information source, the Alliance documents well deserve an additional word. The documentation I found in the Alliance archives (henceforward AAIU) on Kirklareli alone comprised about 250 individual documents, ranging in length from a single page to reports of 30 or more pages, all totaling about 1000 pages in tightly hand written manuscript. When considering that it relates to a small town whose population was about 30,000 in 1912, inclusive of a Jewish community of about 1300, it is rather remarkable. The Alliance correspondence between Paris and Kirklareli covers, not only matters related to the two community schools, but the Community itself, the town authorities, and relations with them, the broader township picture, and the still broader country and regional picture during some of the most turbulent years of the Ottoman Empire covering the Balkan wars, foreign occupations and all. In addition, and to obtain a cross light on the happenings in Kirklareli, I studied about half of the AAIU Kirklareli documents covering other Thracian communities within a radius of one hundred kilometers, and used them as a supplementary information source. The communities are those of Edirne, Tekirdag, £orlu, Didimotichon (Demotika in Turkish) in present day Greece, and Yambol in present day Bulgaria. These documents were used sparingly and only when their relevance to the story of the Kirklareli was beyond doubt. The second main source of original documents of which I made use is La Boz de la Verdad, a newspaper published in Edirne, in Ladino, in Rashi script. (In Mediaeval Hebrew letters). I was able to get hold of most of its issues (courtesy of the Ben Zvi Institute of Jerusalem) published between the years 1911-1914, and some additional ones from the years through 1922. I only made use of those items that directly relate to events in Kirklareli. To a more limited extent, I drew on information from Istanbul dailies of the times, and from additional ones printed during the 1940's when these contained information on events taking place in Kirklareli in years covered by the family story.

INTRODUCTION

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The list o f original documents upon which I drew for knowledge of Kirklareli is complete with two travel journals, the first from the pen o f Evliya Celebi, a traveler of well deserved fame in the then vast territories o f the Ottoman Empire who wrote his travel journal during the second half of the 17th century. The second is from the Reverend Robert Walsh, an English clergyman, who wrote his journal on his travels from Istanbul to London in 1828, mostly on horseback. The research of others was also used to fill in information gaps. Chief among them are those of Professor Aron Rodrigue of Stanford University in the U.S.A.

Personal Documents and Photos I was able to acquire about twenty photos, the oldest one from 1905; some o f the old pictures came with text at their back, and written in Ladino in Rashi script close to the years they were taken.

Trips The story took me to Turkey three times to interview relatives and visit cemeteries in Istanbul and Kirklareli. It also took me to France three times, and to Italy once. Most o f the time in France was spent in Paris at the documentation center of the Alliance, and interviewing relatives. In Israel I visited cemeteries in Kfar Saba, Holon, Petach T i k v a and A k k o to corroborate birth and death dates o f various members of the Adato family who settled in Israel.

Language Interspersed in the text are words, expressions and sometime whole sentences in Ladino, Turkish or French. For certain words, expressions, and even whole sentences on account of which nuances may be missed even in the best translations, I first spelled out the content in their original, and then provided the translation into English as well as I could. I did this for the benefit of persons who know one or more of these languages, in order not to deny them the enjoyment of reading the original.

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Turkish is a phonetically spelled language with all sound equivalents available in either English, French, or both. Reading Turkish correctly does not create a problem even for those who don't speak a word of the language. Inevitably, there are a few exceptions to this general condition and they are described in Annex 1-A at the end of the present chapter with their English or French equivalents.

Names Person names: This subject can cause a bit of confusion to the unfamiliar. The first major confusion arises because of the large number of persons bearing the same name, not only family names, but also personal names even in the same generation. In an attempt to reduce the confusion, certain practices were designed by tradition. The first was the adding of special suffixes to the names of elderly persons. The second was the calling of the first male offspring "Bohor" which means first born. For females "Signora" or "Bulissa" are of comparable meaning. The second way out of the complication involved the addition of a distinguishing characterizer or a nickname to the name, often of an honorific nature. These are usually in Turkish, (I have no idea why), sometimes in Hebrew, but rarely in Ladino. Thus, Menahem Adato was known and addressed as El Moravi (My Teacher and Father consisting of two distorted Hebrew words Mori Avi), while his Turkish friends called him Hoca. His grandfather of the same name was addressed as Qorbaci, coined by his Turkish friends (in Turkish, the soup distributor, which at the time was a military rank equivalent to company commander, or captain in the Yenigeri corps). Moshe Salinas was called "Deli (crazy in Turkish) Moshon" by his Turkish friends as a tribute to his eccentric personality. The Jewish community generally and readily adopted the nickname as his "real" name. These are just some examples. The second major confusion concerning names arises out of the abandonment of the traditional process of name giving of the older generations, and involves the moving over from traditional Ladino names to their equivalent (and sometimes not even equivalent) French names. This started with the younger members of my father's generation, and was much accelerated during my time.

INTRODUCTION

17

At a later stage, during the thirties and onwards, several families changed their names into Turkish ones, often bearing little resemblance to their original names. The names appearing in the story are the originals, not their later day French or Turkish versions. This method creates some anonymity for the persons appearing in the story, many of whom have at present either French, Turkish or Modern Hebrew names while only a narrow circle of friends and family knows their old original Ladino names. Concerning the names of women who traditionally have their names changed upon marriage, I call them by their maiden names and offer the one they received at marriage in parenthesis. I have done this to emphasize their family of origin. Appendix 2 contains brief biographical notes, information beyond the brief mentioning of the family connections of each individual appearing in the story. Appendix 2 also includes the names of persons interviewed, and interview lengths.

Names of towns and geographic features: Most such towns and geographic features have three names, a Turkish one, a Greek one and a Bulgarian one. The town of Kirklareli, which is a Turkish name, had four additional names depending on the past period in question and the language it was called in! To avoid confusion the following rules will apply when mentioning the name of a place: in the main text the place name will appear in its contemporary version. In the footnotes the name will appear as in the document quoted. If the name in the document is different than the contemporary one currently in use, then its contemporary equivalent will also be mentioned in the footnote.

Acknowledgements As can be expected, a large number of persons have contributed to the story. Among the family members I have interviewed I would like to mention in particular my father's sister and my aunt Sultana Adato (Bensusen) who died in 2001 at 92 and who provided detailed and invaluable information on life at the Adato household. Her younger sisters, Rashel Adato (Ojalvo) who is now 80, and Alegra Adato (Magrisso), died in 2002 at 90, completed much of the information supplied by Sultana. Among the male sources of information, I would first like to mention Liezer Adato, Lia Adato's youngest son, and my father's brother, now 82 years old, who transmitted information he got from his father on the business life and public life of El Moravi, his grandfather and on that of his father.

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Moris Adato, my brother, provided information he received from Menahem Adato, El Moravi's oldest grandson, who accompanied El Moravi on his journey to Jerusalem. He also gave me information on El Moravi's deeds during 1900-1912, and on the doings of the male members of the family during the years of World War I. Rachel Adato (Lin), Lia's niece, who today is 80 years old, contributed to my story, on an across-the-board basis, covering most subjects mentioned until now, including memories from the distant past which she heard from her father Simanto Adato (my grandfather's young brother), and Sultana Behar (Adato), her mother. Salamon Baruh who is one of the seven remaining members of the Jewish community of Kirklareli was most helpful in helping me use efficiently and pleasantly the time of my three visits to Kirklareli, providing contacts, organizing my visits in the town and arranging for a memorable meeting with Nazif Karagam who is a researcher on the history of Kirklareli, resident of the town and author of a rather extensive book on the subject. During my stay in Kirklareli I made the textile store of Salamon my "headquarters". Rifat Bali, also a Turkish researcher on the history of the Jews of Turkey opened up for me his research, and that of other Turkish researchers. He also was instrumental in my meeting Sinan Kuneralp of Isis Press who agreed to publish this book. I owe many thanks to the Ben Zvi Institute of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East, its large library full of documents and publications, sometimes more than one hundred years old in their originals, including a collection of Turkish books, old and new, on Turkish and Jewish subjects which I greatly benefited from, and to the library staff who were always pleasantly helpful in meeting my numerous queries on various materials. I owe many thanks to Sandra Lee-Allen (Aronson), my sister-in-law who edited most of the present draft, in a competent and a sensitive manner. I owe a special word of thanks to Professor Aron Rodrigue, of the History Department of Stanford University, and almost a fellow townsman, who originates from neighboring but much larger Edirne, who accompanied my work throughout its length, offering information sources I was not aware of, making useful comments on various drafts of the work, and his continuous encouragement. In brief he acted as my mentor from the beginning of my research to the present.

INTRODUCTION

19

Last but not least is my wife, Yael Aronson (Haker). She provided assistance in editing. She participated in some of the interviews, as well as reading to me old newspapers written in Rashi script, which she easily reads in Ladino, a language she does not speak, but which I speak, but cannot read! Beyond this she provided me assistance in shaping the story. Having known my family over the last 4 0 years, having participated in their moments of joy and grief, its way of living is not unfamiliar to her. At the same time her being of Eshkenazi origin (there is nothing that can be done about that!) afforded her a vantage point, which may be more objective than mine. She was placed to hear the collected stories from an optimum point—neither too far removed, nor too near to sort out what was really interesting and what was less so, in the material I collected.

Annex 1-A Turkish Letters with Unusual Pronunciations Turkish letter C C with a cedilla S with a cedilla U U with two dots 0 with two dots 1 without a dot G with an umlaut

English equivalent 4i ch sh u like in cool

French equivalent dj tch sh ou

u eu Like the last vowel in "chemical" Exists in Arabic only, as far as I know; the nearest equivalent is the "rolling" French "r"

2 THE ADATOS OF KIRKLARELI THE FIRST GENERATIONS

The Adatos in the World This family story is confined to the Adatos of Kirklareli. Its particular story leaves open the question: " Where do the Adatos of Kirklareli hail from?" A second question of interest is: Could all Adatos whether from Kirklareli or resident anywhere else in the world have a common origin? What follows in this introductory section, is a telegraphic attempt to get at least some brief indicators to these two questions. A good starting point would be to find the whereabouts of Adatos living anywhere in the world, their numbers and locations! Such a task, formidable as it may sound, is not so any more, courtesy of Internet. Searching in the telephone directories of the world in countries where they are most likely to be found, namely, Israel, Turkey, France, and the USA, I found 206 Adatos, each with his or her phone number, 169 males and 37 females of whom no less than 155 live in Israel, 30 in the USA, 13 in France, and 8 in Turkey. Allowing for dependants, there are perhaps about 600 Adatos in the whole world. I believe that I have thus identified a majority or even most of living Adatos. When trying to find out the membership of a Jewish family anywhere, it is difficult to keep out the holocaust even when one is dealing with a family whose origins are in a country such as Turkey, not overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II. Through the process of finding about Adatos I was able to track down some among them who perished in the Holocaust, courtesy of "Yad Veshem" of Jerusalem, and from family members I interviewed.1 I was able to identify seventeen Adatos who perished in the Holocaust, of whom seven were from Didimotichon, (in Turkish, Demotika) a Greek townlet on the border with Turkey, close to Edirne, one from Drama further west also in Greece. The remaining nine were born in Turkey who settled in France during the first two decades of the 20 th century. Included among them were four Adatos born in Kirklareli, all family members. The others were born in Edirne. I do not claim that this is a full list of the Adatos that perished in the Holocaust. ' Klarst'cld, unnumbered page.

22

THE S T O R Y OF THE A D A T O

FAMILY

The Origin of the Adatos in the Ottoman Realm Whether they may have arrived directly from Spain or by way of Italy, or were of more ancient Romaniotic origin, there is no doubt that the Adatos are culturally of Spanish origin. They show up as an Edirne family, or group of families. The Adatos of Kirklareli all have an Edirne origin. All the other Adatos I succeeded to contact all over the world, whether living in France, Israel or in the USA have an Edirne origin too. The earliest Adato about whom I could find a written record was Israel Adato, a rabbinical court judge (Dayan in Hebrew) who lived in Edirne. He left behind a number of verdicts bearing his name, and, in addition, some letters from the period 1660-1680.1 There is a letter which Israel Adato wrote to an emissary from Hebron called "Rabbi Meir the Physician" to explain to him why he was unable to organize a collection for the Jews of Hebron. The period in which the letter was written was a turbulent one, and associated with Shabtai Tsvi, the false prophet who ended in an Edirne jail, reflecting a stormy period in Jewish history, with Edirne as its epicenter. There is a second letter, again from Israel Adato, explaining the circumstances under which the same Rabbi Meir became a Muslim. At the time of Rabbi Meir the Physician's arrival in Edirne, Shabtai Tsvi was languishing in an Ottoman jail on a sentence of life imprisonment for sedition. Rabbi Meir visited him in jail, and was so impressed by his personality that following his example, he also became a Muslim like Shabtai Tsvi did. In the process, Rabbi Meir the Physician forgot all about his mission as an emissary of the Hebron Jews. In the year 1613, two generations before Israel Adato's time, the Jewish Community of Edirne counted 553 males. 2 Assuming at the time an extended family or clan with a membership of 10-15 persons bearing the Adato name of which Israel Adato was a member, and an annual growth rate of 1% through natural increase, the result would be about 600 Adatos in the year 2000. As their numbers grew these Adatos may have drifted apart, losing in the process the memory of their common origin. The hypothesis of a single Adato family at the time could thus be a tenable one. Whether this is what happened, in fact, we most probably will never know.

'Amar, pp. 50-51, Yaari, pp. 464-466. ^Meshoulan pp. 366.

THE F I R S T

GENERATIONS

23

Menahem Ada to, The First Adato in Kirklareli Leaving Edirne behind: In a year towards the end of the 18th century, a male baby was born to an Adato family of Edirne, whose name was Menahem. When, sometime around 1810 he became a young man of 20, give or take a couple of years, under what could only have been described at the time as exceptional circumstances, he fell in love with a Greek maiden called Eftisia and married her. It could be guessed that he did this despite the strong opposition of his family and very probably of the maiden's family as well. It can be safely assumed that the maiden was converted to the Jewish faith under the strictest orthodox rules. She was given the Hebrew name Mazal Tov (colloquially Mazalto, meaning in Hebrew, "good luck"). Like Mazalto, Eftisia, is a rather archaic name. No one names their daughters such names today, neither Greeks nor Jews. Nevertheless, conversion by strict orthodox rules is one thing; tolerance and good will towards the converted is another. The Adato family, and probably the Edirne Community as well, applied a de facto boycott on the couple both socially and economically. As a result of the boycott, Menahem could not make a living in his calling as a tinsmith, or, most probably, in any other work. He found himself obliged to leave Edirne, to seek his fortune in another town. His choice was Istanbul, the largest town in the Empire with a population of 900,000 at the time, of which 50,000 were Jews. 1 In Istanbul he thought he had a better chance of fading into the human landscape, and being less noticed in the much larger Jewish Community. So he set forth with his bride to Istanbul, a journey that at the time lasted a whole week. 2 The roads the couple would have to travel were wrought with danger, and perhaps the couple offered better than average temptations to likely brigands on the prowl, since Mazalto, was probably and not surprisingly a good looking chick. At the end of the second day's travel, the couple reached Kirklareli, (60 kms east of Edirne), their first intermediate destination on the way to Istanbul. For reasons, which have not been recorded, Menahem decided to cancel his plans to travel to Istanbul and settled in Kirklareli.

Yetkin, pp. 46. Yetkin quotes the population estimates from A. de Juchereau Révolution de Constantinople en 1807 et 1808précédé d'observations générales sur l'état actuel de l'Empire Ottoman, Paris 1819, pp. 257-258. 2 Frumkin, pp. 41. Normal progress was about 30 kms per day. AAIU Kirklisse, 17, December 12,1893, Ezra Rodrigue to Paris.

24

THE STORY

OF THE A D A T O

FAMILY

The following is a list of testimonies and other data out of which I succeeded in piecing together a picture of the first Adato who settled in Kirklareli. 1.

Rashel Salinas (Adato's), my mother: About the date of my 18th birthday, on some occasion I cannot remember, my mother drew me aside one day and said that she would like to impart to me a big family secret, but that I would have to give my word to her that I would keep it as such. This I did, following which she said, "One of your great-grandmothers was a Greek maiden." My reaction was one of indifference; I did not even bother to ask my mother which great-grandmother it was. 1

2.

Additional family members from whom I heard a similar story, who were also sworn to secrecy by the persons who imparted the secret to them, were Sultana Adato (Bensusen); Menahem Polikar, son of Bea Adato (El Moravi's daughter); and Victoria Adato (Eskenazi) who was El Moravi's grand daughter. I was the first to bring into the open the jointly shared secret, which was known to all, and unknown by any of them that the others knew.

3.

Ethel Adato (Benardete), a cousin of mine, who also shared the secret, provided me with the missing link, which she heard from her father, Barzilai Adato, on the circumstances under which Menahem Adato was obliged to leave Edirne, and how he serendipitously ended up making Kirklareli his home without planning to do so.

4.

My grandfather's story which he told me in July, 1952, in Kirklareli, about how his great-grandfather also called Menahem Adato, got mixed up with the events of vaka-i-hayriye in the year 1826, as will be explained.

5.

Among the 416 tombstones documented by Professor Mina Rozen 2 , there is one (number 16) bearing the name of Ran Adato, dated September 27, 1837, on which the name of Menahem Adato appears as the father of Ran, grieving over the death of his young son between the date of his engagement and the one of his planned betrothal.

' At the time my main thoughts were engaged in such matters as determining who was the greatest: Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, T. S. Eliot, or Nazim Hikmet. Rozen.

THE

FIRST

GENERATIONS

25

The years "1826" and "1837" fit rather nicely to determine that the Menahem whose name appears in Ran's tombstone, as well as the one in my grandfather's story, and the Menachem of the story about leaving Edirne, was the one and same person. Raising a Family: I could find out little about the family life of Menahem Adato. It is certain that he had at least two sons. The first he called Mordehai, who was born in all probability, sometime between 1810 and 1815. Mordehai is my grandfather's grandfather. A second son was born to Menahem and was called Ran. The precise date of Ran's death is September 27,1837 as inscribed on his tombstone. Menahem bewailed the death of his son who was about to get married, as evidenced in the following text that is inscribed on his tombstone. Here is a translation of its Hebrew original:

Oh to my son and companion My beloved who is lost To my home, and who missed the fulfillment Of his engagement into betrothal And... * Ran, alas Flesh and blood ...* * Menahem Adato, His resting place In Eden The 27th day of Eylul 5597 [September 27, 1837] * Defaced words, now illegible

During those days, most young males got married at the ages between 18-22. On this basis, Ran must have been born sometime around 1817. In all probability, Menahem and Mazalto (formerly Eftisia) had other children, who could have died before reaching maturity. At that time only about 30% of pregnancies resulted in young persons reaching marriageable age. Menahem's involvement with the Vaka-i-Hayriye (the Auspicious Event): One last story remains to be told about Menahem Adato, which I heard from Lia Adato, my grandfather in July 1952 in his store in Kirklareli when I was visiting him. It seems that Menahem Adato did not do too badly for himself in Kirklareli. He became a respected member of his community, and also made some Turkish friends who awarded him the honorific title or nickname Qorbaci, which at the time was no less than the equivalent of a company commander in the rank of Captain in the famed Corps of Yenigeri. This title (its literal translation into Turkish is "the Soup Maker"), flattering as it was, caused him unbelievable grief in the year 1826.

26

THE STORY

OF T H E A D A T O

FAMILY

The Yenigeri were one of the principal pillars on which the Ottoman Empire stood. "Once its redoubtable champions, they were now the chief source of the rot at its core." 1 In 1826 the Yenigeri unfurled their last revolt against the Sultan, Mahmud II, who was determined to introduce radical reforms in the management of the Ottoman Empire despite their opposition. The Yenigeri found the Sultan fully prepared. In bloody combat in the streets of Istanbul during which the Sultan's forces did not hesitate to use artillery, the Yenigeri were decisively beaten by the new army, the Nizam-i Cedid (In Turkish, the New Order), and surrendered, upon which Sultan Mahmud II ordered the surviving Yenigeri to be put to the sword, to the last one of them. This episode is known in the annals of the Empire as Vaka-iHayriye. Following this, orders went out to all the provincial governors of the Empire to do likewise. The order reached Edirne and from there Kirklareli, which was a county (in Turkish Sancak at the time) in the Province (in Turkish Vilayet). And what does all this have to do with Menahem Adato, the Jewish tinsmith of Kirklareli? This is the story I heard from my grandfather at his textile store, while visiting him in Kirklareli. The soldiers of the Sultan's new army, the Nizam-i-Cedid, first made for the ki§la (casern) of Kirklareli where a unit of Yenigeri were stationed, mostly non combatants engaged in logistics and supply, 2 and did the job they had to do on them. Having finished, they returned to the town center and made further inquiries as to whether anyone knew of any more Yenigeri in the town. Somebody said there was a Qorbaci Menahem. It is entirely possible that the person who spoke was a local wag who could not pass an opportunity to play the fool. Be that as it may, the head of the Nizam-i-Cedid detachment who may not have had much of a sense of humor, asked the informant, "Bu gorbaci nerede saklaniyor?" (Where is this Qorbaci hiding?). After having received directions to Menahem's whereabouts, he sent out a detail to apprehend him. The detail found Menahem with no difficulty, as he was not hiding from anyone when the soldiers appeared in front of his workshop. They took him away, while leaving no doubt as to what they intended to do with him. The hapless Menahem kept pleading and pleading with them, that he had nothing to do with Yenigeri, and that the title, Qorbaci, was awarded to him by his Turkish friends merely as a token of their affection for him and nothing more. He probably looked devoid of the fierce physical ^Kinross. Kara9am, p. 168.

2

THE

FIRST

GENERATIONS

27

features one would expect from a real Yenigeri Qorbaci, and was wearing clothes by which his ethnic identity could have been easily identified. According to my grandfather, the soldiers thought his clothes to be a ruse, a disguise he invented for himself to escape his just fate! Luckily, at some point, the pleading worked. The detail chief told Menahem that if he could, without delay, provide him two adult Muslim males who would confirm the identity which he claimed to have, they would let him go. This he was able to do without any difficulty. He was set free with a new lease on life, not only his own, but that of all his descendants as well, including myself! There is no additional information on the doings of Menahem Adato. The year of his death is unknown, although clearly it must have been after 1837, the year in which his name appears on Ran Adato's tombstone. It is presumed that he died in Kirklareli. We have no information concerning the year Mazalto (Eftisia) his wife passed away.

Mordehai Adato Birth and raising a family: Mordehai Adato represents the first generation of Adatos born in Kirklareli. Born sometime between 1810 and 1815, he got married twice during his lifetime, the first time with a woman named Rebecca, whose family name is not known. Three children were born to Mordehai and Rebecca who survived long enough to reach marriageable age. His third child, a daughter was born possibly to a second wife following the death of Rebecca and whose name is unknown. His first child, thus, to survive, a boy, was born in 1842, and was named, as is still the custom, after his grandfather, Menahem. In about 1855, his second son was born and they named him Nessim ("Miracles" in Hebrew, frequently indicative of a difficult birth, called Nessimachi in his old age). Note the difference of 13 years between the two births. One can imagine that five or six children were born between these two who did not survive to reach marriageable age. After Nessim, a daughter was born in about 1865, and was called Mazalto after her (formerly Greek) grandmother. 1 Again the age difference of ten years between Nessim and Mazalto is worth noting. Thus, the difference between the oldest and the youngest of the three is no less than 23 years. This Mazalto was called Mazaltucha in her old age. She died in 1941 when I was eleven years old. I remember her very well beginning with 1938, the year of her return from New York, after having lived there a number of years with her second daughter who was called Rebecca. I used to address Mazalto as Bis-Grand-Maman.

28

THE STORY

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It is possible that Mordehai Adato had an additional and third son whose name was Yaakov. The evidence is again from a tombstone. Yaakov's daughter, by the name of Mazalto (as by custom, named after her grandmother), died in 1877 as a teenage maiden, from an unspecified illness. Here is her epitaph as it is inscribed on her tombstone: I will cry out in bitter voice at her grave A fate I am unable to improve upon Her father cries out for her on how she was felled Without remedy without resort And the angels will not call before God To bring her back to life before the time of resurrection The maiden Miss Mazal Tov, who rests in honor, at the side of Yaakov Adato God protect and resurrect her. Passed away on the day of The 12th day of Tishrei, 5637. [September 12, 1877]

There has been no other information retained in the family memory about Mordehai Adato. Mordehai died at a very old age, probably around the age of 85, in Jerusalem (according to my grandfather when he was 94 years old).1 That he ended his days in Jerusalem was corroborated by Menahem Adato, the grandson of Menahem Adato (El Moravi), and cousin of my father (also called Menahem Adato!) The first Menahem accompanied El Moravi and his wife Sultanucha on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1912 where they went to spend the last years of their lives. According to the testimony of this then "young" Menahem Adato, El Moravi paid a visit to an unnamed home, immediately upon his arrival in Jerusalem in the summer of 1912. Young Menahem Adato was present at the visit, and according to his testimony, El Moravi acted during the meeting as if he knew the woman, and later identified her to young Menahem as la mujer de mi padre (my father's wife). One can assume that at the time of the encounter, Mordehai was no longer living. If he lived to be 85, then he must have died in Jerusalem, sometime around 1905. The full story of this encounter is told in a subsequent chapter on El Moravi.

It is possible that there is some exaggeration in his age at death as reported by my grandfather. According to Dina Porat, Mina Rozen, Anita Shapira, less than 5% of people lived to be more than 60 years old during those times. However, the Adatos have been long-lived, and even in those generations, Adatos who lived to be older than 75 were not uncommon.

3 MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) RAISING A FAMILY

Menahem Adato was born in 1842. As mentioned in the previous chapter, he was the eldest son of Mordehai and Rebecca Adato who reached marriageable age. I could not obtain information on the childhood days of Menahem Adato. It can be assumed that he studied at the traditional schools of the time starting with a "Heder", the Kindergarten of the times, and then going on to the Talmud Tora school of Kirklareli, the equivalent of a primary school. Menahem Adato married Sultana Behar (henceforward Sultanucha). His first child to reach marriageable age, Avram (henceforward Avramachi as he came to be called in his later years), was born in 1865 when Menahem was 23 years old. It is possible that before him, at least one other son was born that was called Mordehai, after his father's name, who did not survive for long. Fourteen years went by before another child who reached marriageable age was born in 1879. Actually it was a pair of twins (two sons), only one of whom survived, and his name was Lia (my grandfather). The other twin died at the age of two or three from an unknown cause. According to what we know of birth frequencies, there is no doubt that during the fourteen years that lapsed between the two surviving children, up to six or seven additional babies may have been born, all dying before reaching adulthood.1 A relatively short time thereafter, in 1881, a daughter was born to the couple and was named Bea. She was followed by a son born in 1884, named Simanto. Burying the Dead Two examples of what in our times would be characterized as tragic deaths, those of Ran Adato and Mazalto Adato were reported in the previous chapter. Others must have occurred in the family of Mordehai Adato involving El Moravi's young brothers and sisters.

A significant change of infant and general mortality rates occurred only during the next generation, beginning with 1895. In the generations bora after this time, the number of children per family to reach marriageable age grew from 2-4 for an average family, to 5-7. This occurred because of a significant reduction in the death rate of babies, children and adolescents. Obviously this development brought about a significant increase in life expectancy and population growth.

30

T H E S T O R Y OF T H E A D A T O

FAMILY

Thus death was constantly present in the Adato household, and more often than not of a tragic kind sparing neither young children, teenagers, young men and women about to get married, married women at child birth, and young adults approaching their middle ages and, in addition, the lucky few who died after having reached old age. Mourning the dead was a continuous activity. Religion was the sole source of solace to make the pain a little more bearable and hence the importance of how the death of a dear one was handled in religious ritual. By contrast with present times, in the days of Menahem Adato and those of previous generations, people died in their natural surroundings, their homes with their dear ones nearby, and more often than not they had not reached a state of advanced decrepitness at the moment of their death. As a result, the ritual of parting from the dead was a lot more personal and personalized than it is in our times. Thus, when a young person like Ran Adato died, before the delivery of his remains to the care of the synagogue and undertaker, the body was wrapped in a white sheet, lying on the floor, and members of the family would squat in a circle around it. The people present would then give themselves to much grieving, mainly in the form of vociferous sobbing. They would sing mournful dirges; in particular those who had recently lost loved ones who mourned again their death on the occasion.1 When undertakers would come and lift the body to take it to the cemetery for burial, the yelling and shrieking would reach their climax. After the burial, there would be a service in the home of the deceased, where they would be served a meal (seoudah), but unlike at present, a meager one. The meal would be served on a tablecloth spread on the floor. The Rabbi would make a small speech on the deceased and reminded those present that the reason why hard boiled eggs are to be included in what is eaten, is, in his words, "eggs do not have pores and the bereaved are forbidden to complain over the happening which could only have occurred because Providence so decreed it". 2 This was a standard statement to make on the occasion by the Rabbi officiating and an integral part of the ritual. At present it is entirely omitted. As dessert, black dried raisins were served, of a color suited to the occasion. The bereaved were expected to eat them while being told that by doing so they were in fact celebrating an Act of God, just like a happening akin to a wedding ceremony or the birthday of the person who had just died. Again this is not done any more. 'aAIU, Andrinople (Edirne), 06.08.1889, David Levi to Paris. Ibid.

2

M E N A H E M ADATO (EL M O R A V I ) RAISING A FAMILY

31

During the seven days of mourning following the burial (shiva), family and friends came to share the grief but without exchanging greetings when coming or going. To the visitors only black coffee and a cigarette were offered (again note the frugal offering). Men would sit on the floor in one room and the women in another. In both the rooms, stories would be told about recently deceased persons and the prizes the just among them would be receiving in heaven above.

The Adato's Fight Against the Angel of Death The Adatos did not accept the ravage the Angel of Death wrought in their midst but fought him by every conceivable mean. Resort to Modern Medicine: This was relatively new and did not predate the second half of the 19th century.1 The modern Doctor was invariably a Greek. Jewish MD's appeared only fifty or more years later. These Greek MD's freely admitted that without their Jewish patients they could not make a descent living. By contrast, members of the Turkish community frowned at the idea of calling a physician to look after a sick person to diagnose his illness and prescribe medication. Such an act, would in their eyes, mean doubting God who needs no assistance to cure human beings if he so desires. Traditional Medicine:2 Given the state of medical knowledge of the times, it solved only a few of the problems of the sick. If the illness did not respond to the cure prescribed by a physician, resort was made to additional means. Supplications were made to God to make the sick person well in daily prayers by persons dear to him in particular, alms were distributed to the poor, olive oil was sent to the Synagogue, additional prayers were offered there and also at the tomb of a Rabbi considered to be a particularly "just" person (Tsadik). If the sick person was not improving despite these forms of intervention an offering (kapara) was made in the form of slaughtering a chicken and prayers of atonement (mesalihim) were said in the Synagogue facing the tabernacle, with the doors open, imploring God's intervention in favor of the afflicted. In the Synagogue, a name, different from the sick person's name was shouted to confuse the Angel of Death. Again, kaparot were offered with the addition this time of distributing alms to the poor.

' AAIU, Andrinople, 29.03.1892, David Levi to Paris. Ibid.

2

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FAMILY

If all the above failed, a process called endulko was resorted to. The patient was taken to a Turkish bath where he was rubbed with an ointment, which accelerated perspiration. After having perspired large quantities of sweat, which would weaken him to a considerable extent, the patient was taken to a house that had been vacated from all its habitual inhabitants where incense would be continuously burning. The patient was conducted to a room, which he was not to leave for a predetermined number of days. During this length of stay, he ate only grilled meat and drank milk. In addition he was allowed to drink water, but only water provided to him by relatives. Before being brought to him, the water was exposed for some time in the open air. Such water was called "water of serenity". Neither his parents nor his children were allowed to see him during his stay in the house. The persons who took care of the sick person followed the same diet. At the end of the period of endulko, the patient was again taken to the Turkish bath and was subjected to a bout of perspiration similar to the one he started with. There were several kinds of endulko, depending on the gravity of the malady. The period of endulko varied from nine to forty days. It was assumed that during the whole length of the period, both celestial and infernal spirits accompanied the patient. Turkish society did not practice endulko, and hence the presumption is that Jews brought the practice from Spain. It was considered that becoming well through endulko was a spiritual rather than a medical process. The idea was that a sick spirit had induced the physical illness, and therefore, the intervention of physicians was a useless process because the medication they would prescribe did not attack the root of the problem like endulko did. Attempts at Tricking the Angel of Death To protect their young, members of the Adato family made constant attempts to trick the Angel of Death. These attempts were persistent, relentless, with no holds barred. No tactic, however devious, was discarded, provided that it was likely to produce results. Here are three stories on battles, which were successful. A tactic to confuse the Angel of Death to protect the life of Avramachi, 1874: From the day he was born, Avramachi was of fragile health. By the time he was nine, Menahem and Sultanucha had already lost a few babies and young children, and were worried about Avramachi meeting a similar fate. To prevent this from happening, Menahem looked for a match for Avramachi. One was found. The lucky little girl was called Amada (beloved) Levi, who was four years old at the time. Their engagement was solemnly declared in front of a Rabbi who blessed the match.

M E N A H E M A D A T O (EL M O R A V I ) R A I S I N G A F A M I L Y

33

And what was the rationale for this act? The objective of the act was to create a barrier in front of the Angel of Death, in case he might have had designs on Avramachi of a kind he was prone to have at the time, against little children. The barrier would work in the following fashion: since the union was blessed in the presence of God, it was assumed that the Angel of Death would not dare act against Avramachi, before his marriage was consummated, because such an act would anger God. It was assumed that the Angel of Death would not want to get into trouble with God over such a small matter (judged on a cosmic scale). Thus Avramachi would gain a lease of life for at least ten years, until his marriage. And what would happen after the ten years elapsed, the marriage made and consummated? The answer: Allah biiyuk (In Turkish, God is great!) The matter of the dowry was settled before the announcement of the engagement. The Levi family owned vineyards from which they made their living by making wine and other products made of grapes. The Levis were prepared to provide Avramachi, the bridegroom to be, a reasonable dowry when the time came, as was the tradition. Menahem Adato refused their offer claiming that his own financial situation was much better than theirs, and he was prepared to meet the financial needs of the future couple to make a home for themselves out of his own resources. Menahem added that the Levis should keep the dowry they were offering for their other children when these would reach marriageable age. The generosity, which Menahem showed, is unusual for the period and for later ones too. However, the story leaves no doubt about the fact that by the year 1874 his affairs must have been prospering. The match whom Menahem initiated to act as a barrier against the Angel of Death achieved its purpose. Avramachi survived to get married to Amada when the time came. He fathered five sons and one daughter who reached marriageable age, and died when he was 78 years old. The question still remains as to whether the Angel of Death had or had not wicked intentions to start with towards Avramachi. The answer to the question: we will never know.

Steps taken to assure a long life to Lia, Menahem's second son; about 1881/1882: After the death of Lia's twin brother when he was one or two years old, Sultanucha, their mother, collected all the clothes of the deceased twin, as well as the sheets of his cradle at the time of his death, and put them into a metal chest, together with a few cloves, and locked it up. This she did to protect the remaining child against any further bad intentions of the Angel of Death, should he still hold any against the surviving twin. 1 1 Assuming that Sultana was eight years old when she heard the story from her mother, this means that the chest must have been kept for at least forty years, first by Sultanucha herself, and then passed on to Ester, either at the time she got married to Lia, or, more likely, when Sultanucha departed from Kirklareli to Jerusalem with her husband. We do not know how much longer the chest was kept after Sultana was let into the secret.

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FAMILY

In this case the technique used in keeping the Angel of Death at bay was different from the one used for Avramachi. This was because the circumstances were different and therefore, so was the technique. Be it as it may, it proved to be successful to the highest degree. Lia reached marriageable age, married Esther the beautiful, and had no less than seven children from her who reached marriageable age, four sons and three daughters. He died at the age of 79. There remains one last story to be told about the Adato fight against the Angel of Death. Though it happened in the generation of Avramachi, it seems proper to tell it as a sequence to the two stories so far told. How Avramachi protected his only daughter from the Angel of Death, about 1915: Victoria was the fourth daughter bom to Avramachi and Amada. The first three died in childhood, the last of the three dying of typhoid fever at the age of five. Victoria's birth was very difficult. Both Avramachi and Amada, who very much wanted a daughter, felt that the Angel of Death had it in for their daughters. They were sure he was planning a similar fate for Victoria. To protect Victoria and foil likely plans of the Angel against her, they decided to act. However, bearing in mind that the Adatos had succeeded in two previous cases in their attempts to frustrate his designs, and assuming that, firstly, the Angel was already familiar with previous Adato tactics, and secondly that the Angel was absolutely furious with the Adatos over their successes against his schemes, Avramachi looked for a new ruse, and found one as follows: One day he decided to "sell" his daughter to one of his neighbors who was a good friend, for a small sum of money. Once the transaction was properly carried out, he declared that Victoria was the adopted daughter of this neighbor couple, and that she had ceased to be Avramachi's daughter. Avramachi's act was based on the knowledge that children's addresses in the heavenly books, which the Angel consults, when deciding on which children will be his next victims, appear under the name of their parents. Since from the moment of her sale, Victoria's name no longer appeared in the heavenly address books as the daughter of Avramachi and Amada, and with her status in doubt as an adopted girl, it is likely that her name would stop appearing in any of these fabled address books. As a result, even if the Angel of Death wanted to zero in on Victoria, he would be at a loss to find her whereabouts.

MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) RAISING A FAMILY

35

In point of fact, Victoria continued to reside in her parents' home, but only as a "house guest", though for an indefinite duration. She got free board, but her clothes and other needs the neighbors paid for, and Avramachi allowed himself to be overcharged by his neighbor in business transactions with him at agreed rates, all this to confound the Angel of Death. The stratagem adopted worked out well, and a third success was thus scored against the Angel of Death to the credit of the Adato family. Victoria reached marriageable age, married Vitali Eskenazi, of Izmir, had four children by him and died in Holon, Israel at the age of 86. In conclusion, the Adato family deserves kudos for its achievements against the Angel of Death over their young children. To present a balanced picture, I looked for evidence on Adato setbacks on the subject, but found none. Perhaps members of the Adato family are a little shy over telling stories about their attempts that resulted in failure. However, past 1915 there are no further records over stratagems pursued to fend off the Angel of Death from executing its designs on Adato children. It seems they were no longer required, as the death rate for babies, young children, and teenagers was observed to drop precipitously from about 70% to about 15%. Two possible explanations can account for this development. The first one is that the Angel of Death was so overwhelmed by the clever Adato ruses to protect their children, that he decided to look for easier quarry elsewhere. A second explanation is that Pasteur, prophylactics, and other such things finally reached Kirklareli around the year 1915, a little past the years of the first persons born in my father's generation. Which explanation is to be preferred? Let the wise reader decide for himself.

Annex 3-A Menahem Adato's Year of Birth There is no doubt concerning the precise day of death of my greatgrandfather Menahem Adato. It is documented in a photo of his tombstone and in family documents. However, there is no comparable documentation concerning his date of birth. This is typical to most members of his generation, the next one (my grandfathers'), and even some of the subsequent generation (my father's) as well. Birth certificates were not issued during those days and even when such dates were known, they were not inscribed on tombstones.

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We have two sources of information concerning the dates of birth of Menahem and Sultanucha. The first are the photos mentioned, on which dates of birth are implicit in the note of their age at the time of their death. According to this source, Menahem died when he was 87 years old and Sultanucha when she was 75. Thus it can be inferred that Menahem was born in 1829, and Sultanucha in 1839. There is an additional document from my uncle, Barzilai Adato, the second son of my grandfather, Lia Adato. This document was prepared in 1966 and circulated among the direct descendants of Menahem Adato (of whom I am one) together with his photo. In this document his year of birth is mentioned as 1842. The difference between the years of birth in these two documents is no less than 13 years! Which one of the two documents is correct? Or is there, perhaps, a third date in between the two? It may appear that the dates behind the two photos are to be preferred, because they are of unquestionable authenticity, written in Rashi script in Ladino only a few years after their deaths, and also because they contain biographical notes of which the age at death is only one of them. However, the problem with this piece of information is that the years of birth are not explicitly mentioned. By contrast, the Barzilai Adato document is much later, and less detailed in biographical notes; but its advantage lies in that a year of birth is explicitly stated, even though the source for this information is not mentioned. I came to the conclusion that the year appearing in the Barzilai Adato document is the correct one. I will not describe the detailed considerations which have led me to this conclusion, and confine myself to describing only the principal one, namely that 1842 jives much better than 1829 with events in his life such as the birth dates of his children, the activities of other people around him, etc. In an environment where so few people passed the age of 60, one who had passed this age, with some standing in their families and Community were often awarded some additional years of age as a form of "bonus", as confirmation of his status as a "worthy". The first chapters of the Old Testament abound with persons who are attributed absurd ages up to the time of Joseph. Many African and Eastern societies act in this way too. Thus, for a grandson who rightfully much respected Menahem Adato, as I do myself, to have added 13 years to his age, either on his own initiative or because of being asked to do so by an older person, would not have been considered a singular lapse during those times.

MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) RAISING A FAMILY

37

The Writing at the back of Menahem and Sultanucha Adato's Portrait Photographs Menahem Adato's picture: 19 Sivan 5672 partieron por Yerushalayim en junto kon marat imi, nun ayin 14 Heshvan 674 en la edad de 75 anyos, ....91. El Moravi nun ayin niftar en 22 Tishrei 677 de edad de 87 anyos en Yerushalayim El inieto grande Menahem H Adato Soultanucha's picture: Partieron por Yerushalayim marat imi, nun ayin, niftera en 14 de Heshvan 674 a edad de 75 anios, nikvera en 91. El Moravi niftar en Yerushalayim 677 nun ayin a edad de 87 anyos. nikvar en 97, esta Yerushalayim. akompanyo El inieto grande Menahem Adato ben [Avramachi] The translation of the text is as follows: Menahem's picture: On the 19th of Sivan 5672 (1912), El Moravi [Menahem Adatol left for Jerusalem, ... 91. On the 19th of Heshvan 5674 [1914], died at the age of 75, in Jerusalem, The Mistress of my Mother [This is the title with which young Menahem Adato refers to his grand-mother]. On 22nd of Tishrei 5677 (1916) El Moravi died in Jerusalem, He rests in Eden. They were accompanied [to Jerusalem] by their eldest grandson, Menahem H. Adato. Sultanucha's picture They departed to Jerusalem, , Mistress of my Mother was buried on the 14th of Heshvan 5674 [1914] at the age of 75 years ... 91. Died at the age of 87, El Moravi was buried in Jerusalem on the 22nd of Tishrei 5677 [1916]. He rests in Eden. His eldest grandson Menahem H. Adato.

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The Barzilai Adato Document (Translation from its original in English) "This is a copy of the portrait of Menahem Adato, known as El Moravi, who was born in Kirklareli in 1842 and died in Jerusalem in 1916. The original portrait is in Kirklareli with Alegra and Yakir Magrisso [Alegra, formerly Adato], Copies of the portrait were sent by Barzilai Adato (Burhan Haker) to all the direct offsprings of El Moravi who asked for a copy for themselves or for another relative. Please confirm the reception of the portraits. Istanbul, 30-5-1966. This portrait was colored with pastel colors, which protect the picture from scratches. However, it is recommenced that it be put under glass for full protection."

4 MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) MAKING A LIVING

Everyday Life Before 1870 Like his father Mordehai, Menahem Adato was a tinsmith. We do not know of any period in which members of this profession became millionaires, and it seems safe to assume that at this time Menahem was earning a modest income that was below average for the times, although there is no need to suggest that he had the status of a semi-pauper. It is also possible that he had additional modest income from minor commercial activity. In any case, in the year 1870 or thereabouts, when Menahem was 28 years old, his material circumstances were truly of no consequence. He and Sultanucha lived in a very modest abode, even for that period. Avramachi, five years old at the time, was their only child, and though he still survived, their hearts were fearful over his prospects in this respect. 1870-1880, Making a Living From tinsmith to merchant—the deciding first step, 1870: Menahem Adato had a number of Turkish friends, two of them close ones. One of the last was well-to-do. This friend of his unexpectedly invited him one day to his home for dinner. Menahem was an outstandingly observant person even for his times, who took each one of the 613 "do's and don't injunctions"1 in the Bible literally and lived his life observing them to the letter and without compromise. There was no way he could eat in a Gentile's home, for reasons of Kashrut. Knowing this, his friend added to the invitation, for good measure, that he had a very important matter to discuss with him and that he would not accept "no" for an answer.

' i n practical terms 613 less 127 associated with the Temple, which cannot be observed until such times as the Messiah appears and reerects the Temple.

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Menahem was in a bind. He knew that there was no way open to him except to say "yes" to the invitation, which he did, though only after some agonizing. However, in the morning hours on the day the dinner was due, he sent his wife Sultanucha to his friend's home suitably equipped with a variety of cooking utensils, including pots and pans. Her appearance did not seem to surprise the good woman, his friend's wife. Sultanucha patiently explained to the woman the rules of kosher cooking, and having done that, she discreetly left, letting her Muslim friend face the challenges involved with the dinner invitation to her husband's good Jewish friend, Menahem Efendi, and the strange practices of his creed. As a matter of fact, for a Jew, a Muslim kitchen is easier to get on with than a Christian kitchen. This notwithstanding, it can be safely assumed that the resulting cooking would not pass the requirements of Glatt Kosher of contemporary orthodox standards, but as it may, given the circumstances could anything better have been done? Menahem arrived at the appointed hour in the evening and was ushered into the room where guests of the house were received. The standard Turkish home of that time was divided into two broad areas, namely the Selamhk, and the Haremlik. The first was for adult males, male relatives and friends. The second was for women, their visiting friends, and the children of the house. The entry to the Haremlik by adult men, whether relatives, friends or others was forbidden except to the Master of the house. The dinner was for the two of them. The host's wife came in with trays of food she deposited on the rich fluffy carpet spread on the floor, and after having done that, withdrew immediately without even offering a greeting. They sat on low mattresses propped up by cushions, dipping into the common plates with hands or spoons depending on the dish and eating to their heart's content. Then coffee, or rather, a combination of coffee and chicory was brought. After the brew was drunk, the host went over to a corner of the room, which had become pretty dark by then, where a chest was situated covered with a round cloth exhibiting some fine needlework. The host removed the cloth and unlocked the chest to open it, and, believe it or not, this is what I heard from my grandfather, the chest was brimming over with gold coins of all sizes and kinds. The host then addressed Menahem with the following words: "Menahem Efendi, you are a smart person, an honest person, and like a brother to me. Take as much gold as you like out of the chest, take it with you to Istanbul; buy merchandise there, we will sell them in Kirklareli, and the profits we will split between the two of us."

M A K I N G

A

LIVING

41

Menahem agreed. According to my grandfather, the journey to Istanbul over a distance of about 200 kms took about one full week.1 The whole visit to Istanbul, including travel time both ways, lasted about a month. The merchandise he bought in Istanbul consisted mostly of cloth, which he sold in Kirklareli with a good mark-up. From this point of his life onwards, it is not an overstatement to say that Menahem's material condition started blossoming. Menahem Adato was now a real merchant. Initially, he dealt mostly in textiles, but gradually his activities as a merchant diversified into other branches of commerce. The profits of Menahem Adato during the war of 1877/1878: The war was between the Russian and the Ottoman empires. At the start of the war, in April 1877, Menahem made a situation assessment on its prospects for the purposes of his business. He concluded that a Russian victory was a strong possibility. He foresaw that this would result in the occupation of Kirklareli by the Russians and the severance of the town, over a lengthy period of time, from its chief source of merchandise, namely Istanbul. He foresaw substantial shortages of consumer goods and expected their prices to go sky high. With the start of the war, he traveled to Istanbul to purchase stock, not only in his line of textiles, but also oil for lighting, salt, and what at the time were luxury products, such as sugar and coffee. His expectations were fully realized. The Russian army entered Kirklareli in January 1878 and remained there for about a year. The little town remained cut off from Istanbul over all this period. Prices went sky high as he predicted, and his profits during the period exceeded even those of the previous round, which had started him off as a merchant. Memories from the Russian occupation of Kirklareli: It is not known to what degree the Russian occupation authorities oppressed or harassed its Turkish and Jewish population, though it can be safely assumed that the Russians did nothing of the sort to the Bulgarians and the Greeks of the town. There is evidence suggesting that the Jews of Kirklareli did not have a comfortable time during its occupation by the Russians.2

I thought that grandfather exaggerated as to the slowness of the journey's progress. However the speed is confirmed in an Alliance document: AAITJ, Kirklisse December 12, 1893, Ezra Rodrigue to Paris, and in Frumkin. I traveled on the same road on February 1997 now called route E-80. The journey by express bus took a little under three hours. 2 "In 1877 after the Russo-Turkish war, a large subscription was opened which afforded to give opportunities of substantial aid to those Turkish Jews who fled before the Russian invasion and who had become successively the victims of marauding Russian, Bulgarian, and Turkish soldiers." Funk.

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A more specific remainder comes from an Alliance document, in which it is said, "The [Jewish] Community has started to recover only now from the financial damages it sustained under the recent political events".1

Business Activity, 1880-1912 By 1880 Menahem Adato had become a merchant and entrepreneur of some standing. He expanded his business into making wine, Raki (or Arak in Hebrew and Arabic), other products made of grapes, and into producing milk products, mostly white cheese (commonly known as Bulgarian cheese or Fetta in Greek). His affairs followed on a smooth course. Only towards the end of the period did he find himself in a tight corner, in financial terms. This occurred through a confluence of circumstances involving his stand in favor of the rejuvenation of Hebrew as a spoken language, and its teaching as such. The event had religious aspects as well, and also elements of a personal nature. Only by a stroke of good luck, or "Divine Intervention" in his favor as he would have called it, did he come out of the affair unscathed. The story is best told in the next chapter devoted to his public life. Investments in real estate: According to Alliance documents, Menahem still lived on Karaka§ street in 1881, in the heart of the mostly Jewish quarter. In this quarter only Jews and Turks of average or even more modest income lived. It seems that shortly after this year, he purchased a piece of prime property in the heart of the town near the main street called, at the time, Istanbul Yolu, the "Road to Istanbul" (At present, it is called Cumhuriyet Caddesi). The property he purchased was in a residential area where Jews and Turks of above average income lived, although still below the standards of the well-to-do Greek community who lived in the Yayla (Plateau District), overlooking the town. The plot he purchased was about 1500 square meters on which he constructed a house for his family. It was a two-story house with about 70 square meters of space in each floor, and a cellar of similar size. The house must have been constructed sometime in 1882/83.2

1

AAIU. Kirklisse, December 18, 1882, Raphael Rodrigue to Paris. all our family visits to Kirklareli we used to stay in the house. My last stay in the house was in July 1952. In 1958 the house was expropriated and pulled down to make room for a new avenue in the town.

MAKING

A

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43

In about 1900, he built a house on the same plot for his daughter Bea upon her marriage. In about 1905 he built a third and last house, also in the same plot, for Avramachi, his eldest son, who by that time boasted a family of four boys (and eventually an additional daughter and son). Probably sometime during the earlier years mentioned, he bought an additional smaller plot, but this time right on the main street of the town, to construct a rather spacious, two-story store 1 for selling cloth. This was one of the three largest such stores in town, the other two belonging to Greeks who also sold cloth. Lastly, in the plot of his house, he constructed a wine cellar for the making of wine, a business that did not survive after his departure from Kirklareli to Jerusalem. However, as late as the late twenties, his youngest son, Simanto, used some of the casks in the cellar to produce wine as a hobby, for family and friends. Beginning with the 1880's El Moravi was making about 100-150 Ottoman Golden Liras (henceforward OGL) a year on an average year, or about ten OGL a month. What could he buy with this money? The information I was able to collect on prices is from a Boz de la Verdad issue in the year 1911.2 (40 para equals one kuru§). In para per kilogram

Bread

5 -8

Onions

3-6

White beans or chickpeas

8-12

Fresh Leaks in season

Rice

8-12

Hour

Salt

3-6

Olive oil

30-45

2-3

Mutton or beef

21-29

Charcoal Soap

20-29

Sugar

14-17

Firewood for heating

10-16 6-7

2-8

This store survived longer than his house. During my last visit to Kirklareli, in February 1997,1 found in its place a supermarket, and upon inquiring about the old store was told that it was pulled down just a few years back. 2 La Boz de la Verdad, issue December 21, 1911. The prices are from eight small towns near Edirne, all West of the Men? river and at present in Greece, the furthest of which Xanthi (Iske9e in the original document), was 188 kms away. La Boz de la Verdad issue December 21, 1911. The prices were published in para per batman. Rubinstein, p. 53: One batman= 6 okkas. One okku=400 dirhems. One dirhem=3.207 grams.

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A kalkan (turbo) weighing about two to three kilos caught in the waters of Tekirdag 1 could be purchase in Kirklareli for three kuru§ after it was transported on the back of a mule for two days. A pair of yemeni (shoes worn by peasants made of leather) could be purchased for half a mecidiye and a pair of iskarpin (shoes worn by townspeople) for a few more kuru§. A Greek seamstress could be hired for a twelve-hour long workday for a single be§lik plus her lunch. A Jewish tailor working in his shop to sew clothes for men folk was expected to make a few more kuru§ for a day's work. Two hot meals a day were eaten in El Moravi's home daily. Meat or chicken would be served every day in at least one of the meals. A large variety of vegetables and fruits were consumed in his home, as well as luxuries like as fish, real sugar and coffee, sweets, and somewhat off-season fruits and vegetables. The members of the family would be well clad, although all the clothes, with the exception of those worn in ceremonial and formal occasions were sawn at home. There was no way El Moravi could have spent more that two OGL a month no matter how extravagant he got about the food he purchased. There were two Greek sleep-in maids in the house to whom he paid monthly 50 kuru§ each, plus their board. He probably spent another two OGL for clothes, fuel, house maintenance, furniture and other household goods, books for his children and himself, donations to support the Community welfare institutions, and membership in his clubs. Practically speaking, there was nothing else he could spend money on. He did not spend any money on house rent as he lived in his own house. His monthly expenditures thus totaled about five OGL. He was thus saving about one half of his earnings. The savings he used to build his house, those of two of his children, to construct a spacious store and to invest in his business. For his times and for Kirklareli, El Moravi was a well-to-do person.

1

Walsh.

5 MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) HIS INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNITY LIFE 1880-1912

In this chapter stories are narrated on the involvement of El Moravi in community life, his dealings with Ottoman authorities in this capacity, his activities as a member of the Community Council, as well as his unorthodox but history-making intervention in some aspects of the education of his oldest grandson, Menahem, who bore the same name he did, and of whom he was especially fond. At some phase during his life, after his business had become well established he started to be considered by his Community as a "notable". We do not know the precise year when this happened, as the process was probably a gradual one. The younger members of his family, without regard to how close was the relationship, started to address him as Tio Menahemachi (Uncle Menahemachi), with Tio expressing the special esteem that goes with it. When talking to each other they referred to him as El Moravi (fusion of two Hebrew words, Mori Avi in a Ladino context). 1 This was the title he was generally referred to by the Jewish Community at large. From this point onward I, too, will refer to him by this tide. A similar development occurred with his Turkish friends who started to address him as "Hoca" 2 , a title rarely bestowed upon a non-Muslim, particularly a very religious person who was proud of it, too. The whole idea of "public life" in a Jewish community, which at its peak in 1912 consisted of about 300 families, or 1300 persons, in a small town that mustered a population of 30,000, may raise in the reader, an eyebrow followed by an indulgent smile. During that time Kirklareli was just about a middling town in Thrace, and in terms of the size of its Jewish community, was just about average too. One can therefore ask with some justification what was the importance of community life in such a small community? What justifies paying attention to it in telling the story of this person?

' l he Ladino transliteration and fusion of two Hebrew words Mori, Avi i.e. my teacher and father. A teacher or a minister in a religious sense, though the intention was to the first.

46

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STORY

OF

THE ADATO

FAMILY

The answer to this question lies in the status of Jews in the Ottoman Empire as a Millet (Nation) 1 , a status that made them equal in the eyes of the authorities to other nations of the Empire, such as Greeks, Armenians, and Bulgarians. This status obligated each community, even one as small as the one of Kirklareli, to organize itself as a public entity, and set up its own community institutions. However, the enthusiasm and the dedication with which the Jews of Kirklareli went about doing this went much beyond their legal obligation. They founded welfare institutions of remarkable standards, organizations to collect taxes for the Sovereign Entity and for the community, and established and ran two primary schools, one for boys and another for girls. The institutions they set up were financed entirely by their own modest resources from self-imposed taxes, and from the properties they owned jointly as a corporate entity. Some of the welfare institutions they set up would not be put to shame by those established under the welfare system of the first Socialist Government of the United Kingdom immediately following World War II, provided of course, that one compensates for the size differences. It is commonly recognized that Jews are a politically conscious and public-spirited people, perhaps more so than most people of the world. This has been so in the past and is so at present. In this respect the Kirklareli Community was no different than the other Jewish communities of Thrace; and if they varied at all from others of the same place and time, perhaps they were more political and public spirited than the norm. According to all the stories I heard, from family members and other sources of information, the leaders of the Community were engaged in continuous arguments on all subjects of concern, as if, it may appear, they were the ones in charge of deciding what to do about them, not only within the Ottoman Empire, but in the whole world! They appear to have been forever arguing about how Hebrew should be taught—, as a living language or as a language of prayer— Zionism, the place of religion in a modern society and other pressing questions.

' i am not aware of any country in the world that at any time in its history granted Jews such an official status.

INVOLVEMENT

IN C O M M U N I T Y

LIFE 1 8 8 0 - 1 9 1 2

47

Membership in Community Organizations The Community Council: El Moravi was a member of the Community Council, and in this capacity, he was a member of the Council Executive holding the post of Council Treasurer responsible for the collection of taxes owed to the Ottoman authorities; as well as those collected to finance the Community's own needs. The Alliance Branch of Kirklareli: In Alliance documents, he appears as a member of the Alliance, at least during the years 1893-1896. During two of these years he also appears as a member of the Executive Committee of the branch. In a much earlier date, in 1881, he appears as a contributor to an Alliance initiated campaign to raise a donation from the Jewish Community of Kirklareli for Russian Jews hurt by the 1881 pogrom in the Ukraine. 1 Even taking into account that full information about his membership is lacking, the question remains as to why a person such as El Moravi, who had no problems about making donations to alleviate suffering Jews living in a country far away, appeared to have dragged his feet over becoming a member of the institution, established in Kirklareli in 1878 or earlier which had organized the appeal and which was expressly set up to further Jewish education all over the world in general and in Kirklareli in particular. El Moravi's brother Nessimachi, who was fourteen years younger than he, was already an Alliance member in 1884. My Chiprut and Salinas ancestors were also members of the Alliance, years before El Moravi joined. According to the family memory, El Moravi did recognize that the traditional educational system needed serious overhauling. This recognition brought him into conflict with the conservative elements in the Community, who as expected, preferred to leave things the way they were. His hesitation to join the Alliance was the product of his dissatisfaction over how the Alliance went about solving the education problem. According to his convictions, the Alliance solution appeared to be insufficiently Jewish at both religious and ethnic levels. A major sticking point was how Hebrew was to be taught in the two Alliance schools that were to be established in Kirklareli. It seems that he decided to join the Alliance after much agonizing, only after realizing that in practical terms there was no real alternative to the organization. He perhaps hoped that he would have more influence from inside by joining than by remaining outside.

'aAIIJ, Kirklisse, 23.06.1881, Rafael Rodrigue to Paris

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£1 Moravi's financial contribution to the victims of the 1881 pogrom in the Ukraine: on May 29, 1881, a letter of appeal went out of Paris to the Kirklareli Branch of Alliance for donations to help the victims of the pogrom that took place during that year in the Ukraine, particularly in the towns of Kiev, Odessa, and Kherson. The letter was received in Kirklareli on June 13, 1881. On June 23, 1881 a letter went out of Kirklareli to Paris informing the Alliance that 205 Golden French Francs had been collected and were on their way to Paris with the intermediary of the banker Mosseh Toledo from Istanbul. The sum was the equivalent of about OGL 8.9 of the time, about US$ 1500 of ours. El Moravi contributed eight French Francs of this amount that was above average. The total contribution appears to be a rather modest one. However, one has to bear in mind that the Jewish community of Kirklareli mustered only about 250 families (about 900 souls) in 1881, it was not a rich community; and everybody, rich or poor, was much poorer at that time, compared to our's. A point to be noted about the campaign was the speed of response. The arrival of mail from Paris to Kirklareli in a mere fourteen days is remarkable, considering that the railway line was still under construction and far from being completed. A second point to note is the speed with which the money was collected. Ten days from the reception of the appeal, the check representing the money collected was already on its way to Paris. Keeping the books on the tax returns of the Community, about 18941896: As mentioned earlier, El Moravi was the Treasurer of the Community Council and in this capacity was responsible for keeping the books and transferring the tax revenues collected from the Community to the Ottoman authorities in Edirne. He obviously must have been involved in the usual amount of intrigues, back biting, and other such phenomena associated with public office. Also, it is certain that many of the Council members did not like some of his stands concerning traditional education. Resulting from this, one or more Council members denounced him to the authorities in Edirne. They alleged that he was pocketing much of the tax revenues that he was responsible for collecting. The authorities took the complaint seriously and sent him an official summons requesting him to come to Edirne to explain the accounts he was submitting to the authorities. The Governor of the Province signed the letter.

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The tone of the letter he received, though laconic, was ominous. Although the Giilhane fermam (roughly the Ottoman Magna Carta) had been in force since 1839 and so were its subsequent additions and detail since 1856, the extent to which they were taken seriously by all the authorities, especially those in the outlying provinces of the Empire was a moot point. An official of the rank of Governor still had a lot of leeway concerning how to try a would-be offender, how quickly to reach a verdict, and even more threateningly, how fast he could have the verdict executed, even a death sentence. El Moravi felt that the end of his days on earth was fast approaching. Early in the morning following the day on which he received the summons, he donned his best clothes, which he wore on official occasions, hugged his wife and little boys as if he would never see them again, and set off to Edirne carrying with him all the books of the Community. Travelling at a fast clip (!) he reached Edirne in the late afternoon of the same day (a 60 km distance). The following morning, he showed up at the Governor's office. Two Zaptiyes (Gendarmes) greeted him at the door with frozen expressions on their faces and signaled him to follow. He found himself in front of the office of the Defterdar (literally, the keeper of the books) and entered. The Defterdar went over his books very carefully, asking many questions. The whole procedure lasted a good few hours, at the end of which the Defterdar declared that the books of the Jewish Community of Kirklareli were in order, adding that he would recommend to the Governor that an investigation be opened to find out the source of the libelous charges made against El Moravi. El Moravi was about to leave the building when he was asked to linger a little longer. After a few minutes an aide appeared and conveyed to him an invitation from the Governor to the effect that he would be pleased if El Moravi would have a cup of coffee with him. This was obviously a courtesy gesture. They engaged in small talk and most likely the whole get-together did not last longer than a quarter of an hour. When El Moravi asked permission to leave, the Governor addressed the following question to him: Menahem Efendi bize bir emriniz varml'l (Literally, Menahem Efendi do you have any order to give us?). 1 To which El Moravi replied, "We have a supplication to make to you Vali Pa§am. Our poor Community will be forever grateful to Your Highness (in Turkish: §erefinize gok minettar olurlar) if you would appoint to our school a teacher to teach our children Turkish (!)". 2 ^The form of the address should be noted. To honor the Treasurer of a small community in a small town by such a form of address is unusual. 2 And about time too! About 400 years after arriving from Spain here is a Jew from Kirklareli asking the Ottoman authorities for assistance to learn the official language of the Ottoman Empire and spoken by Turks who represented its ruling culture.

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El Moravi's request turned out to be rather timely. In 1894 an imperial edict was published that declared that the study of Turkish would be made compulsory in all the schools of the Empire. However, the Edict was essentially a declarative one. It did not specify essential conditions, such as the number of hours Turkish was to be taught, by whom, matters of financing, supervision and enforcement matters. Given the above background, the fact that a small Jewish community on its own initiative requested assistance on the subject and therefore implicitly, wanted its children to be taught Turkish, was more than welcomed by the authorities. The Governor granted El Moravi's request on the spot and within a month a teacher of Turkish was appointed to the two Community schools. When a Jew prays to his God it would be better if he understands what he is saying! (About 1884-1890): During this period Lia, his second son, who survived to marriageable age, started attending the traditional Talmud Tora School of the Community. Probably soon after, El Moravi wanted to know what his son's school was like. He paid a visit to the school, entering a classroom of one of the lower classes to see for himself how the teaching was proceeding. When the teacher finished his lesson, El Moravi asked for permission from the teacher to put a question to the pupils. El Moravi asked him: "Do the pupils know how to say the Kriat Shma prayer?" (Hear, oh Israel, The Almighty, Our Lord, is the only Lord). The teacher said "sure" and upon a sign from him the children broke into the appropriate chant with the words of the prayer— of course in Hebrew. Then again after asking permission to do so from the teacher, El Moravi asked the pupils in Ladino, "Who can tell me what the words you sang mean?" A deafening silence followed. He then turned again to the teacher and asked him, "Would you explain the meaning of the prayer to the children?" The teacher said yes and broke into a convoluted explanation, in Ladino, of what the prayer meant. It was clear that the children had no idea of what the teacher was trying to tell them and El Moravi, too, could hardly understand what was being said. El Moravi said nothing further and left the school with a heavy heart. In the first meeting of the Committee of Education of the Community Council, El Moravi described to the Committee members his visit, summing it up in the following way: "We all obey what the Almighty commands us to do and not to do, and the rest is in His hands. I don't pretend to know all His ways, but I doubt if He pays attention to a prayer if the person who is saying it has no idea of what the prayer means".

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There was probably some fidgeting and other signs of discomfort among the Committee members, but nobody said anything. El Moravi then continued, "If you agree with me, then corrective action is needed. Learning religious texts by heart is not enough. Adequate emphasis needs to be put on teaching the meaning of the texts the children learn to declaim by heart. Accordingly I propose to do so and so..." There is no knowledge of the results of this meeting or whether there were further talks about the matter in the Committee. It is most likely that the proposals of El Moravi to rectify the situation were put into practice, although perhaps with some "grinding of teeth". However, I would not be surprised if one of the members had given his agreement to the proposal while exclaiming, "Let God protects us from fellow Jews of excessive zeal, who without being solicited to do so by anyone, try to hurry the arrival of the Messiah and the End of Days". As far as results go, I can confirm that my grandfather, Lia, knew Hebrew well, especially the Hebrew needed to understand religious texts. His younger brother, Simanto, arrived in Mandate Palestine in 1935 as an immigrant, with a fluency in Hebrew which impressed the reigning establishment of the Yishuv 1 to the point where they offered him a job, on the spot, in the municipal administration of Haifa. Lia's son, Menahem (my father), had a good reading knowledge of the language and could chatter with his grandchildren in Modern Hebrew. He was perfectly understood by them and they understood him. He claimed he learned his Hebrew in the Talmud Tora and previous Meldar (Kindergarten), between the ages of four to eight. He said that his subsequent Alliance years added little to his knowledge of Hebrew which he had acquired there. So El Moravi's intervention must have gotten results. £1 Moravi's struggle in favor of the teaching of modern Hebrew, the complications this caused to his business, and how the Almighty came to his succor, about 1905-1910: The transformation of the traditional Talmud Tora into a contemporary school offering the full benefits of a modern education with the assistance of the Alliance was achieved only after 34 years of protracted negotiations between the Kirklareli Community and the Alliance Central Office in Paris, with several ups and downs, and with interruptions of years at a time. 1911 is the year in which the negotiations were completed and an eight-grade Alliance school formally opened its doors to the girls of the Community and a second one in 1913 to the boys.

' The Jewish Community living in mandate Palestine of the time.

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One of the central subjects under dispute was what kind of Hebrew was to be taught in the Alliance school. The Kirklareli Community was divided into three camps, the first favored sticking to the teaching of prayer Hebrew only, the second wanted to teach the children Modern Hebrew, in addition to prayer Hebrew, and the third could not care less for either one of the first two, and believed that the main thing was to get on with the teaching of French, although this last attitude they never explicitly verbalized. If anybody had suspected El Moravi of harboring in his heart Zionistic tendencies, El Moravi would have been much surprised and even upset since Herzlian Zionism, in its essence, started off as a secular movement. As far as El Moravi was concerned, every truly observant Jew could never forget Zion, which is enunciated in so many of the daily prayers he said. 1 El Moravi belonged to the second group, namely to teach not only prayer Hebrew but Modern Hebrew as well, to enable people, as he put it, to haggle over the price of fish with fishermen in a market place when necessary. How come? As far as El Moravi was concerned, when the Messiah will arrive to announce the End of Days, and rebuild the Temple, and Jews from their different exiles, dead and alive, will assemble in Jerusalem, in the Land of Israel, in what language will they talk to each other? His definitive answer: "Surely only Hebrew!" The battle over Hebrew turned out to be a rather protracted one and even reached the Jewish press of Edirne. El Moravi lost out, and this turned out to be a major disappointment in his life. Partial success was reached over the matter only in the next generation. The war that El Moravi waged over Hebrew teaching was not only unsuccessful but caused him complications in his business life. He succeeded in extricating himself from these problems by successfully enlisting help from Providence that, naturally, only confirmed his faith in Him. It would be superfluous to say, "Strengthened his faith in Him" as the strength of his faith on the subject knew no bounds before or after. It can be safely assumed that in the process of the fight he waged in favor of the teaching of Modern Hebrew he accumulated quite a few personal enemies, of one ideological color or another, especially among the conservative elements of the Community who looked at El Moravi as a laterday revolutionary who wanted to destabilize the cultural and social order which had existed among the Jews of the Spanish exile over the last 400 years. ^In the poetry of Yehuda Halevi a Jewish poet from Spain who lived in mediaeval times "If I forget thee oh Jerusalem let my right hand forget its cunning..."

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His fight in favor of teaching spoken Hebrew found him pitted against members of the Rodrigue family. This was the most influential family in town, wealthy, and leading members of the Community Council and the Alliance branch of the town for many years. The family was a strong proponent of the Alliance. One such Rodrigue, a moneylender or small banker of a sort, started to collect the commercial paper or IOU's bearing the signature of El Moravi. His objective was to present as many as possible of them for payment at once, with some being overdue, in order to deliberately create an impression that El Moravi was having financial difficulties and might even be insolvent. Thus, he would affect El Moravi's credit rating and ultimately ruin his business. In addition, the person was preparing the ground by spreading rumors in the business community that El Moravi was in the throes of financial problems of a terminal kind. The pressure on El Moravi reached its peak during the last month of the summer, about six weeks before the start of the new Jewish year. El Moravi was observed by his family to start midnight prayers, Slihot, (prayers asking for forgiveness from the Almighty) normally said a few weeks before the coming new year. At some point, mustering the courage which was needed for the purpose, his second son Lia, who was almost thirty years old at the time and the father of three, dared to ask him "Senior Padre, New Year is still far away, why have you started saying Slihot so early?" The answer Lia got was, "I am asking a special favor from the Almighty. You are too young to understand the matter!" He left it at that. And lo and behold, difficult for a contemporary of our period to understand, his prayers were answered in the following way. One of his Turkish friends who had decided in that year to make the pilgrimage to Mecca which is prescribed by Islam, came to him and said, "My good friend Menahem Efendi, God willing, this year I will journey to Mecca on the pilgrimage which is decreed by our religion. I have 500 Ottoman Gold Liras that I don't want to leave lying about, and even my wife doesn't know about them. I can't think of anybody in the whole world other than you in whose hands I would entrust this kind of money. Would you keep them for me until my return? All I would expect from you in exchange is that when any member of my family comes to your store for something from your wares, you will give it to them. If they want to buy other things, give them the money to do so. If you are agreeable to my proposal I will then tell my wife. My proposal should remain strictly confidential between the two of us". El Moravi agreed.

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A few weeks later, Rodrigue presented El Moravi all the IOU's due and asked for payment, not sparing a protest over those among them already overdue. El Moravi feigned surprise over the last and said, "Why did you not present those on time? If you had, I would, of course, have honored them". The discomfiture in the moneylender's face was clearly visible. The OGL 500 not only enabled him to pay off all his debts, but also enabled him to proceed to Istanbul to buy new stock. The news of his having settled all his IOU's traveled fast, and his credit with Istanbul merchants was quickly restored. He returned to Kirklareli with an impressive stock of merchandise. This, of course, makes a rather nice story. El Moravi believed that it was the Almighty who saved him from the rather awful predicament he had gotten himself into, with the possibility of impending dishonor to his reputation as a credible merchant. Of this I have not the slightest doubt in my mind. Other conclusions can also be drawn from the event; (a) that the Almighty has never been against the teaching of Modern Hebrew! And (b) over matters of cash flow planning it is not always prudent to put one's faith in Providence—perhaps once in a lifetime, but not more! In fact there is no record of El Moravi having supplicated Providence to get him out of a tight financial spot on an occasion other than this one! El Moravi's intervention in the education of his eldest g r a n d s o n Phase 1- 1906: In 1906 when he was twelve years old, Menahem was in one of the upper classes of the Talmud Tora school and not too far away from finishing it. Since 1901, the school had acquired its first director who was not a Rabbi and was run as a semi-secular school. It was on its way to become an Alliance school, French and Turkish were already being taught, but at best the school was of a standard equivalent to the first five years of primary school, and at worst, not even that. El Moravi was aware that Menahem was a gifted boy and was particularly fond of him. 1 His father, Avramachi, was not enthusiastic over Menahem studying further, and instead would have liked him get on with making a living in the family store. El Moravi thought differently and in cases like this there was no question as to whose opinion counted!

'My personal opinion of Menahem, with whom I had a special relationship as a teenager and up until his death, was that he was probably the brightest person of his generation in the family.

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However, if Menahem was to continue his studies the dilemma was, in which school? And here was a real dilemma. He could have been kept in the Talmud Tora and, in addition, been given private lessons at home, in subjects in which the school was not strong. This kind of solution was not uncommon in those days. The advantage of this solution was that Menahem's education would continue in a Jewish environment in which problems of religious observance in daily life would not occur. Another possibility was to send him to a Gentile school. However, a Gentile school would have been opened on Saturdays, (Bulgarian and Greek schools closed on Sundays). A Turkish school would be closed on Fridays. A Jewish youngster who attended a Gentile school would have had to go to school on Saturdays, which was forbidden under Jewish religious law. Thus the problems of religious observance were among the main reasons that Kirklareli Jews, like those of other towns of Thrace, avoided sending their children to Gentile schools. El Moravi, being the pious person that he was, agonized over the matter before taking his decision, which was not to have Menahem continue his education in the Talmud Tora\ This being decided upon, without any hesitation El Moravi rejected the Bulgarian and Greek options. The relations between Bulgarians and Greeks on one side, and the Jewish community on the other, were less than good, with religious antagonism being the main factor. It just so happened that in that very year of 1906 a brand new school had opened its doors in Kirklareli in a building whose construction was just completed. (The Kocahidir school which is there until this very day 1 ). The school was under Turkish management and provided education in Turkish. It was a new and relatively secular school established under the Education Reform Act of 1857. The school had eight classes, the last three of which provided education at Rugtiye level, a level that did not exist at the Jewish school. El Moravi chose to send Menahem to this school. This decision was precedent setting. As far as I could find out, as this was the first time an Adato was sent to a Turkish school in Kirklareli. Menahem was accepted to the sixth grade of the school without any problem, and was the only Jewish pupil in his class, or, possibly for that matter, in the whole school. At the time El Moravi gave his blessing to Menahem at his start in the new school, he said the following: "The fact that you are going to a Turkish school does not mean that you are now entitled to wholesale exemption from observing the 613 "do and don'ts" mitzvoth of our religion. However, if there is a conflict between the requirements of your ^Kara^am, in a meeting I had with him in Kirklareli on March 25, 2000.

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studies and a particular injunction on any given occasion, you are authorized by me not to observe the injunction. You will continue to say your daily morning prayers and put on your phylacteries. But if there are classes to attend on the Sabbath, go ahead and attend them, and write if you have to. However, if I ever catch you breaking an injunction whose non-observance is not required by your studies, then you will have me to reckon with. Young Menahem fully understood his grandfather, acted accordingly, and all went well. An interesting point to note in conjunction with El Moravi's approach regarding when an injunction need not be observed, is the parallelism he created between the non-observance of an injunction for purposes of education and for purposes of protecting life. The last is acceptable under Jewish orthodox doctrine, but not the first. Very pious as he was, El Moravi showed a willingness to bend the rules of his religion a little for the sake of a talented grandson whom he much loved, and for his wish to give him a good education no matter what. There is no doubt that El Moravi's decision was a good one. Menahem finished the Riipiye as the top student of his class. He got the school prize for this in the shape of a gold watch. There were six smaller prizes for individual subjects, six in number. And he won them all! On graduation day he was called to the podium seven times to receive them all. His name, Menahem Adato —an obviously Jewish name—, was called seven times, and nobody in the audience got excited over the matter. Twenty years later, even if Albert Einstein had been a student at the same school, he would have been lucky to have gotten one of the small prizes. His Jewish name would have been enough for such a result. And fifty years after the event: Menahem became a legendary pupil of the school. In 1958, at the time of the burial of Lia Adato (my grandfather) in Kirklareli, Menahem Adato, was a member of the family party who came to the town from Istanbul for the burial, and had the time to visit the Kocahidir School. When he gave his name, the school director, though a person in his forties, and much past Menahem's time, immediately recognized the name and told Menahem how proud the school was of him, and how proud he personally was to have met Menahem in person. It all ended up with Menahem making a significant financial contribution to the school! The intervention of El Moravi in the schooling of Menahem— Phase II, 1910: Avramachi, Menahem's' father was reconciled, albeit reluctantly with the idea of Menahem finishing the Ru$tiye level, but the idea that Menahem might go on to study at high school was an absurdity to him, no matter how many prizes Menahem won for his study achievements. Menahem started work as an apprentice in the family textile store and there was no more talk about further study.

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One good day towards the end of the summer, El Moravi declared that he had an important announcement to make to his family, and he will make it at the end of a family dinner to be scheduled for the end of the Sabbath in the evening. He asked Sultanucha to make the necessary preparations to the effect, as normally, only a light meal was the custom at the exiting of the Sabbath. The dinner went ahead on schedule and in good time, and after reciting the Birkat Hamazon prayer, thanking the Almighty for providing the family with the meal, El Moravi came out with the following announcement which was really a command to the women of the household as follows: Ay azer una validja para Menahem, ke si here el Dio tiene a viajar amanyana demanyana para empesar sus estudios en Constantinopoli! (A suitcase is to be prepared for Menahem, who God willing, will travel to Istanbul tomorrow morning early to begin his studies there.) Presumably what followed was a silence of the stunned, but there it was, the decision, and who would dare to object? And all this was to happen from an evening meal to breakfast. Of course such decisions were communicated only after all the practicalities were settled and the loose ends tied up. The following morning, when Menahem was about to depart in the horse drawn carriage to pick up the train for Istanbul at Luleburgaz sixty kilometers to the south, El Moravi told him that he was going to be greeted at the Sirkeci station in Istanbul by a Mr. Kimhi who was a merchant like himself, and a close friend. Mr. Kimhi would show him to his high school, a Turkish idadiye and Menahem would have room and board in his house through the duration of his high school studies. All these arrangements, including the registration in the school, were made in total secrecy. Was Menahem let into the secret during any phase? I could not get an answer to the question from my interlocutor but am prepared to bet that Menahem had no idea as to which school in Istanbul he was going to study. But that he was pleased as punch about the opportunity El Moravi created for him to continue his studies in, on that I am prepared to bet. When Menahem kissed the hand of El Moravi on his departure, as was the custom, there was no lecture this time about the 613 injunctions. There was only a short "Menahem I count on you" statement. And there certainly was someone to count upon. Menahem finished high school in 1913, also with excellent results. The next year he started his study at the Faculty of Law of Dar-iil-Funun (Istanbul University). He had to interrupt them at the end of 1914 when World War I broke out to become a cadet in the school for reserve officers. He ended up serving as an Intelligence officer of the General Staff, but this is a story for later.

6 MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI) HOME AND FAMILY

The House El Moravi Built The Adato house was one of four houses which together formed a block. Of the four houses the first was El Moravi's, the second Avramachi's, his oldest son, the third Bea Adato's (Polikar) his only daughter and the fourth belonged to Moshon Mitrani, who married Neama Chiprut, my grandmother Esther Chiprut's younger sister. These houses were grouped around a large cortijo (interior courtyard) shared by all, allowing entrance from one house to another without going through the street. The four houses were located in a larger block in which there was a han (inn) for travelers. The han had a courtyard of its own for carriages and horses, and, in addition, two more smaller houses (see Sketch A at the end of the Chapter). In one of the two smaller houses Turkish families lived with whom the Adato family had good neighborly relations. The whole block was located ten minutes walking distance from the town's main street, presently called Cumhuriyet Caddesi (The Avenue of the Republic). Each one of the three Adato houses had two floors and a basement. Each floor had about 70 square meters of living space and in addition a basement of a size similar to a floor which was used as a storage area. Of the four houses, three were built with El Moravi's money. There was a large tree in the Adato section of the courtyard which bore a fruit similar to an apricot (djindjola in Ladino), and flower beds which Esther looked after. In the Avramachi part of the courtyard there was a large mulberry tree; otherwise it had no flowers; instead, a rather large flock of chickens was kept there. On the first floor of the house of El Moravi (see Sketch B) was his bedroom which he shared with his wife Sultanucha, a living and dining room combined, a kitchen with an oversized oven, and an area for laundry. The toilet and the bathroom were adjacent to the kitchen. To get to them and to the kitchen one had to go down a few steps.

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The centerpiece of the second floor was a rather large room, the largest in the house, used on religious events, weddings, circumcisions and others. Further away, and separated by translucent glass which served as a wall, was the bedroom of Lia, Esther, and their children. In this room there were two mattresses, one for the couple and the second for the children. Simanto, the youngest son of El Moravi, slept in a small room on the other side of the reception room on the second floor. Large number of mattresses were kept in the house for overnight guests—relatives and friends who slept in the reception room.

House Amenities Water: As expected, the house had no plumbing and running water. For purposes of drinking and cooking, water was brought from a public fountain called Yahudi Qe$mesi (The Fountain of the Jews). The fountain was a tenminute walk from the house. The task of bringing in potable water was given to the children, who were equipped for this purpose with containers of about four liters each, not an insignificant weight for a ten-year old child. The children had to queue for their turn to fill the containers, and sometimes fight, too, to keep their place in the queue. At times when there was heavy demand for potable water, the Adatos employed gypsy water carriers to bring in water to the house in exchange for a small payment. Also, but exceptionally, potable water was purchased from water carriers who used to make the rounds from house to house to sell spring water. Water for the laundry was collected as runoff from the roof and channeled into a cistern with a capacity of about 200 liters. For washing floors and watering the garden vegetables and fruit, water was obtained from a brackish artesian well in the garden. This water was drawn up by a rope and bucket, there being no pump. The Yahudi Qe§mesi was a public well and a place of social gathering for the Jewish Community. This was not because there was some apartheid system in force, but rather because the Jewish Community preferred it that way. The well was located in a large courtyard called El Cortijo Grande around which a number of Jewish families lived. This courtyard acted as a conduit for Community gossip, especially of the salacious variety. It was in this place that the young lot picked up bits and pieces of knowledge on "facts of life", mostly of questionable accuracy.

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Energy sources: Energy was needed for cooking and baking, for heating during cold periods, for heating water, and for light during the evenings. The supply of hot water in the house was a perennial problem, especially in the winter during which there never seemed to be enough of it. There were three sources of energy: firewood, charcoal and oil. Wood was burned in the only heating stove (soba) in the house, located in the living room of the first floor. This stove was also used continuously to heat water. The baking oven was also wood-burning. Charcoal was used in the braziers (mangal) for cooking, and for heating the second floor. Lighting oil was used to generate light in the evenings and early hours of the night. The lighting system consisted of bulbs made of translucent glass in which the oil lights burned. There was a boiler in which water could be heated by burning firewood; however the boiler could only be filled by buckets of water. As there was no running water in the house it must have been quite a nuisance to do this. There was a large oven in the house which was used for baking bread and for cooking, especially for Sabbaths and high holidays. The oven was large enough to meet not only the needs of the extended family that lived in the house, but also those of other relatives and friends living in the neighborhood. The women of the house did not like the additional work that this communal oven created, as they rightfully thought they had enough work of their own without working for others as well. Washing: The Adato family possessed a full-sized bath on the first floor, and a half-sized bath in the second floor in which a person could only sit. There were few homes in the Jewish Community that could boast this kind of luxury. Practically all of the Community men and women went to the public bath (hamam) to wash. In Kirklareli a mikveh (for ritual bathing, especially for women) was available inside the public Turkish bath. It was nevertheless built according to the specifications of the local Rabbinate. The Turkish owners of the public bath had no hesitations in meeting the requirements of the Jewish religious laws, firstly, because the Jewish Community was an important client for the services it offered, and secondly, because the relations between the Jewish and Turkish communities were so cordial. For Jewish women, washing in the public bath was a social occasion and a form of entertainment. This, in fact, was the only occasion in which women could have fun together, while being sure that no men were present. For this reason Adato women also frequented the public baths, even though

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they had adequate facilities to wash themselves in their own homes. Going to the public bath was a form of partying. The women would bring fruit and sweets with them to eat in the public bath; they would sing in the baths. Occasionally, they brought their Turkish women friends to join their partying. Daily Life in the Adato Home. The social order: The Adato household was run like a clan. El Moravi was the Head of the Clan, the undisputed and unconditional boss. Sultanucha his wife had the status of Managing Director, responsible for the daily running of the house. Her rule ran supreme on matters of running the house and she was the recognized lord and master of her daughter, daughters-in-law, on all matters under her jurisdiction. ' She decided on the division of work between her daughter, two daughters-in-law, the two Greek maids that resided in the house, and the occasional additional help that was used for heavy duty cleaning, laundering and gardening.2 The residents of the house: On average, three couples lived in the house. The permanent inhabitants of the house consisted of nine adults; six married people, one bachelor, two Greek maids, and up to five children at a time between the ages of one and twelve. There was, thus, a work force of five women to look after a household of fourteen persons including the children and the women themselves. This sounds like a rather large number of women house-workers, but believe it or not, on an average a woman had a working day of 12 hours except during the Sabbath! At times she would work longer. Food, its preparation and consumption: The preparation of food accounted for most of the working hours of the women in the household, wives, young daughters, and maids. In addition to preparing the daily food in conditions not necessarily the easiest by today's standards, making and tending the cooking fires, and carrying the water, they were under an obligation to produce many food items which in our times are either simply purchased in a super market or are not eaten at all (See Annex 6-A).

As an expression of her status her daughters-in-law were expected to wash her feet on some occasions. I could not find out how often, what occasions, and how wide the practice was. But that it lingered on quite a while there is no doubt. I had two testimonies on the practice, the second from a peer of my generation who, in the early fifties, was asked by her husband to wash the feet of his mother (her mother-in-law). At the time of the request the clan system of Sultanucha's days had collapsed a long time back, but the custom persisted with some, so it seems. The husband came of a family not originating from Kirklareli suggesting that it was not confined to it. h x is clear from this description that the income level of the household was above average, not only for the Jewish community, but for the Turkish and Bulgarian communities as well. The Greek community boasted the highest average income.

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The choice of food items was much more limited than in our times. For example, summer vegetables such as tomatoes were available at reasonable prices only between the end of June and the end of September. Outside these months a kilo of tomatoes could cost up to US$10 in today's prices if they could be had at all. A kilo of lemons cost US$20, even when they could be found. The Adato family, well to do as it was, did not consume more than three lemons a week, and their only use was in the cooking of fish. Fish was an absolute luxury and would be eaten only in Sabbath meals, Sea fish was almost totally unavailable. The nearest source of sea fish was Rodosto (Tekirdag) on the Marmara sea. Though only 100 kilometers away, it was a three-days' journey with the means available (horse and carriage or on mules) through the first two decades of the 20 th century. The normal supply was fresh water fish from the Merit; river (Maritsa in Greek and Bulgarian) which was about 60 kms west of Kirklareli and a day and a half journey. How El Moravi purchased fish: Every Thursday of the week El Moravi used to buy a teste de peshkado which was a bunch of fish, mostly of the fresh water variety, packed into a container made of soft balsa wood. This box of fish was expensive and highly visible—in brief a real status symbol. On such a Thursday afternoon El Moravi would walk along the Istanbul Yolu, the main street of the town, on his way home for the day, holding this container which everybody knew to contain expensive fish; and people would exclaim "there goes El Moravi with his teste de peshkado (pack of fish)", enhancing in the process his status and prestige in the Community! House keeping: This never ending occupation was pursued by the Adato women with a zeal which our contemporaries would describe as fanatical. There were four main categories of household work: (i) the daily routine, (ii) weekly or monthly jobs, such as laundry and heavy-duty house cleaning, (iii) seasonal activity, mainly the preparation of food products for the winter, and (iv) preparations preceding High Holidays. Preparations for High Holidays are described in the next chapter on the practice of religion. Sewing of clothes: With the exception of clothes worn on formal and ceremonial occasions, all clothes were made at home. Preparation of Ashuar (trousseaus), embroideries, household linen: When girls reached the age of 13/14 they would start spending a good deal of their time in such activity. This they did mostly in the afternoons, when the demands of other work in the house were lighter.

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Preparations for Winter The Kirklareli winter was harsher than what one would normally expect from a town located on the 42 nd parallel. Over the last years winters have become milder, but during the years of El Moravis' life, snow remained on the ground for weeks at a time. The town was completely cut off from the world. This was especially so before the town became linked to the railway system in 1912. Most of the preparations for winter concerned the production of food. Beginning in August through mid-October, this was a central occupation, which was carried on in addition to the daily routine. Large quantities of confiture and jam were prepared; fruits such as raisins and apricots were dried and made into sheets called pestil in Turkish. Also dried were grains and other legumes such as corn, lentils and beans. The task of the filling of eiderdowns with chicken feathers plucked and cleaned at home was an additional chore that created some commotion. Truly vast quantities of salsa (tomato concentrate) had to be prepared, as, after all, how could one imagine a Spanish kitchen without tomatoes, fresh or in the form of concentrates? Wholesale purchases were made of flour to bake bread, olive oil, rice, sugar, firewood, charcoal, and oil for lamps. It was important to buy these products on time, if one had the means to do so, and not during the winter, when, for sure, their prices would shoot up. As can be expected, the purchase of these bulk products was made by the men of the house. But getting the stocks into the house, and their storage in the basement was supervised by the women. The whole process created a commotion of rather impressive proportions, and added, during this season of the year, to the daily chores of the women. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that in the Adato home, and presumably in other homes with a comparable standard of living, the whole of the storage space was taken up by the stores for the winter, and as winter entered, the storage space would be filled to the brim with all the items needed to carry the family over until spring. One last activity that was part of winter preparations was the sewing of warm winter clothes. Life in Winter: In wintertime, life came almost to a standstill in Kirklareli. Shops would be closed except for a few which sold strictly essential products; but even those opened only for a few hours each day. People left their homes only for social visits. In extreme cases, when

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temperatures dropped down to well below freezing point, snow had accumulated up to 80 centimeters, and the wind was not blowing, an eerie silence descended on the town with almost nothing to mar it except, perhaps, for the occasional distant howl of a wolf. The windows of the first floor of the Adato home had shutters, but not those of the second floor. Just before the winter set in, the windows of the second floor were taped shut to prevent the glass from breaking and to prevent cold air from leaking in or heat being lost. Thus, the second floor was not aired for the whole winter season. Men sometimes visited coffee shops. Children were fortified with a short shot of raki farak) when they set out to school on very cold days, and when it was even colder, schools closed altogether.

Behavioral Norms Addressing parents: When addressing Sultanucha, her children called her Sinyora and used the third person to address her. Her grandchildren would address her as Marat Imi (In Hebrew, Mistress of my Mother). When addressing their father the children used the term Sinyor Padre, of course also in the third person. The children addressed their fathers rarely. When the children wanted something from their father, they would ask their mother, who, if she was agreeable to what they wanted, would pass on the request to their father. This practice was probably acquired from the Turks, many of whom kept this custom until the days of my generation. The change to the more informal practices of today occurred during the early 1890's, at least in the Adato family. The initiator of the change was Bohora (Bulisu) Saranga, the second wife of Barzilai Chiprut, my father's grandfather on his mother's side. His first wife, Rashel, died while giving birth to their fifth child. Bulisu, who was more commonly known as La Bulissa, was born in Istanbul, and she brought into the family all sorts of modern practices in every day life. When the orphans of Rashel started calling La Bulissa Sinyora Madre as they had their now dead mother, she told them the following: "I am not your Sinyora Madre. From now on you are to call me Mamma. I don't want to be called by you in any other way". And so it came to pass.

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Smoking: It was forbidden for the sons of El Moravi to smoke in the presence of their father no matter how old they were. Women, of course, did not dare to do so in his presence no matter who they were, out of respect to him. "Hanky-Panky" in the presence of El Moravi: Expressions of affection between men and women, even in their most innocent forms, were strictly forbidden in the Adato home. On one occasion, probably during a Sabbath eve dinner, Lia, his second son and my grandfather, got a sudden attack of affection towards Esther (my grandmother). He put his arm around her chair, slightly brushing her on the back in the process. The expression on the face of El Moravi when he saw this act was such that Lia quickly withdrew his arm. It is told that El Moravi did not speak to his son for a whole month following this event. The cult of reading: After the evening meal at the Adato home, most of the activity was reading, mostly by the men of the house. Every one of them had his book to read, usually books on religion, but sometimes secular subjects such as geography and history. Frivolous stuff of even the most respectable kind, such as classical literature, was not tolerated. This kind of life was totally foreign to Esther, who came from a rather warm home where a lot of "chatter-boxing" took place—in the words of El Moravi on the Chipruts, where people frequently had a good laugh, on one thing or another. The change of residence from the gay Chipruts to the austere Adatos, with their "End of the World is at the door" atmosphere, was quite a traumatic experience for Esther. Nobody had prepared her for this. It can be freely admitted that not much reading was done in the Chiprut home, and Esther herself was not literate. According to Esther's understanding, that she had acquired growing up in her parent's home, reading at home was a form of mourning, practiced on the anniversaries of dead persons such as the thirtieth day after some one's death. The special prayers which are read at homes on these occasions are called in Ladino, Meldado, which can be loosely translated into English as a "read-up". 1 It is, therefore, easy to understand that in Esther's mind reading was an activity chiefly associated with mourning the dead.

'in Ladino, meldar means to read. This word does not exist in modern Spanish where "leer" is the word for "to read". I must have sprung the word meldar on unsuspecting contemporary Spanish interlocutors on more than ten occasions in my time, and none of them knew what the word meldar meant and could not identify it even when I told them what it could have meant in ancient Spanish.

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Seeing the results of this Adato addiction night after night, Esther could not help herself exclaiming on one such night in a clearly audible voice, "I did not know that in your family you had so many dead people to mourn over!" The reaction to this outburst was not recorded in the family memory. I assume that the men turned their heads towards her in amazement, and then quickly went back to their reading without uttering a word. Sultanucha Not much was retained in the family memory about Sultanucha. A photographic portrait has survived. The photo is from 1911, a year before she accompanied her husband to Jerusalem. There appears in the photo a baby squatting in front of her. Sultana Adato (Bensusen), two-years-old at the time, her eldest granddaughter and my father's oldest sister who died in 2001 at the age of ninety-two. The reason why so little information was retained in the family about Sultanucha was most likely because of the dominating personality of her husband, El Moravi, who kept everybody busy in memory lane. The little we know about her can be reported in two tracks. In the first one of them, according to Sultana Adato (Bensusen) her granddaughter, she was a self-effacing person who, besides running an efficient household in a low profile way, was engaged in charity-related activity such as collecting alms for the poor, visiting sick people and supply them with medicines, providing unleavened bread to the poor for Passover and other similar good deeds. Secondly, as told by Esther to her daughter-in-law Rashel Salinas (my mother), she had another side to her personality. She had, in fact, the character of a tough sergeant-major of a most uncompromising kind. I guess that is how El Moravi expected her to run his household, and El Moravi was, no doubt, not an easy client to deal with himself. It seems she fulfilled his expectations rather well. Otherwise we surely would have heard! Esther cleaning windows in the Adato House: This was not an agreeable chore, and all the women of the house took turns doing it. It seems that Esther was not so good at cleaning windows, at least, not at times. So how did Sultanucha deliver the message to her that she was not satisfied with the results of her window cleaning on a specific occasion? Equipping herself with a bucket of water filled to the brim, Sultanucha asked Esther to follow her, without saying a word. When they reached the first window Esther was supposed to have cleaned, she splashed the window with the water in the bucket and told her "Wash them again!" and left her.

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Esther told this story to my mother Rashel, her daughter-in-law, at a time when Rashel felt that Esther was being a little overbearing towards her. Esther concluded the story to my mother by adding "Before you start complaining about your mother-in-law, know what kind of mother-in-law I had!" How spinach was cleaned in the Adato household, about 1905-1910: Among the various chores which Esther had to perform was the cleaning of spinach—of course while conforming to the cleaning standards and methods which Sultanucha prescribed. Accordingly, the spinach had to be rinsed a number of times to get rid of the earth or sand. In addition, Esther, like everybody else who did the cleaning, would have to go over the whole lot, leaf by leaf, to make sure that there was no guzano (worm) hiding among the leaves which might have escaped the cleaning process. The usual quantity to be cleaned at a time was about eight kilos. Spinach cleaning literally took hours. After a few years of acting as a disciplined and submissive daughter-inlaw, doing what she was told by her mother-in-law, the Mistress of the House, Esther decided that enough was enough, at least regarding the way the spinach was to be cleaned. The fact that after years of cleaning she had discovered practically no worms in the spinach strengthened her resolve to do something about her predicament in this regard. She organized an underground plan among the household women, the goal of which was to divert Sultanucha's attention while Esther was cleaning spinach. For this purpose she got the cooperation of Mazaltucha, El Moravi's sister, and that of La Bulissa, who was her step-mother and with whom she got on well. She then stopped looking for guzanos leaf by leaf, and as a result, the time she spent on the job was reduced by two thirds. The new set-up worked rather well until, through a mishap, Sultanucha discovered that she was being had by Esther. Sultanucha, in her usual laconic ways, said nothing to Esther. The spinach was duly cooked, and arrived at the table to be served in a Sabbath evening meal. Dishing out the food was the job of Simanto, El Moravis' youngest son. El Moravi was the first to be served, followed by Sultanucha. When Simanto filled up the first plate and passed it to El Moravi, Sultanucha intervened by pushing the plate away from El Moravi while saying to him: Vos no komeran de esta espinaka. Esta espinaka no es para vos! (His Honor will not eat this spinach. This spinach is not fit to be eaten by His Honor.) From the expression on Esther's face, the Old Fox knew precisely what was happening.

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He answered his wife in the following way: Vos keresh no komash. Lo ke Ester aze yo ya lo komo. (If Her Honor so wills it, Her Honor should not eat it. What Esther does, [cooks] I eat). To which Sultanucha replied in a sassy Turkish idiomism which is no longer in use §imdi hiirmet zengine ve guzele ("now respect is to the rich and the beautiful). El Moravi did not reply to the repartee, and thus allowed his wife to have the last word. From this day onwards Sultanucha did not oppress Esther as much as she had done, at least as far as cleaning spinach was concerned. Two interesting sidelines to the incident are the way husband and wife addressed each other, in public. The point concerns the pronoun vos. In the languages commonly spoken in that culture, there are two forms of address like the French tu and vous, and sen and siz in Turkish, in modern Spanish, there is tu and usted. Vos is a third and even more formal pronoun which today is no longer in use except possibly when addressing royalty. That is how El Moravi and Sultanucha, man and wife, addressed each other in public. And how did they address each other in private? I guess we will never know the answer to this question. The second point of note is Sultanucha's use of Turkish. Jews knew little Turkish at the time, particularly women. That in a moment of tension and psychological discomfort Sultanucha shifted to Turkish to express herself, is unusual. The intriguing question: is it possible that during those days Jews knew Turkish better than they did in the next two generations (my grandfathers' and fathers')? If this could be established it would be a major discovery. The story of the large oven, about 1907-1910: As was mentioned previously, there was an oven in the Adato home of a size larger than required for the needs of one household. Other extended family members, and even friends and neighbors used to make demands on it, especially during weekends and festive occasions. This meant more work for the women of the household. At some point after a number of years, Esther had had enough of this oven and went straight to El Moravi, over the head of Sultanucha. In the name of all the household women she told him that after doing the housework which they needed to do to keep the house running, none of them had the strength to do such work for others as well. Her appealing to the "Big Boss" in this fashion without going through Sultanucha would normally have been considered out of line, and even impertinent. However, this not withstanding, the verdict of the Big Boss was "Este orno no va estar mas", (This oven will not be [exist] anymore). And so it was. A smaller oven was constructed inside the large one. From this time onwards no space was available in the family oven for anyone outside the house.

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The El Moravi-Esther Relationship A number of examples have already been given showing the special relationship that existed between El Moravi and Esther. It seems she was the only one in the family who was not afraid to look at him eye-to-eye and talk to him on a one-to-one basis. It also seems that El Moravi had a soft spot in his heart for her, even though he initially strongly objected to her marrying Lia, and tried his level best to get him out of the marriage. The marriage of Lia and Esther, 1903: Lia saw Esther for the first time when in the company of Neama, her younger sister. She was promenading on an afternoon in the main street of Kirklareli. On top of their dresses both of the girls were wearing a cloak called a polka, which at the time was the dernier cris from Paris. They had some make-up on as well, which until the appearance of La Bulissa, their step-mother, had been unheard of in Kirklareli. The Adato family credits La Bulissa for this revolutionary change in what women were allowed to do or not to do. At the time, Esther was eighteen years old, and Neama, sixteen. Both were good looking, but Ester was stunningly so. For Lia, it was a case of love-at-first-sight. I don't believe that they exchanged even a few words before they became engaged. El Moravi was strongly against the marriage. He investigated the Chiprut family, which was one of the old and well-to-do families of Kirklareli, being even better off than the Adatos. He found their penchant to "live it up" not to his taste. However, his strongest objection was due to having found out that Esther was una mujer fuerta (a woman with a strong will) who would not submit easily to a husband. In fact, she had opinions of her own on practically every subject, and had no inhibitions about voicing them whenever the opportunity arose. Some examples have already been given. El Moravi tried to prevent the marriage as much as he could. He sent Lia out of Kirklareli on business trips as often as possible. More often than not he sent Lia out with Avramachi, his brother, who was older than Lia by fourteen years, with the special request that whenever they visited a town, they should get information on young women who had reached marriageable age, to find among them one who had the attributes of a good wife and who was at least as beautiful as Esther, or better still, even more beautiful. El Moravi thought that he had the capability to see to the rest, in order to make her Lia's wife.

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To play it safe, Lia beseeched Avramachi to tell their father that no such maiden could be found. According to the family memory, Avramachi cooperated, and reported to El Moravi that a better match than Esther just could not be found for Lia. This, it seems, was not that difficult to report, given the looks of Esther. The conflict Lia had with his father, who was so firmly against the marriage, caused considerable havoc in Lia's psyche. According to the story told by Rashel Salinas my mother, which she heard from Buka Behar (Salinas) her mother, on one of the occasions when it was Lia's duty to draw water from the well in the courtyard of their house, he was seen drawing water with tears flowing from his eyes while sobbing in a loud voice and exclaiming Yo kero Ester, yo hero Ester, (I want Esther, I want Esther). There was some debate in the family at the time as to whether the amount of water from his tears was larger or smaller than the amount of water he was drawing. In the end El Moravi softened up, after the reports Avramachi brought to him that a maiden with the good looks of Esther could not be found during any of their trips. He finally ended up giving his blessing to the marriage. Surprise or no surprise, once he agreed to the deal and the marriage was consummated, El Moravi ended up liking and much appreciating Esther. As evident from previous stories and those still to be told, he found a way to soften, on occasions, the way he ruled the home, in favor of Esther. What was wrong, after all, with an old man seeing in his house a pretty young woman of some temperament, doing her share of the daily chores? The story of how El Moravi taught a lesson to his son about being considerate to his wife, 1904-1908: Like his father, Lia had an active Community life. According to Esther he would often not return before nine o'clock at night. But worse still, he would not tell her ahead of time when he would return home for the day. On one of those days past eight at night, when Lia had still not returned, El Moravi asked Esther to hide herself in one of the rooms of the house which was not used frequently, and told her not to come out until he asked her to do so. Lia came back at a late hour and upon asking his father where Esther was, was told by El Moravi that he did not know. Lia then looked for her through the cortijo in all the houses of the families in the block, and of course she was not to be found in any of them, either. At this point Lia was almost in a state of panic, as young women would never go out of the house at such late hours without the knowledge of their husbands, except in a dire emergency. Perhaps something bad had

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happened to her, who knows? At this point El Moravi asked her to come out of her hiding place with the following remark to Lia: "Just as you worried about her this time, she worries like this about you most of the nights of the week". "Room Service" for Esther, 1903: The first months of Esther's life after taking up residence as a daughter-in-law in the Adato house were not easy. Avramachi's first four boys, were of school age, and probably somewhat unruly as boys of that age tend to be. The morning hours were particularly chaotic until the boys were sent off to school. In her father's house Esther was not used to this kind of commotion. Noticing her state of embarrassment and confusion, El Moravi appeared one morning in front of the couple's room after Lia had already gotten up, with a piece of dry cake in his hands telling her, "You still don't have children and there is no reason why you should get up so early to eat a piece of bread. Why don't you wait until the children leave home for school and then get up?" It is not known how long this arrangement of "room service" lasted. However, the gist of the message was clear, namely not to feel uncomfortable about not getting up early in the morning if you do not have to. El Moravi's gesture at the end of Esther's third pregnancy, 1909: Sultana, Lia's and Esther's first daughter, was born in the first days of 1909 when the winter was particularly severe. The large stove which provided heat to the house was on the first floor and not very effective in heating the second floor where Lia and Esther slept, and where the windows lacked shutters. During the last month of her pregnancy Esther started feeling unwell and nobody could tell what was wrong with her. When El Moravi saw her discomfort, remembering the circumstances of her mother's death, and thinking of the worst possibility, he asked her to share the big bedroom where he and Sultanucha slept, near the stove until she gave birth. Esther the Temptress, about 1904-1910: Esther missed a lot of the warmth of her father's home, and wanted to preserve her connection with it. For Barzilai Chiprut her father, any occasion was adequate to serve as an excuse for a celebration and throwing a party with good food and a little drink. Esther hated the thought of missing any of these occasions, but the only way she could participate in them was by talking Lia into not turning down such invitations from his father-in-law, as he was prone to do.

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In this respect, for better or for worse Lia was a true Adato. He was a teetotaler to boot, except for drinking wine as required on religious occasions in well defined quantities. Except at the intellectual level, his capacity for enjoyment was limited. In brief, he was the true antithesis to a Chiprut. So what did Esther do? The day of a happening at the Chipruts, or one day preceding it, she would invent some guile to lure Lia out of his store and have him lunch with her at home alone. She would cajole him until she succeeded in extracting from him the promise to attend the next celebration at the house of Barzilai Chiprut.

Eating Habits and Dishes During most of El Moravi's life, and of course, during previous generations, the food was eaten on the floor. The family sat on a carpet or rug around pots and dishes, each of which contained a dish. Everyone dipped into the pots with spoons or hands, depending on the food, and ate to their hearts content.1 Those partaking of the meal sat in a semi-squatting position or crosslegged around the pots containing the food. Each person was equipped with a pillow or cushion which he or she kept on their right knee or lap, as the case may be. On the cushion lay a piece of cloth. Both the cushions and the clothes had some fine embroidery on them. These were used to put the bread on, while bits of bread were broken off and combined with whatever dish was to be taken from the pots and popped into the mouth. The cloths were also used as napkins with which to wipe hands at the end of the meal, and no doubt there was something to wipe off! 2 This way of eating was practiced in the Adato family until the last decade of the nineteenth century. The same La Bulissa from Istanbul who has already been mentioned on two other occasions, comes into the picture on this subject also. Upon her coming into the Chiprut family as Barzilai's new wife, she declared that eating on the floor out of common pots was a backward practice and should be abandoned in favor of eating from a table around which people would sit on chairs, and that every person sitting around the table should have his own plate into which the person would transfer food from common pots. 'They shared this style of eating with the Turks. I had the occasion to eat this way as late as 1954 in one of my trips to a village in the Vilayet of Sivas in Central Anatolia. 2 A set of cushions and napkins of the Adato family which are now more than one hundred years old was passed on from generation to generation until it got into the hands of Suzy Ojalvo (Harpaz), my cousin, who donated it to the Israel Museum. My efforts to trace this set in the Museum were to no avail.

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The proposed change was quite drastic, even revolutionary, but La Bulissa was that kind of a strong willed person. So, in a short time she had her way. Barzilai Chiprut was "persuaded" by his new wife to purchase a dining table, chairs and plates. However, resistance to the change there certainly was, as many thought that the change was unnecessary, and in particular, that plates, one for every individual around the table were superfluous articles. What Mosseh Levi thought about the new practice of eating out of plates, 1893, Purim: Mosseh Levi was married to Ester's sister, Mazalto Chiprut. He was an integral member of the Chiprut clan, not only by marriage, but because of his personality and outlook as well. He was a bon viveur, fond of a bit of carousing whenever he had the chance, an inveterate gambler, a dancer (to which I can personally bear witness), and to top it all, a first rate clown. In his last capacity, in particular he was adored by the children, including myself. On the occasion of a Purim dinner, probably the first time ever in which the Chiprut family was sitting around a table and eating out of plates, Mosseh was seen to arrive carrying a pile of red tiles in his arms. He came in to the table around which people were already seated. Everybody was too astonished to say anything about the tiles he was holding, but as this was Purim, and he was the family clown, everybody was smiling in expectation. Mosseh started to lay down a tile next to the plate of each person who was seated. When asked by Barzilai the host of the occasion what on earth he was up to, he told them that he had heard that it was now the fashion to provide every person during a meal with a "superfluous object" (i.e. a plate), and since he was a strong believer in following fashion and even improving on it, why not give everyone seated by the table an additional superfluous object, namely a red tile! Well, this was Purim and members of the Chiprut family were good natured people, so no one got angry. (I wonder what kind of reaction there would have been in the Adato household, even if this had happened there at a dinner table during Puriml) Eventually this way of eating spread to other families, including the Adatos. However, the use of knives and forks, and eating out of more than one plate in a single meal was still a long way to come. In fact it came in the 1920's, thirty years later.

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Getting-up and meals during weekdays: Upon getting up in the morning, the men of the house performed all the religious duties which a Jew is expected to perform according to the rules of the Shulhan Aruh. (These were mostly discontinued by the time my grandfather was a middle-aged person.) Having gone through the religious rituals as prescribed, the start of the day was made by drinking a cup of Turkish coffee and smoking a cigarette, except of course, on Sabbaths. Practically all the men, and some of the women smoked, while all of them drank coffee. It was told to me more than once by people of that generation, that an adult cannot start functioning properly in the morning without his first cup of coffee and a cigarette. The embers which remained in the stove from the fire of the previous day were sufficient, when transferred to the mangals (braziers), to make the morning coffee, following which the stove and the mangals were rekindled. During the summer, too, it was necessary to rekindle the fires for the daily cooking. Breakfast: Adults ate irregularly in the morning, if at all. Children, on the other hand, had a regular breakfast, especially those who went to school. During winter months they would be fed with toast on which butter and honey, jam or cheese was spread. During cold days they were also given hot milk to drink, but normally they just drank water, not even tea. Lunch: The men would eat at their stores the food which was sent to them from home in a container consisting of three parts (one for each dish), called a sefertasi in Turkish. The children would eat with the women of the house, although not necessarily with all of them. Lunch would normally consist of a single course but with a large serving, mostly a vegetable of the season cooked in olive oil, onions, and tomato sauce to be eaten, of course with large quantities of bread. In addition there would be salad and fruit. Perhaps twice a week there would be grilled cutlets of lamb or mutton, or meatballs made of minced beef, or the offals of chicken such as igadikos and molejikas, (liver, gesier), The idea of additions to a main dish as garniture such as rice or vegetables was unknown. Thus, meat was eaten separately, as a dish with no additions, and so were individual vegetables. The only exception was the eating of rice with beans (aroz kon fijones in Kjrklareli Ladino). All other dishes were single item dishes, but with a thin sauce which one could enjoy only by resorting to eating large quantities of bread as a sauce absorber. Maybe the intention was to encourage the eating of a lot of bread. It is not

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clear whether bread-eating was brought over f r o m Spain or copied f r o m the Turkish milieu. 1 There was quite a bit of eating between meals, as well. The children of the whole clan liked very much the whole wheat bread baked by Bea Adato (Polikar), El Moravi's daughter. Once the news reached them that Tia (aunt) Bea was just taking bread out of the oven, they would flock into her house through the Cortijo, and she was always obliging. And if they were lucky they would get a piece of kashkaval or white cheese to go with it. Evening Meal: This was identical with lunch, both in form and content. The men would be served after the children and women had eaten. On weekdays they were the only ones privileged to eat meat in the evening meal. My father, Menahem Adato, told me how, in the evening meals, children would be served fijones with plenty of tomato sauce that they would scoop u p with bread. Then they would retire and watch their fathers sit around the table, and lo and behold, the same fijones would come with meat or chicken added to them. The children often saw this, but thought that this was part of the order of G o d ' s creation, though nevertheless longed f o r the time when they, too, would become adults and receive meat from their wives in their evening meals. For one of these children, my father, his expectations on the subject were to end u p in disappointment. When he became a father of two himself, I heard him complain that when a boy, the best pieces in the meals used to go to his father, but now having become a father himself, the best pieces went to his children!

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Food items which at that time were prepared at home but are now purchased from stores: Bread Round whole wheat bread weighing about a kilo. Sarssicha de Carne Similar to French saucisson but could also be eaten fried or cooked. Tomato puree In absolutely enormous quantities as would be needed in a Spanish kitchen, to last for most, if not the whole of the winter.

1 Turks are absolutely huge bread eaters. For example, in 1942 in war years when bread had to be rationed, the bread ration was atfirst375 grams per person per day. For people doing heavy work, and for soldiers, the ration was 750 grams! Even with what in our minds would be considered such a large ration, a black market for bread sprang up overnight with the normal price three times larger than the price of rationed. In our times, we eat about 100-150 grams per day.

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Pekmez

A spread made of grapes in concentrated form, dark brown in color was also used as a substitute for sugar. The spread was sometimes mixed with Tahina (the two together were called Tahin-Pekmez) and eaten at breakfast, in particular during cold winter days, (I ate it in my childhood days—very tasty). Tahina Prepared from chick peas and used as above, not in its Middle Eastern forms. Grains The main types were beans and corn. They were bought fresh on the cob shelled and dried. Jams and confiture Of all kinds and in large quantities. White cheese The semi-finished product was purchased in bulk and then cut up into blocks of about half a kilo, salted, packed into tin cans, which would then be hermetically sealed, to last up to six months. Pickles Also in large quantities and in cans. Kirklareli pickles were famous for their taste. We received canfulls of the stuff, mostly cabbage and cucumber during my childhood days in Istanbul. Leblebi Dried chickpeas to be eaten like other types of nuts. In practically all homes, chickens were kept for the fresh eggs they produced, consumed mostly by children. For other uses in cooking, eggs were bought in the market. Foods which are no longer eaten: Hardaliye A brew produced from the juice of grapes which was allowed to ferment. When the fermentation reached an advanced stage, considerable amounts of sharp mustard was added to add "kick" and assure its preservation. It was consumed during winter. Sudjuk de muezes A form of saucisson, but it was filled with raisins and nuts (walnuts and others) which in time eventually became a rather thick, glue-like substance. It was then sliced for eating. Halva de Bimbrio Made from quinces which were first minced into pulp and then dried to a point where they acquired the constancy of a dried fruit cake and was eaten as such. Lop This was a jelly made of prunes. Fideo also called The fideo was similar to fettucini but thinner. The couscous was not "cuscus" the North African variety which is well-known all over the world, but was made of dough shaped into small balls of about twice the size of cooked rice grains. This was very tasty stuff indeed whose like I have never eaten since I was at my Grandmother Buka Salinas' (Behar) home when I was eight years old. I have looked over all over the world for this pasta, but to no avail. Garvansso Chickpeas, dried roasted and mixed with coffee with the contention that it "improved" the taste of coffee. Believe it or not, rich people did the same.

Sketch 1 The Adato Block (1910)

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7 MENAHEM ADATO (EL MORAVI), HIS RELIGION, THE CELEBRATION OF THE SABBATH

His Religion In previous chapters, events were described from El Moravi's life, indirectly showing the central role religion played in his life. However, the pivotal role it played was not described in explicit fashion and I would like to do so in the present chapter and the next. During El Moravi's days everybody was religiously observant as a matter of course. Religion was an inseparable and central feature of the social norms of the times. Society was not tolerant towards individuals with lifestyles which did not include substantial religious observance. However El Moravi's commitment to his religion went beyond its observance as a social norm. As far as he was concerned, the observation of each one of the "613 do and don't" injunctions had to be total and unconditional. He believed in keeping each one of them to the letter, with all his mind and heart, and this belief he put into practice without ifs and buts. Putting on phylacteries every morning and praying to the Almighty three times a day as prescribed was a matter taken for granted, like breathing air and eating. For El Moravi, religion was an intensively personal matter. God, according to him, decided on the course of all events in the world, and the fates, to the most minute detail of Jews and Gentiles alike, as well as all living creatures, inanimate objects, and, it goes without saying, his own personal life. As he saw it, he had a contract with the Almighty. When he needed help he had no inhibitions about appealing to the Almighty for assistance, in the most personal terms, invoking for the purpose the terms of his "contract" with Him. According to the stories, he was granted the assistance he appealed for. This only confirmed his faith that both sides were sticking to their bargain.

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I am not sufficiently acquainted with the definition or meaning of the term Tsadik. Loosely translated into English, the word means a holy or "just person" though with heavy religious overtones. "Saint" in a Christian sense would be too strong a word, as in the Jewish religion there are no institutionalized saints who are worshipped. I am therefore hesitant over attributing him that characterization. However, that he was a special person in a religious context, I have no doubt. That he was addressed as Hoca by Turks despite his not being a Muslim also says something about how he was perceived by them. An interesting aspect of how El Moravi was perceived by the public was the way the women of the Jewish Community acted when they came across him in the street or in public places. Although these women were of modest demeanor and wore scarves to cover their hair, they had no problems walking in the streets alone, unaccompanied by their men folks, during any time of the day. Yet it was the custom of the women to avoid looking at him in order not to distract him with their feminine appearance. My mother, Rashel Salinas (Adato) was three years old when El Moravi left Kirklareli for Jerusalem so that she had no personal memories of him. Yet she so revered him that whenever his name was mentioned she was moved. She told me when I was eighteen years old, that the night before her first born arrived (your humble servant), she dreamt of El Moravi. In her dream he brought her a baby boy in his arms, and wearing a severe expression on his face, "just as in his photo", he announced to her " I am here to bring you an important son". The story highlights the halo surrounding El Moravi, at least in family circles and possibly beyond.

The Celebration of the Sabbath There is no doubt that the Sabbath was considered to be the most important holiday for the Adato household. In the religious sense of the term Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is considered to be the Sabbath of the Sabbaths and as such would be included in the definition. As in most Jewish homes of the times, El Moravi would have referred to the Sabbath as "The Queen". Every week he greeted her arrival with the same sense of devotion and joy as if he was greeting her for the first time in his life. Preparations for the Sabbath: The first step was the cleaning and the polishing up of the house as if it had not been cleaned since its construction. Second came the preparation of three full meals beginning Friday evening, then Saturday lunch and finally Saturday evening. Kidush "brunch", was also served, all for about ten adults, five children and even more, if guests were expected. All these meals had to be cooked before the Sabbath "entered" the Adato home.

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The Sabbath meals were the only ones in the week when all members of the family, adults and children ate together. The food eaten during the Sabbath was incomparably superior to the one consumed in a week-day, both in quality and quantity. The task of preparing the Sabbath meals was a heavy one, with Sultanucha supervising its execution with her usual exactitude and severity combined. Preparations started during the afternoon hours of Thursday. The vegetables were cleaned and prepared for cooking, and so was the chicken and fish. The meat went through its pre-cooking treatment according to the requirements of Kashrut. The household women were up by five o'clock on Friday morning. Their first duty was to prepare the dough for the bread to be baked. Then of course came the cooking itself. Sultanucha, her two daughters-in-law, and the two Greek maids worked feverishly until about four o'clock in the afternoon to clean the house and do the rather vast amount of cooking, at the end of which the work was ended, and the Adato home was prepared to "greet the Queen". About that time, after having closed the store for the weekend, El Moravi would come home accompanied by his three sons who lived in his home. Upon seeing the state of the home a hint of a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face. According to the family memory this was the only moment during the week when people saw him smile. This was his way of paying a compliment to the job Sultanucha and her cohorts did, to prepare the house for the "Queen's" visit. With the approach of the Sabbath, El Moravi and his sons went to the Synagogue for the evening prayers. Upon their return home they found a table waiting for them, and the Sabbath candles already lit by Sultanucha, a task she was not prepared to share with any of her daughters-in-law unless she was very sick. The evening meal: Holding in his hand a large silver goblet filled with wine El Moravi recited the Kidush (sanctification) prayer recited eveiy Sabbath eve (Friday evening), sharing the wine from the same cup with all the males. There was a second goblet for female adults to drink from, following the recital of the prayer, and a third one for the children. After the Kidush and the blessing of the bread came the meal. The contents of a typical Sabbath meal are described in Annex 7-A in its Gargantuan detail. The meal was a nine course affair and in addition not a negligible quantity of bread was consumed. Otherwise how could those tasty gravies of the various dishes be scooped up?

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Simanto, the youngest son was charged with the task of dishing out the food. He first served El Moravi, next Sultanucha, then the eldest son present followed by his wife, until all the adults were served. The children were the last to be served. It might have taken quite a while for the children to be served, with their patience, of which they had only a child's portion, severely tried at times. However, Simanto had a knack for somehow satisfying them, and he seems to have got on well with them. The conversation around the table was confined to matters of religion only, and mostly had to do with the weekly Parasha, (the portion of the Tora read in the Synagogue on that particular Sabbath). Only the men talked. The women did not participate in the conversation. Possibly they talked a little between themselves though in quiet tones. Children were not expected to talk at all except in an emergency. Children talking around a table in the presence of adults was considered to be ill mannered. If it persisted it was a clear sign that they were not being properly educated by their mothers. This, of course, could not be in the Adato house (!), and hence the children were quiet as expected. In the conversation El Moravi acted like a chairman. He would hear comments and opinions and as needed would spur the conversation on, although such need seldom arose, as the Adatos loved to argue and still do, especially among themselves. In 1905 Avramachi was 40 years old, Lia (my grandfather) 26, and Simanto 22. The sense of comradeship between the three brothers was fairly limited; the reason for this state of relations was not confined to differences in age. The tensions between them found expression in arguments over religious matters. Simanto the youngest, was a no-hold barred adherent of the house of Shamai, who was the provider of the most severe interpretations of the Torah and Halacha laws. The ideological preferences of Lia were not entirely clear, and as a matter of fact, remained so right unto his dying day in 1958. He was full of principles that were sometimes at odds with each other. Also, at times the impression was gained that on any given occasion Lia came out with whichever one of his principles produced the greatest argument, and in particular would provoke Simanto, the last result not being particularly difficult to achieve. Avramachi the eldest was the more easy going and less argumentative type and his attitude to his much younger brothers was a little condescending in terms of "...well, these young boys..." and to get into too close arguments

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with them as equals was a little beneath his dignity and hence to be avoided. Generally he was not an active participant of the discussions on the Parasha. To the extent that he did participate, he tended towards the House of Hillel who advocated flexibility and a readiness to adapt the laws to change without sacrificing principle. Under all circumstances the brothers tried their level best that the differences of opinion between them remained subdued. This they did out of respect for their father. The discussion would proceed in the following manner: Each person would express his opinion about the subject at hand and there would be some argument up until the point where El Moravi would express his opinion about the controversy, usually in indirect and cryptic fashion. This was a sign to the people present to move on to the next point, which they promptly did. The procedure was changed only when there was someone around the table who was an unquestioned authority on religious subjects, such as a guest Rabbi. All this happened while having a nine course meal. After the meal was completed the blessing of thanksgiving for the meal (Birkat Hamazon) was sung by the men around the table. This is a rather long blessing. It could normally take up to half an hour to sing if done in unhurried fashion, and this was the way of El Moravi. His intention was to thank the Almighty with all his heart for this great meal which He enabled them to enjoy. This was in contradiction to many people who mumble the prayer at immense speed in less than ten minutes, as a result of which its true meaning is lost. El Moravi had a good voice and he led the singing in the rendering of the thanksgiving. In certain parts of the prayer all the men would join the singing raising their voices, especially when it came to the repeated part "Bnei Yerushalayim be yemeynu" (And build Jerusalem during our time...) and "Yerushalayim shufra de shufra" (Jerusalem the excellent of the excellents). El Moravi used to sing the blessing on each expected occasion with no sense of routine. During each Sabbath evening he sang as if he was singing it for the first time in his life. If a guest would try to recite it too fast, or not clearly, a frozen expression would appear on El Moravis' face. He would say nothing but one of his sons would quietly tell the guest what the trouble was, following which the "offender" would quickly give up the idea of rushing through the prayer. The Friday night meal would last from three to four hours including the reciting of the blessings at the beginning and the end, following which everybody retired to bed.

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Activity during the day of the Sabbath: El Moravi and his three sons would come back from the Synagogue at about eleven. Lia and Simanto argued with each other all the way back on some esoteric point in the Parasha of the week. The arguments of the two on religion matters literally had no end. In fact according to a first hand witness (Juliet Albagli -Adato-), they continued right up to 1958 in Givatayim, in Israel, at the home of Liezer Adato (Lia's youngest son), three months before Lia died back in Kirklareli. The arguments between the two brothers could range from the intellectually most esoteric all the way to the most petty. My mother Rashel Salinas (Adato) who could be quite catty on Adatos arguing gave me two examples. The first was, if a beggar turned up at your home on a Sabbath, is it allowed to give him alms, and in particular, could you give him money with the last causing the fiercest arguments between the two brothers. A second example concerned the parting of the Red Sea for the Children of Israel to cross when they fled from Egypt. On that occasion did Moses hit the ground with his staff once or twice? The argument on this subject was so fierce, that following it the two brothers reputedly not talked to each other for two whole months! The Synagogue the Adatos frequented, the one in town, was about two hundred years today. I visited it myself in February 1997. 1 describe it in Annex 7-B. After the traditional Kidush (Sanctification) prayer, which was recited upon returning from the Synagogue, a meal somewhat like a brunch was spread for the hungry men who had had no breakfast. The main items were various pies called borekas, tapadas, and kesadas, filled with white cheese, or aubergine puree when in season, with their crust laced with kashkaval cheese dipped into egg yolk and then baked. The pies were eaten accompanied by hard boiled eggs (huevos haminados) cooked on a slow fire over several hours, as part of the cooking of the hamin, eaten at Sabbath lunch. Sometimes there would also be light sweet dishes made of milk (in Turkish siitlag, and mahallebi). The standard drink on the occasion was arak (raki in Turkish). More often than not, there would be guests present with the Community Rabbi often attending the occasion. The brunch was for starters. Around one o'clock in the afternoon, after due time had passed to shift to a meat diet, lunch was served. The meal had fewer dishes than the dinner of the preceding evening. It was also lighter (it followed suit only about one hour after brunch) and consisted of cold dishes only, with the exception of the hamin, a meat stew consisting mainly of a

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goulash type meat and beans cooked over a very slow fire for some twenty hours. It was thus kept warm without desecrating the "thou shall not light nor put out a fire during Sabbath" commandment. During lunch wine was not drunk. The meal including the blessing at the end, lasted about two hours. As soon as the table was cleared El Moravi kept his three sons around the table. Gemara or other books were fetched and a study session began. Texts were read, with discussion following. This probably went on for an hour or more, after which the sons were allowed to do what they liked, provided, of course, that no desecration of the Sabbath was involved, real or imagined. El Moravi expected them to continue reading, each in his quiet corner but never checked whether this was in fact what was happening and according to the family, wisely so. We have no knowledge of what the sons did once dismissed. I would not be surprised if young Simanto went on reading some holy text but not the other two. The children were required to keep quiet. If they could not, they could read a little, but games they were not allowed to play. Playing a ball game of any kind in the holy Sabbath was severely punishable. El Moravi now remained alone, still wrapped in his prayer shawl. He may have done a little more studying, meditating and possibly reading to himself one or two psalms after which he, also retired, probably not for more than an hour. After the rest, the time came for "sending off the Queen". During Sabbath El Moravi went to the Synagogue for Friday evening prayers and probably for no more than a few hours in the morning. Otherwise, he never left the house. He had two reasons for acting this way. The first had to do with his perception that too many people in the Synagogue trivialized the occasion by excessive chattering, mostly over matters that had nothing to do with worshipping God, and he did not want to be a witness to the trivialisation of the Sabbath. However, his main reason for avoiding going out was the dread he felt over the possibility that while walking from his home to the Synagogue and back, he might witness a Jew desecrating the Sabbath. For him the witnessing of such an act was equivalent to being punched in the face, it would have hurt him so. The end of the Sabbath and the farewell to the "Queen": The Havdala (Separation) between the holy Sabbath and ordinary days was said. A light meal was had, and this time truly light, consisting of uncooked items such as breads cheeses, jams etc, following which Esther and Lia left home to the home of Barzilai Chiprut her father. This was fun time with all the Chipruts gathered together.

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Annex 7-A The Sabbath Menus

Sabbath Dinner 1. Fish cooked in a sauce called agristada comprising eggs and lemon (Greeks call it avgalemono which tells better what it is) 2. Aroz kon fijones (rice and beans) or as called in Edirne Ladino djurguelos. The two were cooked separately the rice in a juice of chicken and the beans in a tomato sauce. The two were mixed in the plate only. 3. Dolmas, stuffed vegetables such as tomatoes, courgettes, cabbage leaves, eggplants, or peppers, all depending on the season of the year. The stuffing would be mostly meat and the remainder mostly rice, but also onion, parsley and dill. Only one kind of vegetable would be served. In the winter, when stuffable vegetables were in short supply, also leaks, and of course, spinach was eaten. Dolmas, a second serving with a different vegetable. 4. 5. Chicken, but sometimes also meat, of a goulash type served alone. The dish was cooked in a tomato based gravy and plenty of it. 6. In the winter, pickled vegetables of different kinds of home manufacture. In summer fresh vegetable salad consisting of tomatoes, cucumber, onions quashed in salt and water to do away with the sharpness of the onion smell (sevoyas abafadas), parsley and dill, with an oil and vinegar dressing. 7. Nuts of the season, like walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds grown in the vicinity, all untreated except for drying. 8. Stewed fruit with fruit depending on the season, but often apples and pears and when these were unavailable apricots, and prunes dried during the previous summer. 9. Sweet borekas with a filling consisting of ground hazelnuts, sugar, cloves and cinnamon, served in a sugary sauce (absolutely delicious). All the main dishes would be eaten in with considerable amounts of bread as appropriate. The food was cooked exclusively with olive oil, both the cold and the hot dishes. Sabbath lunch following on from the Kidush brunch 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Fish cooked the same way as in the dinner of the previous evening. Dolmas a' but with a rice filling. Dolmas b' but with a rice filling. Hamin, with a dried bean base plus chicken or meat cooked on a very slow fire for about 20 hours. Pickled vegetables or vegetable salad in the summer, the same as on Friday night. Fruit stew, the same as on Friday night.

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Annex 7-B The Kirklareli Synagogue in Present Day I visited the Synagogue during my trip to Kirklareli in February 1997. This a modestly dimensioned synagogue but with proportions pleasing to the eye which exudes a sense of homely comfort. It can sit about 150 men in the main ground floor and about 50 women in the gallery on its second floor. There is nothing in it, either its furniture or other fixtures that would suggest pretension or ostentation; only a feeling of Gemütlichkeit. Its floor is white marble though a little gray probably due to its age. The floor is uneven, and at spots has caved in a little, creating dips and a few cracks. It gives an unmistakable impression that many many feet of many generations must have walked over it during the 200 years of its history. The synagogue is well maintained, in excellent condition, and kept spotlessly clean and brushed up. It would not come to me as a surprise if the ghosts of some Adato women of old have a hand in its spick and spank condition. For the Aravit (Evening) prayers we assembled in a separate small building which is in the same courtyard. I was told by Rav Abrabanel, the Rabbi of the now seven person Community (four men and three women all past their seventies) that they regularly prayed the evening prayer together and that the occasion had not been arranged for my benefit. We entered a room heated by an ancient stove which seemed to be doing its job surprisingly well, given its seeming condition. On the floor was a carpet of an old Turkish design of red hue which looked as if it was about to go apart. In attendance were all the male members of the Jewish Community of Kirklareli of 1997, four in number, and in addition your humble servant. We first engaged in small talk over the events of the day, and then the prayer started, led by the Rabbi with the participation of all present. As the notes of the prayer resounded in the little room, a lump formed in my throat which I managed to keep at bay, though with some difficulty.

8 EL MORAVI, CELEBRATION OF HOLIDAYS, HIS LAST YEARS IN JERUSALEM

Passover The tell tale sign for the approaching of Passover was the coming of Spring. The snow started melting, turning the earth into a quagmire, forming furloughs of the stuff, stretching slush and mud seemingly to infinity, in mixed hues of white, gray, and brown. Cold winds blew, and eventually dried up the furloughs of mud and caused them to crack. At the Adato home the tape pasted to windows to protect them from cracking during the winter was removed and the windows of the second floor reopened for the first time in four months. Tiles on the roof that had broken during the winter were replaced. The household women started energetically to clean and polish the house. Beyond the celebration mode as specified in the Torah, this holiday symbolizes and expresses changeover, and renovation, just like the spring season itself. The process of renovation that is observed covers even clothing. In the winter one makes do with whatever clothing is available. For Jews of Eastern Thrace, as for Jews anywhere, the approach of the holiday and the spring season is the occasion to replenish the stock of clothes, not only for the holiday itself but for the seasons to come and in particular the summer season.1 This is the time of the year when other kinds of purchases are made such as furniture and kitchen utensils. Food standards go up, more is eaten, in particular more meat and sweets. If for some reason the family plans to move to another residence, this is the time of the year when it is normally done, that is two weeks before Passover. The timing of such a move would perhaps symbolize the Exodus.

^AAIU, Andrinople, 06.05.1891, David Levi to Paris.

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The baking of the matzoth1 (unleavened bread): Each family purchased the wheat from which the unleavened bread (matzoth) was baked and then sent it to the local mill to be grounded. The wheat was of course grown by non Jewish farmers, and hence some precautions had to be taken to make sure that what was purchased from them was of "Passover specifications!" The rules on which grain was fit to bake matzoth from, were, and still are very strict. Like elsewhere in Thrace, Kirklareli Jews preferred to purchase their wheat from Turkish farmers, avoiding Greek and Bulgarian ones. This preference is easily understood, as with blood libels against them, which inevitably popped up as Passover approaches, Jews wanted to have to do as little as possible with Christian sources of supply during this season. In previous generations, up to the middle of the 19th century, very orthodox families who could afford it, would commission rabbis to participate in the harvesting of the wheat and its threshing. Two rabbis would be employed per such commission. This practice had fallen to disuse by 1881. Since that date, a delegation of two Rabbis were sent to Turkish villages to look at the wheat which was available, check on its "suitability" to make matzoth from, and decide how much to purchase from whom. Considering the fuss Jews were making over their special requirements on the wheat they were prepared to buy and not buy to bake matzoth, who could blame Turkish farmers if they raised their prices a little on the occasion? The purchase was normally for a group of families, mostly related, so that several such expeditions had to be undertaken to Turkish villages. Each extended family or clan, like the Adatos would then receive its allocation that they paid for. The owner of the only mill in town mill was a Greek person, and his name Dodolos, so there was no choice but bring the wheat to him for grinding. The wheat was then grounded in the presence of a Rabbi and delivered back to its owner. Towards the turn of the 19th century this practice was "streamlined", following which, a larger delegation was formed comprising two rabbis and two members of the Community who took upon themselves to do the bulk purchasing of the wheat for the whole Community from Turkish farmers, supervise its grinding according to all the rules, and selling the end product which was matzoth quality flour. When the time to prepare the dough came in individual houses, it too required the presence of a Rabbi, who would check the water first, taste it for impurities and then feed it himself into the flour, all this against a small ' A M U , Andrinople, 06.05.1891, David Levi to Paris.

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payment of course! After all Rabbis need to make a living too! The matzoth were baked in the house oven. Two kinds of matzoth were prepared, the first with water, and the second with white wine.1 Families who used water in their matzoth would refuse to touch the food in houses who used wine to bake matzoth with. The other way around was allowed. The matzoth were called boyos. They were round like a pita but thicker (about two or three centimeters) and were rather untasty to the pallet. They became hard to bite rather fast and at most times had to be toasted before they could be eaten. The matzoth would be readied about two weeks before Passover night. The matzoth I knew in my childhood in Istanbul were purchased at a Jewish grocer, and were thinner, crispier and not hard on the teeth, but still rather unappetizing. With all the good food around during Passover, they acted like a dampener, causing culinary frustration, to me at least, and perhaps to others as well. But nobody complained. Tasty matzoth I ate for the first time in my life in Israel! The task of getting the grain ground at the mill, carrying the flour back to the house, preparing the dough and baking the matzoth were all women's tasks. These were added chores to cleaning the house, and cooking for the holiday. They were part of the fifteen-hour work day during Passover preparations which would bring the household women to a state of utter exhaustion by the time Passover evening arrived. Passover cleaning 2 : Passover cleaning began soon after Purim. About twenty days from Passover eve, Jewish women engaged themselves in intensive housecleaning. They threw themselves to the task with great zeal. All social intercourse came to an end during this period. The women were just too busy cleaning, and too tired after a fifteen-hour a day work period, most of which was dedicated to "prepare" the house for the holiday. The cleaning process was not confined to simple washing, but was a first phase of the hames cleansing act. Any person who would visit an area largely inhabited by Jews during this period would incur a high risk of getting drenched from top to toe with a bucket of water thrown at him from ground level, or worse so, if it fell on him from a second floor. The cleaning was performed with rags and bricks to pound stone floors, using plenty of water and soap. It was the season for whitewashing, painting with yellow, ochre, and red, the colors most in demand.

' AAIIJ, Andrinople, 10.03.1901, Y. Cheni to Paris. AAIU, Andrinople, 06.05.1891, David Levi to Paris.

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The daily quota was to clean one room per day. The job definition was to make the room fit for Passover by its conversion from "hames" status to "paskuaV (fit for Passover) status. The work might have included whitewashing and painting the room from top to bottom, and then, a thorough cleaning. It would take two women, each working an eleven-hourday, to prepare each room. Once the job was done, the room was declared to be paskual, and all the males of the house, adults and children, were forbidden to enter it for a few hours as confirmation of its newly acquired status. However, even after these hours, when entry was allowed, some precaution was required to prevent the room from becoming "desecrated" and consequently returning to its former hames status. As days went by and Passover day got nearer, the paskual space in the house increased as "normal" or hames space shrunk in size. The males of the house felt threatened as the normal living space (their lebensraum) shrunk. They wished that all this paskualizing business was got over with and the house would revert to normal use. Three days before Passover it was the turn of the kitchen, the last room in the house to be paskualized. Kitchens in those days were smaller, with no table in them and no sitting space. However, this space too took the same effort to paskualize. Most importantly, and most difficult in the kitchen, no trace of leavening should be allowed to remain, even in the tiniest crack in the floor. An added task to paskualizing the kitchen was the exchange of all regular (hames) kitchen dishes with special Passover dishes stored in a special space in the house. Pots and pans were paskualized in the early morning of Passover eve, by washing them in boiling water and putting them through fire. The paskualizing was done in the synagogue courtyard to the delight of young children. There was an obsessive quality in the fanaticism with which the house was cleaned and purified, starting with Sultanucha herself, but extending, as well, to all the other women in the household. The last day before Passover was devoted entirely to cooking. The effort involved was even larger than the one mounted for the Sabbath. This was because Passover was celebrated two nights in succession outside of the Land of Israel in the Diaspora (exile), while only one night in the Land of Israel itself. The cooking started in the very early hours of the day of Passover eve, say five o'clock in the morning, and would go on until four o'clock in the afternoon, right up until a few hours before the entry of the holiday. In addition there was, during the preceding afternoon, the preparation of the stuff

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to be cooked, such as the cleaning and cutting up of the vegetables, the cleaning and preparation of the fish, and the preparation of the meat to the usual Kashrut requirements. At this point I make a leap in time to an event that occurred not during El Moravi's time but in the generation following. The event again involves spinach, which it seems never ceased to create problems in the Adato family, even across generations. Spinach strikes again at the Adato Family, in the years between 19201925: During the day of kitchen cleaning for the holiday, Sultana was given the task to prepare the spinach to be made into a fritada, a special dish cooked during Passover only, mainly made of spinach and matzoth, somewhat similar to a souffle. In addition, she was given the job of paskualizing the staircase that led from the first floor to the second. Sultana did both the jobs with the kind of dedication, if not compulsiveness typical to Adato women come with. The staircase was soaped, cleaned, and brushed thoroughly, and for good measure added a copious layer of wax which she also rubbed into the wooden steps, to the point that the individual steps could have almost functioned as a mirror if the need had arisen. Simanto, her husband, was the last of the men to return home in the afternoon from the store. He started climbing the stairs to his apartment on the second floor. He barely managed to take three steps, before he slipped and tumbled back down to the foot of the stairs. It was of course fortunate that this accident did not happen from the seventh, or eighth step with more serious consequences. Simanto was a person of short temper. However, he said nothing and went to the kitchen where Sultana was still at work. He took the bowl of freshly cleaned cut spinach, went back to the staircase and started scattering the spinach on the steps. Sultana left the kitchen and in a stunned voice asked him the question Kualo estas aziendo? (what are you doing?). Answered Simanto, "I just want to make sure that other people don't slip and tumble down like I did." Hearing this Sultana descended the stairs like a missile, ran to the living room where Esther and Lia happened to be and shouted at them: Salio loko, salio loko, Guaypurmino, Bar Minam, Bar Minam (He has gone crazy,

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he has gone crazy, oy, oy oy, God forbid, bar minan bar minan).1 Esther and Lia jumped to their feet like a couple of released springs, rushed to the staircase and took the bowl away from Simanto. In the interval he had managed to scatter on the staircase half of the eight kilo of nicely cut up spinach.2 All this happened only 24 hours before the arrival of Passover evening. The next day a state of emergency was declared in the Adato home. Four kilos of spinach had to be repurchased, cleaned and cut. In addition to the household women, some kindly neighbors volunteered their help even though they had their hands full with their own preparations for the holiday. With everybody pulling their weight, the loss was made up and the fritada was cooked on time,— miracle of miracles! The tradition of searching for homes items still not removed from the house: According to the practice in the house of Adato and most probably in other Jewish houses all over, Sultanucha would hide in each one of the rooms— except the bed rooms of her married children, a piece of bread, and El Moravi holding a lighted candle in his hand would look for them, find them, put them in a bag to be given to a Turkish neighbor, and say some suitable blessing once the job was done. Similarly, his sons' families would do the same for their rooms in the house. Sultanucha was not expected to make life easy for El Moravi in the search by hiding the pieces of bread in too obvious a place. El Moravi would have frowned on that. So the whole procedure took longer than what one might think. If Sultanucha had an account to settle with the Old Man, she would hide one or two of the pieces in difficult to find places, and let him sweat it out a little before he could find them.

The literal translation of Bar Minan is son of "them", meaning the deceased, and this is why Eskenazi Jews avoid using the expression except when death is really at stake. However, in Ladino it is spelled slightly differently, its meaning is less draconian and used as an exclamation over any serious mishap like "shucks", or for the more contemporary minded, "shit". In Ladino the Aramaic word minan becomes minam a typical Ladino distortion. 2 In my own home a similar event occurred in 1941 when I was eleven years old with my father being the principal victim on the occasion, although the cause of the event was fish, not spinach. Father came back from work a Thursday evening of the day of the big cleaning holding a bag of fish in his hands (just like his grand-father El Moravi did fifty years back). Again facing an over polished floor he slipped and fell on the floor with two kilos of fish flying into the air and falling back onto the floor. I remember father lying on the floor on his back, with the fish scattered all around him. Father got into a true fit, kicking the floor with his legs, making awful faces and issuing grunts. However, being the self controlled and repressed person he was, he did not cause the damage to spread beyond his own particular predicament like Simanto had done a generation back.

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Of course in this process, there was always the chance that he might inadvertently run into small pieces of other hames stuff, some crumbs forgotten in an odd corner, but that was rare. In subsequent generations, the job was made easier for the men. The bread was left in places easy to find, and in only one room. Such is the easy life in our modern times! The reading of the Hagada: As explained earlier, the Seder outside the land of Israel and the reading of the Hagada were done two nights in a row. In the first night it was read in Hebrew, and in the second in the vernacular Ladino with which the Adato family was of course familiar. The women of the house would have been quite happy to forget about the second night reading, if that meant considerable saving in kitchen work. When they made the point to the male members of the family the condescending reply they drew on the occasion from the men with Simanto in the lead was: "the reading of the second night in Ladino is for your benefit and that of the younger children who don't know Hebrew." As far as the food was concerned it probably was the tastiest to be had throughout the year, especially the deserts. The only thing that seemed to be out of order cullinarywise was the awful tasting matzoth and inability to dip normal bread into all those succulent gravies that came with each dish. I used to ask grandmother Buka Salinas why we couldn't have this food the year around? She never gave a straight answer to my question, just an indulgent smile meaning this is the kind of silly question to expect from an unknowing little boy. The Celebration ot Purim1 This is the only Jewish holiday whose central purpose is to live it up and have fun in the fullest sense of their meaning. All the families with whom the Adatos married, the Chipruts, Levis, Polikars, and Mitranis participated in the shenanigans with great gusto, but not the Adatos, except the Adato children. El Moravi accepted the celebration of Purim as prescribed in the Bible as God's wish, but this notwithstanding, his heart was not in it. Expressing unfettered joy in the celebrating was not his cup of tea and neither that of his sons when they themselves reached adulthood. Beginning with the Sabbath preceding the holiday, families and friends would exchange folares (cookies with a coating of ice sugar red or white in color) with each other. The day preceding Purim is a day of fasting (Taanit Ester). In the case of couples engaged to be married, a novia (fiancée) would ^Mostly from AAIU, Andrinople, 10.03.1901, Y. Cheni.

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send her novio ("fiancé) a plate full o f f o l a r e s and other sweet meats for him to break his fast with. In turn, the next morning, the fiancé would return to his fiancée the same plate with a much more lavish assortment of sweets of the same kind, in addition masapan1 with floral decorations in red sugar, jacinths and cloves, tishpisti (in Turkish tez piçtï), pan despanya, all this in a gold leaf setting. The baking of folares was not confined to Purim. It was done in the celebration of other occasions, for example in the case of a new born, with a rather exotic aspect to the business. 2 Going back to Purim, it was the only holiday for spoiling children to an extent they never were during the remaining 364 days of the year. The children of the family made the rounds collecting their mahpurim (Purim collection) first from their parents, and then their uncles and aunts and then just from neighbors. At every door each one of them would pick a few coins each, which they spent the same day in a small fair set up at some public space which in the case of Kirklareli was at the Yahudi Çeçmesi (the Fountain of the Jews) where there would be an assortment of toys for sale, storks, doll poltroons, clowns, small prams, tambourines, toy mice and others and in addition of course, as if they did not have enough of them already, sweets of various kinds. The children, with their excitement at a high pitch would raise quite a din magnifying the racket raised by the vendors themselves bent on selling their wares. It is said that the vociferous exhortations of the last in favor of the merits of their wares exceeded even those of vegetable dealers on a normal weekday. Also on hand were some clowns who performed for the children, not against payment, but just for the fun of it. These were recognized figures in the Kirklareli Community of whom Mosseh Levi (a relative) was one, and seemingly the performance was as much for his enjoyment as for the children's. Traditionally Purim is the only day of the year when the Jewish custom requires from males to imbibe liquor "to the point where they can't distinguish between Mordehai the Virtuous and Aman the Villain". Jews of Kirklareli performed this injunction to the letter and with total dedication. It all started in the evening meal after the Synagogue service, but went on until the following evening, however, not at home but in taverns. During that time they would intermittently break into group dancing in the street. The favorite dance they danced was the Bulgarian version of the Hora, God only knows why this particular dance was picked to celebrate Purim with.

'This was the Austrian Marzepan that the Turks acquired and from them it was passed on to the Jews of the Spanish Exile. ^ When a male baby was born, the folares that was baked had the shape of a penis. Beginning with my father's generation the practice was dropped, so that I am unable to report on the graphic precision with which the organ was reproduced in the shape of a cookie!

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The Commemoration of Tisha be Av1 The objective of the commemoration was to mourn the two destructions of the Temple that, although over five hundred years separated the two, as recorded in the Bible, occurred on exactly the same day of the year. Its commemoration in total grief was a cardinal matter, as the "celebration" of grief was an Adato forte. The day was a day of fasting. At the start of the evening meal prior to the start of fasting, El Moravi would distribute to each person around the table a quarter of a hard-boiled egg dipped into a bowl of ashes to be eaten with the ash! Following the meal that was a meager one, the family would sit on the floor of the living room in a circle. At its center was an effigy representing the Temple burnt down, the first time by the Babylonians, and the second by the Romans. The effigy that probably was something like an empty vegetable box was, for good reason, covered with a piece of white linen! No lights were lit in the room of the mourning as it was considered to be unbecoming to mourn over the burning of the temple with lights on! Then, came the reading of the Kinot, the Lamentations composed for the occasion. The fracas commenced involving the thumping of the heart and weeping in a loud voice. To increase conviction and magnify the wailing, participants would remind themselves of dead relatives, especially young ones who died in tragic circumstances. Immediately following the prayers, every body would go to bed, of course without using lights. In the morning after having got up, no part of the body could be washed and for the remainder of the day, except finger tips to the first knuckle. Only apikorsim (doubters or unbelievers) would wash their fingers as far as the second knuckle. The truly orthodox considered the last as a profanation. The men would then walk to the Synagogue wearing slippers made of cloth or straw. During prayers, as a sign of mourning, the Parohet in the Synagogue would be made to stand upside down. When the Tora was taken out of its closet (Aran), unlike in an ordinary service, it would be placed on a common table or even in a litter made of straw to symbolize the misery of the occasion. This was accompanied by further wailing and thumping on the heart, and the invocation of the recent dead.

1

AAIU, David Levi, Andrinople, 01.08.1889.

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When mentioning the number of years that had elapsed since the destruction of the Temple the years anios, were turned into malanios, ie cursed years. Coming out of the Synagogues the assembled continued to the cemetery where chapters from the books of Eicha, Job and Jeremiah were read leading to further expressions of grief. When leaving the cemetery people would shake hands with each other saying Para kada anio mejorado beezrat Hael meaning, let the grief be improved upon (increased) each year to come with God's help! The period between 17 of Tamuz and 9 of Av were days of mourning. Marriages did not take place during its course. People did not embark on long journeys. Starting nine days before the day and seven additional days after, children were not allowed to climb trees or roofs. For those living near a river or sea, entering them was forbidden.1 So was physical exercise. Yom Kippur, (The Day of Atonement), El Moravi in Kazan (Cantor): Some time during the first years of 1900, El Moravi happened to spend Yom Kippur in Istanbul. Going to one of the synagogues in town, he was asked to act as the Cantor to sing the prayers. In the synagogue were some other guests from Vienna. After the prayers were over, they went up to him and said, "We enjoyed your singing so much. Would you come to Vienna and become the Cantor of our synagogue", and offered him a fabulous salary. His answer was, "No thank you, I am not prepared to get paid for singing to the Lord". The Last Days of EI Moravi in Kirklareli The last known deeds of El Moravi are related to his settling in Jerusalem with his wife Sultanucha where he spent the last four years of his life in study and in prayer. In 1912 El Moravi was 70 years old and his wife Sultanucha 63. All his children had already settled down as well as he could expect them to do. The youngest among them, Simanto was 27 years old and already a widower after one or two years of marriage. During those days there was nothing especially unusual in this circumstance, and in God's time he would no doubt pick another bride. In 1912 El Moravi already had 12 grandchildren.

'The following event took place in the summer of 1939 when I was eight years old and we had moved for the summer to a resort by the sea called Ye§ilkoy. By that time our family had ceased to observe most of the religious injunctions including the one about not entering the sea. During the period of the ban we continued to go swimming at a café owned by a Greek called Zafiri which had a pier made of wood used for entering the sea. The second day of the fortnight of the ban the pier collapsed with about fifteen persons on it women and children, all Jews, fell into the sea that fortunately was not deeper than about a meter and a half and there were no casualties. Following the accident Jews stopped going swimming for the whole fortnight of the ban. As a family we continued to observe the ban for three more years after which all went back to "normal"!

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The economic future of his children appeared to be based on solid ground, thanks to the business he had established himself with God's help, all this provided that the geo-political environment remained stable and his sons had a minimum amount of business acumen, competence and suitable personalities for the work he had cut out for them. Over these assumptions there were some doubts gnawing in his heart and mind. However he felt that there was nothing more he could do for them beyond what he already had done. During his last ten years between 1902-1912 his familiar world which had existed for four hundred years, started crumbling at an accelerated pace. In 1912 the railway had reached Kirklareli through a branch line which was opened to traffic during early spring. It was now possible to travel anywhere from the little town, to and from all the large cities of the Ottoman Empire, and Istanbul according to a fixed timetable and at reasonable cost; and to the great cities of Europe too. With the final demise of Abdiilhamit II in 1909, dramatic changes were occurring in the way the Empire was governed. The young shoots of a budding Turkish nationalism were beginning to emerge from their state of incubation with nobody having an inkling as to where they might lead. A t the gate stood the Balkan Wars, and shortly, after their termination, World War One, which would lead to the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire from history's stage, with the good and the bad in it. These developments would change everything in the environment of El Moravi as it had existed for hundreds of years. The little Jewish Community of Kirklareli was not standing still either. The first Alliance school for Girls, set up to propagate French culture, opened its doors to the girls of the Community in 1911. The official opening of a boys' school was only waiting for the finding of a suitable school director. El Moravi liked none of these developments. A s explained previously, El Moravi was much in favor of school reform and his initiatives and struggles to introduce the teaching of Turkish and Hebrew have been told. However, he felt that the Alliance system was not only getting rid of the dirty water in the tub but loosing, in the process, the twin babies of Jewish and Ottoman identities as well. This outcome he certainly did not want, but possibly, he was aware that it could not be prevented from becoming a reality. The process of loosing Ladino, the language of his ancestors f o r hundreds of years, and its substitution, by French, of all languages, though slow at first, had already begun. There is no doubt that the new generation of Jews including his children maintained a much more secular outlook.

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Religious observation was also changing. Although secularization was still in its infancy, the direction in which the traffic was heading was clear to him. These developments must have increased his sense of discomfort over the Brave New World that was on the way towards its creation. The event that prompted El Moravi's decision to spend the last years of his life in Jerusalem: In a bright spring day of the year 1912, on a Sabbath morning, at about eleven o'clock, when El Moravi was returning home from the Synagogue, to the traditional Kidush brunch, he came across to a group of Jewish youngsters who were having their shoes polished in the street by some Turkish shoeshiners. The act of polishing shoes obviously qualified as work which on no account a Jew could do on a Sabbath. If done by a Gentile for a Jew it would not be considered an act of delinquency, although still superfluous and therefore to be desisted from. However, and worse, El Moravi saw one of the youngsters give a coin to the shoeshiner who had just finished the job. This last act was an aberration and real sacrilege. He returned home even more upset than he was prone to be under such circumstances, and with a heavy sense of foreboding. He hardly talked to anybody during meals or any other time throughout the whole day. At the exit of Sabbath he assembled the family, told them of the "happening" without making any comments and concluded, "Surely this is a sign that the End of the World is coming. I must hurry to Jerusalem."1 The timing of his decision was perfect as a mere five months after his decision, the first Balkan War broke out, and continued in one way or another for ten years until his world, whether Jewish or Ottoman, was completely ruined down to its last detail. If the sense of presentiment was ever invented by anyone, surely El Moravi must have been one of its inventors! In all probability his decision to go to Jerusalem was not a shooting-from-the-hip reaction to a happening that caused him a lot of pain, but must have been in gestation for many months. The incident itself acted more like the straw that broke the camel's back.

To die in Jerusalem rather than at any other location in the Exile has the advantage of avoiding the process of Gilgul mehilot. The process entails the rolling of the dead under their graves wherever they happened to be buried, anywhere in the world, on their journey to Jerusalem when the time of resurrection arrives. This is reputedly a most uncomfortable process, involving getting bumped-up, and getting wet when crossing rivers and seas. However, even if the Messiah appears during one's lifetime, travelling to Jerusalem in conditions of a vast traffic jam when all the living Jews of the time are doing the same may also be uncomfortable. Therefore, if a Jew has a sense that the End of the World is an event likely to happen within his lifetime, he is better off to hurry to Jerusalem, before traffic builds up.

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An additional and last reason to those already supplied, which triggered his decision to leave for Jerusalem is provided by the testimony of his favorite grandson, Menahem Adato to me. According to Menahem, his sons were a disappointment to him, especially concerning studies. It was not that they were inadequately endowed with gray matter. But, they were not sufficiently industrious and seemed to lack drive. His passing over his sons and cultivating the generation of his grandsons was already foretold. Despite his own personal success, El Moravi was a disappointed person during the last years of his life in Kirklareli. Young Menahem as a teenager observed him on some occasions crying quietly in a corner of the house when he thought that he was alone, and nobody could see told. The reading of El Moravi's will, May 1912: El Moravi composed the will himself. He got hold of his three sons and read the will to them. He divided, his by now considerable assets, in equal portions between his three sons (his married daughter got nothing as was the practice then!) less a certain unspecified amount for himself to defray the costs of his coming trip to Jerusalem and his initial expenses of settling in. How he divided his store and its content was typical. He told them that they were to be partners of equal rights and assets, with Avramachi his eldest as a Primus inter pares who would informally act as the president of the family business. He physically divided the store space and the inventory into three parts and gave the first choice of which one to take to Avramachi. Reputedly Avramachi took the middle one, to assert his special status. Following the procedure, the grandchildren of the clan were brought in to the store and upon his request, Avramachi showered them with sweets to commemorate the occasion, but only after El Moravi prompted him to do so, as Avramachi was a little miserly and not too fond of children. When all was over, by his request, El Moravi and his three sons trundled along to the town notary where he requested the notary to write-up a formal and irrevocable deed to the effect that the three sons, together and separately, committed themselves to sending him to Jerusalem a monthly allowance specified in the declaration, "to the end of his days", and if he died sooner than his wife, to Sultanucha after his death. Two witnesses, not members of the family, signed the declaration. All these detailed dispositions El Moravi made in order to minimize the possibility of disagreements and conflicts breaking out between the three brothers. He probably sensed the potential in this respect. Unfortunately, under the dire conditions created during the following ten years, this was not to be, and posthumously he failed in this objective.

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El Moravi's farewell party, June 1912: Only members of the clan were invited. Before the party Sultanucha sewed up shrouds (which in Jewish tradition are white clothes, with arms and all, for El Moravi and herself). At the peak of the party, the couple put them on, and together they performed the dance that is traditional for the occasion, with all the guests watching. El Moravi's departure from Kirklareli for Jerusalem, June 1912: At the end of the family farewell dinner held on the eve of his departure, he uttered the following cryptic and indirect command: Ke se aze una validja para Menahem! (A suitcase is to be prepared for Menahem!). 1 Only then did his sons know that he wanted a grandson to accompany them on the trip. It seems El Moravi did not even bother to ask the father of the child in question whether he agreed to his son accompanying him on the trip, and when he could expect him back, etc. Well, this was the way of El Moravi, and nobody entertained the idea of crossing him at the moment of his departure from the world-as-he-knew it. However, which grandson? Menahem, Avramachi's son who was 17-years old, and who was home on his vacation, or Menahem, my father, who was eight? It is a measure of how members of the family related to him, that they did not work it out for themselves that obviously the choice was the first of the two Menahems, as what would El Moravi do during the trip and in Jerusalem with an eight-year old boy? Failing in doing a little thinking they did not even ask him "Which one of the two Menahems do you have in mind Sir?" Instead, Bohorucha the first Menahem's mother and Esther the second Menahem's mother each dutifully prepared a suitcase for their Menahem, and "awaited further orders!" Only literally at his exit from his home to the railway station, probably around seven or so in the morning, with the train to Istanbul traditionally departing an hour later, El Moravi revealed his choice and pointed, as might have been expected, to the elder of the two Menahems and told him, "you are coming with me!" And so it was. Throughout the journey Menahem was to act like a steward and personal secretary rolled into one and see the old couple through their needs until they settled in Jerusalem. According to some testimonies the people who came to bid him farewell at the railway station filled the whole mile length of the present day Atatiirk Bulvari, and this means more than a thousand people. This is probably an exaggeration. A few hundred is probably a more realistic estimate, of which a hundred or so were extended family members. In addition, there were business associates and public functionaries, at Community and municipal levels, colleagues and assorted friends. 'The custom of issuing commands in indirect fashion is a Turkish custom and exists to our present day.

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Including in the last categories were many Turkish acquaintances and friends. When shaking hands with a few of them before alighting to his railway car one of his Turkish friends exclaimed Hoca, orada sen bizim igin de dua et\ (Hoca, [when] there, pray for us too!) Now, this is pretty extraordinary, that a person who is a Muslim, and most probably a devout one at that, should solicit a devout Jew on his way to Jerusalem to pray there for his folk too. Even in our ecumenical times, it is doubtful whether in the year 2000 a devout Muslim would ask a devout Jew, of all persons, to pray for him and his fellow Muslims. Such was how Jews were seen in the eyes of Ottoman rulers and the Turkish Community, at least in Kirklareli, but more likely than not in many other locations across the Empire as well. The journey to the Land of Israel, July 1912: El Moravi departed with his wife Sultanucha and his grandson Menahem. The trip was by boat to Jaffa, and with ports of call on the way, it took eight days. On Sabbath eve, on board ship, when he started praying with his usual fervor to greet his Queen, many of the Jewish fellow passengers crowded around him, thus implicitly accepting his leading the prayer, although this they did in a spontaneous and unorganized fashion resulting in some commotion. The Captain of the ship who was passing by noticed the commotion, and wanted to avoid it on his ship. Therefore he appointed El Moravi as the leader of all the prayers of the Sabbath. El Moravi assumed the role effortlessly and all went well. A happening during the first days of his arrival in Jerusalem, July 1912: A few days after arrival, having found a place to live and settling down, in the early morning, El Moravi produced a crumpled piece of paper from one of his pockets that contained a mysterious address in the Old City of Jerusalem. He asked Menahem to accompany him to find the abode to which the address referred. As was usual with him, he did not give Menahem any more details about whom and what he expected to find. They looked around together and found the place without undue difficulty, given how small the Old City was (about one hundred hectares or one sq km with the Jewish quarter then representing at the time a little over a third of its space). What they found looked like a rather modest dwelling which to our modern eyes would probably have seemed about to fall apart, but for those times was probably not among the worst to be seen in the Old City of Jerusalem. El Moravi knocked at the door that was opened, and a somewhat bent old woman with a creased face appeared. However, as soon as she saw El Moravi, her face lit up with a smile and so did El Moravi's who was not a person of many smiles. It looked to Menahem as if they knew each other,

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though from where and how Menahem lacked the faintest idea. El Moravi took her hand into his, kissed it and raised it to touch his forehead in traditional Turkish fashion, a borrowed custom adopted by Jews as their own, at least by the Adato family. The woman beckoned them to come in. They exchanged brief civilities. There was some small talk on the trip, or possibly on some mutual acquaintances. The woman came first with a tray of dulse de bimbrio (confiture of quince) offered on very special occasions such as engagements, etc. 1 Then the usual Turkish coffee came, signaling to the guests that the time to depart had arrived. A minute or two later, after they drank the coffee offered, the two left. The visit barely took half an hour. Menahem was completely mystified about the identity of this woman. Once out of the house, on their way back home he waited for El Moravi to explain, but El Moravi said nothing. Young Menahem at last mustered the courage to ask: Mar Avi, el Senior ken es esta Sinyoral (The Master of my Father, Sire, who is this lady?)" The answer cryptic as it was, hit young Menahem like a thunderbolt: Es la Mujer de mi Padre. The woman was El Moravi's stepmother, second wife of his father Mordehai Adato. He, too, had chosen to spend his last years in Jerusalem where he died probably some time between 1895-1905. 2 Mordehai did not have the kind of means required to journey to Jerusalem and to live there, and one might assume that El Moravi supported them financially. Typical to El Moravi, he did not tell anybody in the family that he was offering such support to his parents. Had Menahem Adato not accompanied him on his journey, no one would have known. Menahem stayed on with the old couple, and as planned acted as their steward to smooth their settlement through the end of the summer, following which he returned to Istanbul to continue with his law studies I have no further stories to tell about El Moravi, and his years in Jerusalem. Sultanucha died on Heshvan the 14 th 5674 (1913) at the age of 65. She was buried in the Mount of Olives cemetery in lot number 91. According ' [t is brought in a small bowl accompanied by an array of glasses containing water, and spoons of silver for those that can afford it. The custom is to take a spoon, and dip it into the bowl to fill it. The spoonful is eaten and the empty spoon put into one of the glasses, from which some, but not all the water is drunk with the spoon in it. The confiture is absolutely delicious! ^Today, in the Ethnographic Museum for Judeo-Hispanic Culture in the Old City of Jerusalem, there is a photo of its Community Council and in it a person who looks like a spitting image of El Moravi. The date on the photo is 1886, and therefore, since El Moravi could not have been in Jerusalem at that date, my conclusion was that the date in the picture was wrong. However, after learning about Mordehai it is possible that the person in the picture could be him, as the date 1886 could fit to him not too badly. Whether this is really he so or not, lacking a photo of Mordehai, I will never be able to settle this intriguing possibility.

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to my fathers' testimony, El Moravi remarried after a decent interval. He needed someone to look after the house and himself, which meant her sleeping in his home as well. The deeply religious person he was, sharing a roof with a woman who was not his wife was entirely out of question. His last wife's name is not known and neither is the year in which she died. Again according to father, after El Moravi died his sons continued to support his widow until her death. El Moravi died on Tishrei the 22 n d , 5647 (October, 1916) and according to his wish was buried in the same lot as Sultanucha. He died two days after the Simhat Tora holiday (The Joy of the Tora). This is the occasion on which the last and 52 nd weekly portion or chapter of the Tora is read, leading to the beginning of a new annual weekly round and hence the rejoicing holiday. Any Jew of truly religious disposition would believe that his death so close to this anniversary means that in the eyes of the Almighty he was a special person indeed. As to the Ottoman angle, at the time of El Moravi's death Jerusalem was still under Ottoman rule. He could enjoy this piece of his old world until the end of his days, with the Allenby breakthrough at Beer Sheva still a year ahead, and the conquest of Jerusalem by the British still to come in December 1917. This last indignation, (and to him that is what it would have been) he escaped from, like the one following the Balkan Wars. To the Agnostic, these may appear as a random sequence of events. However, are they so? Who knows! Epilogue El Moravi's missing tombstone on the Mount of Olives, 1927: In 1927, Mosseh Levi, informed Avramachi Adato that a Turkish friend of his possessed a table made without nails with which he could summon the ghosts of people from the other world. Avramachi invited his two brothers and their wives for a séance around this table, with his wife also in attendance and with his Turkish friend presiding. The friend asked those present whom they wanted to summon from the other world. The unanimous call was for El Moravi. He did what it was that he had to do to summon El Moravi's spirit, and as expected the table rose, a sure sign that El Moravi's spirit had arrived. The friend asked him the question "is there anything you need?" In came El Moravi's answer in three words; "A grave stone." It seems in the next world, also, El Moravi believed in brevity of speech!

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In 1927 Menahem Adato, my father, worked as an accountant for a Jew from Bukhara, called Aminoff. This Aminoff was a very religious man and periodically traveled for his business and for philanthropic acts in the Land of Israel that by that year had become the Mandated Territory of Palestine under British rule. Following the séance the three brothers collected enough money between themselves and gave it to Aminoff to enable him to have a tombstone put on El Moravi's grave. Upon his return, Aminoff told the family that he had visited El Moravi's grave to find that, truly, a tombstone was missing; he had one made, and for evidence brought a photo showing the brand new tomb stone now in place. The photo is preserved to this very day, and is in the possession of Allegra Adato (Magrisso) Lia's second daughter. I made some effort to identify El Moravi's grave on the Mount of Olives. I managed to identify the record of his burial but not his tomb. I found that part of the cemetery (lot 91) in utter shambles, firstly following the Jordanian occupation of East Jerusalem between 1948-1967 when a road constructed by the Jordanians encroached on the cemetery, and last but not least, the absolute neglect of lot 91 by our own religious authorities who seem to guard Jewish graves from the Maccabean period and Mediaeval times more zealously than those of recent tombs less than 100 years old. In this epilogue it may be worthwhile to put in a word on the statistics of the offsprings of El Moravi as to where they live now or where they died. Of his four children, three died in Turkey, one of whom (my grandfather) died in Kirklareli. The fourth, Simanto immigrated to Palestine in 1935 and died in Holon in 1960. 21 grand-children were born to El Moravi, of whom 12 have died to date, four in Israel, two in Cuba, and six in Turkey. Of the nine still living, four live in Israel, two in Turkey, two in Western Europe, and one in Mexico. El Moravi had 47 great-grand-children (my generation). Two of them died in Israel, and 19 others live there, 12 live in Turkey, 8 in Western Europe, one in Cuba (participated in the Castro revolution and a member of the ruling party!), three in the United States, and one in Mexico. I guess El Moravi would have been pleased with this outcome, although he would no doubt grumble a little as to why they do not all live in Israel. Concerning how strictly they observe the do's and don't injunctions of his religion, he better not be told!

9 LIA ADATO, HIS YEARS THROUGH YOUNG ADULTHOOD 1879-1914

From Birth to Early Adulthood Little is known about his childhood. To grow up as a child under El Moravi's austere regime and exacting discipline was not fun. What made matters even more difficult was lack of company, with one brother fourteen years his senior, and the other four years his junior. The age difference could not but have limited the interaction between the brothers. Most of the time he was alone, and he grew up as a loner. Bea, El Moravi's only surviving daughter, was only two years younger than Lia, and towards her he might have had some empathy and feelings of closeness. That he was fond of her in later life there is no doubt. Bea died in 1957, a year before he did. The family kept her death as a secret from him, though it did not have to do so for long, as he followed suit a year later. His education proceeded along the same path as his father's. The overwhelmingly religious thrust of the education can be best illustrated by the following ditty with which his education process was kicked-off at Grade one of the school: La Tora, la Tora El ijiko la dira Kon el pan i el keso El livriko en el peco Onde vas ijo del Dio? A meldar la lei del Dio Vida larga ke te de el Dio A ti i a tu madre i a tu padre I a todos los Judios 1

The Tora, The Tora The little boy will recite it With the bread and the cheese With the little book on his chest Where are you headed son of God? To read Gods' Law Let God grant you a long life To you, to your mother, your father And to all Jews

'Rodriguc 2. Also, my grand mother Buka Salinas sang this ditty to me during the years of my early childhood.

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However the seeds of change had appeared at the time of his going to the Talmud Tora school. For the first time in its history the school employed a teacher who was not a Rabbi. He taught arithmetic, geography and possibly a little general history as well. 1 Turkish was still not taught at the school. According to the family memory and by my own experience of him, his education was of a distinctly higher level than the one which the Talmud Tora school could have provided him. For example, he had a good command of Hebrew and of Turkish, including reading and writing of the language, a qualification which helped him get out of serving at the front during World War One. With the exception of the last two years of the period covered in this chapter, Lia lived under the shadow of his dominating father who took for him all the important decisions of his life. The only exception to this condition was his marriage to Esther and his dogged determination to see it through, despite the opposition of his father. When El Moravi left for Jerusalem in 1912, Lia was 33 years old, Esther, 29 and they already had four children. Only then did they finally become truly independent and masters of their own fate! His vocabulary in Ladino was large enough to enable him to read translations of European classics in the language, printed in Rashi script. This he did with some zest, and read books to his wife Esther, who was not literate. Sultana, his eldest daughter, remembers his reading to Esther a Ladino translation of La Dame awe Camelias and Ladino originals such as La Ija de la Lavandera (The Daughter of the Laundry Woman), and La Ija Maldicha (The Accursed Daughter). Sultana listened secretly, without being seen, because the books were thought to be not appropriate for children, especially little girls. His knowledge of French was very limited, and fell well behind his knowledge of Ladino, Hebrew and Turkish, even though a start at learning French had been made at the traditional school he had gone to. It should not come as a surprise if his father, who was not a Francophile, gave him private tutorship on everything under the sun except French. El Moravi, his father, nourished ambitions for Lia. He wanted him to study law at a university. This was probably the main reason for his providing him private tutorship. By all opinion, Lia had the brains for further study, and was gifted with an intellectual curiosity of some strength.

^AAIU, Kirklisse, 27.08.1879, Raphael Rodrigue to Paris.

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The question arises as to why these dispositions were not turned to advantage. One explanation I received was that marrying Esther was his overriding goal which obligated him to opt for making a living rather than going for further study. However, I am reluctant to buy this explanation as he was 24- years old when he married her. The choice of further study was already past by at least five years before he even knew of Esther's existence. A better explanation which I also heard concerned a central failure of his, namely his being bone lazy, and his lack of ambition. So he did not study beyond the six or eight years of primary school. The failures of Lia were one of the central disappointments in El Moravi's life, as with his other two sons as well. This made him turn to Menahem, his oldest grandson, who had what it takes and achieved the results he had been hoping to get from his own sons. Beginning with his teenage years, Lia was a voracious reader and remained so all his life. To his dying day in 1958 , he literally wanted to know everything about everything. As in his father El Moravi's time, reading was the only activity which El Moravi tolerated as a past time. If he noticed a son, who, in his judgement, was doing nothing useful, he would immediately growl "where is your book?" following which the hapless boy would scamper to his room and pick a book, sit and start reading it. I personally do not remember Lia ever showing up without a pocket book sticking from a pocket of his jacket However, when it came to intellectual activity of a concrete kind with a specific goal in mind, such as, say, studying to get a degree in law, he was not able to make the disciplined and sustained effort required. His only specific intellectual activity in which he persisted throughout his life was becoming an expert at playing backgammon. He was very good at it. I can personally witness to this as I shared with him many games. The only other activity that Lia found real satisfaction in, other than his reading and his backgammon was his community life. The last had the advantage that he could conduct it outside the shadow of his dominating father, at least relatively speaking. According to Alliance documents, Lia was an elected member of the Community Council for many years and in this capacity he was a member of its Educational Committee. A number of documents bearing his signature, and that of his cousin Aron Adato have been preserved. The documents are critical of how the Alliance ran their local schools. In his absence of empathy for Alliance, Lia followed in the footsteps of his father El Moravi Lia and his fellow Adatos fought continuously to improve the education provided to the Community children. However, they

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believed that in the process there was no need to import a foreign culture such as the French one. The Adatos found themselves constantly at loggerheads with the supporters of Alliance, and especially with the Directors of the Alliance schools who were completely sold on the idea that the faster the members of the new generation (my father's) got Francofied, the better it would be for them. In an Alliance document, Lia's older brother Avramachi is identified as the leader of the opposition to Alliance and subjected as such, to much personal invective as a reactionary and worse.1 On the home front, Esther his wife very much wanted to have a home of her own removed from the shadow, which her father and mother-in-law cast on her family life. Her life in the Adato home was not a picnic, even though El Moravi went a little out of his usual way to make her feel comfortable. At some point there was a decision to construct a house for Lia and Esther as had been done for Avramachi and Bea. The timber required for the purpose was purchased and nicely piled up. Unfortunately, due to a cause unknown, the timber went up in smoke. El Moravi may have taken it as a sign that the Almighty was not in favor of the enterprise. In his heart, he was probably already close to a decision to leave town for Jerusalem, following which his house would become Lia's and his younger brother Simanto's, a floor for each one of them. So what was the point of building a new house for Lia? Business life By the time he was 16 Lia joined his father's textile store as an apprentice and stayed with the store all his life. How successful was he as a budding merchant? If his known performance as a merchant in later years is a criterion, the straight answer to the question is not very successful. In 1912 when the partnership of the three brothers started to operate without the management of El Moravi, business conditions in Kirklareli for Jewish merchants had deteriorated. They were loosing market share to Greek merchants. According to the 28.08.1911 issue of La Boz de la Verdad of Edirne, 1911, El Moravi's last year in the town was a poor year for the Jewish merchants. The only factor which helped them avoid total disaster was the location of Army Corp II in the Kirklareli Sancak, with its headquarters in Kirklareli itself, to which they acted as contractors to provide the Corp food, clothing and other non combatant supplies. However, on the whole, over the long run, El Moravi had left behind a solidly established business which could stand a little bit of rocking, provided that the political situation remained stable. 1

AAIU, Kirklisse, 28.05.1914, Isaac Hasson, to Paris.

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Life at Home after El Moravi's Departure to Jerusalem Living arrangements did not change. The two sons and their families continued to live on the second floor in the rooms that they always occupied. Nothing was changed in the first floor either, except that El Moravi's and Sultanucha's bedroom now remained unoccupied. Who knows, perhaps they would come back from Jerusalem? Simanto still remained in his room which he shared with his second wife, Sultana Behar who was his first cousin (the daughter of Mazaltucha Adato-Behar, El Moravi's sister). With his first wife passing away from tuberculosis within a year of their marriage, Simanto had remarried in 1914. This time there was more longevity to his choice. Sultana died in Holon, Israel in 1967 seven years after Simanto had passed away. Lia and Ester continued to share their bedroom with their four children. All slept on the floor. There was one mattress for the couple and a second one for the three children, while baby Alegra, who was three months old slept in a cot. When she got a little older she too was transferred to the children's mattress. The two Greek maids, Karanfila and Eldemiki, remained in the service of the family. The two families continued to employ the services of a gardener, a laundry woman and another for heavy duty cleaning, all of whom at most times, were Greek also. Because of the presence of Greek maids, Greek became the lingua franca of the house, at least for the female folk. Sultana, Simanto's wife, who was born in Babaeski, where only about twenty Jewish families lived had gone to a Greek school, and besides speaking, could read and write in Greek as well. The children of Esther also spoke Greek fluently, a language they learned from the maids. Sleeping arrangements: On the children's mattress, the children slept sardine style, arranged according to their age. Thus Menahem (my father) was the first, then Barzilai, then Sultana, and last Alegra who by 1915 was three years old, while Menahem was then eleven. There was some compactness in the sleeping arrangement, with the head of one child at level with the feet of the next, then a head and then again some more feet. The four were divided into the dries (Menahem and Sultana), and the wets (Barzilai and Alegra). The sleeping arrangement was such that it maximized commotion at all times of the night, particularly by the dries who complained over the happenings, while Esther had to get up to change underwear and sheets.

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At some point in time, when Sultana was seven years old Esther decided to delegate the duty of mattress management to her. After a few months of the experience, Sultana chucked the responsibility, threw all the spare underwear and sheets at the children and said to them "Now you manage it yourselves!" Lo and behold, in a short time all the bed-wetting stopped. From the above story certain additional facts can be gleaned. The first is the level of responsibility adults were prepared to put on a child, in this case Sultana who was only seven, which in our times would be considered as staggering. This is not a case of educating children to think independently and be self-reliant, although in a peculiar way this result appears as a spin-off. A second point is brothers and sisters routinely sleeping with each other as a group until they were close to bar mitzvah age. Thirdly, it seems the couple, Lia and Ester did not mind to meet the requirements of the "be fruitful and multiply" injunction in the presence of their children. They may have assumed that the children were asleep, and even if not, children "wouldn't know". As it is, at night it was always pitch dark in the room, so that there was no way they could see anything, as every thing was being done under thick blankets. This kind of situation may arise in poor homes even in our day. However, the Adato home was not a poor home. In fact it had plenty of space, especially after El Moravi left. The word for a child in Ladino is kriatura, "creature" if literally translated. In modern Spanish this word was dropped a long time ago in favor of ijo or its feminine counterpart ija. In old days, children were considered less than fully human in "their dignity requirements" although their physical needs were fully attended to in one degree or another. They would be given real human status only when they grew up, and in the case of extended families or clans not even then, as it was in the case of El Moravi. There were also cases in which the custom of allowing young brothers and sisters sleep together up until more advanced ages was preserved well into their teens. I will not give names to protect their privacy and I can assure the reader that no hanky-panky was involved and it was essentially innocent, difficult as that may be for the reader to believe. I have no way of assessing how common was the phenomenon of young children of both sexes sleeping together. I know that in the case of the Salinas family, the pre-puberty children of both sexes shared rooms but not beds. There is a record of one case where Sultana Salinas, at the time nine years old, used to pop into the bed shared by a brother and a male cousin of the same age "to tell them stories". When on one occasion her father Moshon Salinas saw them together, he came down on them like a ton of bricks and in no uncertain words told them that this was not to happen again, and it never did.

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Lia's expectations from the female folk of the house as to how he was to be served: Some cultural perspective may be in order before reporting the evidence under this section. It is possible that during those times it was expected that women serve their spouses to degrees that are entirely unacceptable in our age and times. It is possible that Lia's expectations in this respect could have been rather high, but nevertheless not fantastically extreme, given his cultural environment. How Lia went to bed every night: Lia entered the mattress on his side. It was Esther's task to tuck him in properly before she lay down on the mattress on her side. Sometimes, during the middle of the night Lia's cover would fall off and then Lia would wake Esther up to retuck him in. When the weather was too cold or Esther too tired, or she just did not feel like doing it, she pretended not to hear. Lia then went to the children's mattress, woke up his oldest daughter and asked her to cover him. At some point Sultana did not like it either, and she too started pretending to sleep. Then, Lia either did the job himself, or left himself uncovered. The following day there was hell to be paid by the family, mostly in ill- humored behavior from the part of Lia who appeared as the "hurt guy" who, because of the demonstrated lack of consideration from his female folk, did not sleep well and was cold all through the night! Lia also expected a pot to be placed on his side, in case he woke up at night and wanted to urinate, with the toilet being in the first floor and a long walk away. Esther had the duty to double check that the pot was in place. If for some reason it was not, then Lia had no compunction in waking up Esther to bring him the pot, or his daughter Sultana, or one of the maids who slept in the second floor. The washing habits of Lia: Lia would wash once a week on Friday afternoons, which meant that Esther would bring him a shallow basin, full of hot water and soap, while Lia sat next to the large stove in the first floor. Lia would immerse his feet into the basin and consent to Esther washing them. This was his weekly washing. In addition, about three weeks after his last real bath, Esther would start nagging Lia over its being time to have a real bath again. Normally it would take about a week to have Esther obtain his agreement to the act. Of course it was her job to wash him. In addition, Esther had to wash each one of her children about once a week until they were about twelve years old. Mostly, there were five of them at any given time.

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At some point Sultana, the eldest daughter who in her early teens started showing signs of feminist revolt (of course on a minor key compared to our times) advised her mother that this feet-washing practice had to stop. Following her representations, Esther started being indisposed, rather frequently, just by chance during Friday afternoons, and unable to perform her conjugal duty in this respect. When this happened, Lia started to pester Sultana that she should wash his feet. Sultana submitted to his request although making clear with her demeanor that she did not like this at all. After a while Lia got the message, and gave up on both. However in no way was he prepared to wash himself. The solution was that once a month an employee of the public bath was commissioned to come to the home of the Adatos to wash Lia, of course at an agreed tariff, and the problem was solved for always. The fight against lice: This was a permanent problem. After washing the children, Esther would rub their hair with a cream that was rather effective against any lice that still survived the bath. However, the condition of lice free children lasted only for a few days. The children would bring them back home from school again. Surprisingly or not surprisingly, the men folk of the house were also a major source of the bug. They would bring them home "from the street" whatever this may mean. The Period of the Balkan Wars and its Aftermath Barely four months passed from the departure of El Moravi and Sultanucha to Jerusalem, and the family store had barely gotten used to the new management, when the First Balkan War broke out on October 17,1912. Arrayed against the Ottoman Empire were four small Balkan nations, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece with less than 100 years of independence behind each one of them. The Alliance was a rather volatile one; the only common interest bringing them together was to despoil the Ottoman Empire of the provinces it held in Europe. The general expectation held in European capitals was that the Ottomans would win the war, or in the worst of cases, the Empire would keep the Balkan States at bay.1 However, this was not to be, and the expectations turned out to be entirely wrong. The first of the two decisive battles of the war was fought in the vicinity of Kirklareli. It is known in the annals of Ottoman History as the Expecting an Ottoman victory, the European powers issued a statement, at the beginning of the war, that no matter what the military results of the war would be, they expected the armies of all sides to return to the borders of the status quo ante. However, once the war was decisively decided in favor of the Alliance, this declaration was conveniently forgotten.

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Kirklareli Bozgunu (The Kirklareli Debacle). In this battle, a Bulgarian army decisively beat an Ottoman army of equal size in a four-day campaign, planned and executed in brilliant fashion, while sustaining only a few casualties On an autumn morning in October 1912 Lia took his two little sons by the hand, Menahem eight years old on his right and Barzilai six, on his left and told them "come with me to the main street (Istanbul Yolu) to cheer Kahraman ordumuzu (our brave Army) who will march by on the way to the cephe (front)". Of course, he did not explain to them that war had been declared or what a cephe was. How can one explain these things to children? The main street was within five minutes walking distance from the Adato home. There they stood cheering, as the army marched by, battalion after battalion seemingly armed well, and in perfect order. The civilians standing and cheering were either Turks or Jews. The Bulgarian and Greek residents of the town were nowhere to be seen. Some Turks were seen slaughtering sheep along the road, as was the custom, to assure an auspicious outcome for the battle about to be fought. A military band was playing martial music, and some of the units were singing to it. Menahem remembered two of the marches he heard during that day to the end of his days. When we were young boys he used to sing them to us. For this reason I came sing them too. Here are their words I remember. The first:1 Ordumuz etti yemin Titredi Hak-u-Zemin

Our army took an oath The ground shook

Bayragimiz Sancagimiz Osmanli Unvanimiz Vatan iginde kanimiz Feda olsun canimiz

Our flag our emblem Our Ottoman title For our Fatherland let our blood Our souls be sacrifised

The second: 2 Anarn beni yetipirdi Yeti$tirdi bu giine

My mother raised me Raised me for this day

'For the full text of the march, see Ungor, courtesy of Rifat Bali. Ibid.

2

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The cheering crowd was enthusiastic and every person was assuring each other, "with an army like this we can never loose!" Two days past, the sound of cannon began to be heard in the town, at first in muted voice as if from far away, but in a day or two the sound became louder and came nearer. On the morning of October the 24 th 1912 Lia walked to the Synagogue for his usual morning prayers to say the Shaharit. Once inside the Synagogue, he found himself to be the only person in attendance with not even the Rabbi being present. Being the man of principles that he was, with a tendency not to easily give up on routines that he was used to, he remained undaunted and started to say the Morning Prayer all by himself. Halfway through his prayer, he began hearing in the Synagogue the thunder of cannon that sounded closer than ever. His first reaction was to ask in his heart "Where is God?" Surprise or no surprise, no answer was forthcoming. The absence of an answering party to his question did not stop him from finishing his prayer, after which he left the Synagogue. However, one thing he did do differently on his way back. Instead of going to the store to open it, he returned home. On the way he noticed that the streets were totally deserted. He might have noticed that on the way to the Synagogue too, but he just did not! When walking in the street most Adato men wear psychological blinkers, being so absorbed with whatever they are thinking. When reaching home, he saw all the family in a state of agitation with Esther crying out to him: "where have you been? The Bulgarian Army has beaten us, and is expected to march into Kirklareli before the evening!" There was not a minute to loose. Remembering their experience when the Bulgarians had occupied Kirklareli in 1878 following on the heels of the Russians both the Turks and the Jewish Community decided, to the last member, to leave town as refugees. Esther packed a few of the family belongings, as many as she could, and by ten o'clock in the morning the family was already at the railway station. The station was full of people like the Adatos on the way to becoming refugees. Like so many other persons, family members waited and waited, for hours, and no train came in sight. At some point Lia told Menahem his eldest son: "I have to go somewhere, you look after Barzilai, Sultana, and the belongings", and without saying more, (remember El Moravi's brevity of speech) he disappeared. In the meantime Menahem lost contact with mother Esther and the three-month-old baby Ale^ra. He was left all by himself, eight years old, and with all this responsibility. ' Andonyan, p. 462. On that same day or a day earlier, two military trains traveling in opposite directions collided between Babaeski and Kirklareli. As a result the branch line north of Babaeski closed down.

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A short time later, the first signs of the decisive defeat sustained by the Ottoman army appeared in the shape of a stream of Turkish soldiers pouring through the station southwards. There were no officers among them. Some of the soldiers were still carrying their arms, but most of them were not, some were wounded, with bandaged arms, faces, and legs, some limping and walking, only with the help of their comrades. They wore frozen expressions on their faces but moved on without uttering a sound, almost like ghosts. What is surprising is not the act of retreat in this fashion, but the fact that it took place with absolutely no looting, and there was plenty of stuff to loot at the station, as the stranded civilians had no means to defend themselves. The soldiers looked completely traumatized. Past some undetermined time which to Menahem felt like "The Whole Length of the Exile", Lia appeared again in the station, seemingly out of nowhere, on a horse carriage, in which Esther with baby Alegra were already installed. It seems that Lia had given up hope that a train would ever come to Kirklareli to pick the refugees. On no account was he prepared to "greet" the Bulgarian army when it arrived in Kirklareli, but rather preferred to try his luck in Babaeski, about 50 kms to the south close to the main line between Edirne and Istanbul, hoping that there he would have a better chance to pick up a train for Istanbul. While waiting all this time in the station, it was pouring rain almost incessantly. This had been one of the wettest autumns eastern Thrace had known, and though doing what they could to avoid the rain, all the people in the station got soaking wet. Lia asked for all the baggage to be loaded into the carriage, as well as the children, and to the extent a little overloading was possible, additional members of the Adato clan and the carriage left the station southwards towards Babaeski. As foreseen, towards late afternoon, a few hours after the Adatos were on their way to Babaeski, the Bulgarian army entered Kirklareli, practically unopposed. The party drove at "breakneck" speed. 1 and reached the railway station of Babaeski four hours later. It, too, was full of refugees, not only those fleeing from Babaeski itself, but those arriving from Kirklareli. In the meantime the rain had intensified. No roof was available, and everyone would get even wetter than they already were. All through the night they laid on wet mattresses and sought cover under even wetter blankets.

At about ten kms per hour like inside a cocktail shaker, on a poor earth road with the carriage not having any springs and with the friction between the wheels and the poor road producing an awful din, the way it had been in 1878.

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In the morning, like a miracle, a train appeared, as it turned out, the last one until the end of the whole war. Then a free-for-all scramble occurred, with everybody in the station trying to get into it, helter skelter, including the members of Lia's family. While trying to board the train, contact was lost between the males and the females. Esther found herself sitting on a bench with Sultana and baby Alegra having no idea as to where Lia and the boys were, and in fact if they managed to get into the train at all. The train started to move, at about 20 kms an hour (I am a witness to the fact of its speed which was still the same during the 1950's!) towards Liileburgaz further south and east. The train stopped just short of Liileburgaz amidst the sound of small arms fire at close range. It seems that some of the Ottoman army retreating from Kirklareli were mistaken as Bulgarians by the Ottoman troops dug-in. These promptly opened fire on them and the troops coming in fired back, thinking that Liileburgaz was also in Bulgarian hands. This was the second time an incident of this type happened during the war. The first time it happened near Kirklareli and was on a much larger scale. Esther tucked Sultana in under the wooden bench of the wagon, laid Alegra on the bench itself, and laid herself on top Alegra. The shooting exchange continued for a while until the misunderstanding between the two units was sorted out. The train then continued towards Istanbul. At some point the Adato males and females found each other in the train and were thus reunited. It took the train three full days to cover the 200 kilometers between Liileburgaz and Istanbul. By this time they had eaten all the food they had with them, and they alighted from the train, hungry, sleepless and entirely exhausted. Lia gets a job at the refugee relief agency, winter 1913: The Jewish refugees from the train were met by representatives of the "Joint"1 who moved them into a refugee camp on the Eastern side of the Bosphorus. The "Joint" acted generously towards the refugees, providing them practically unlimited food supplies from a store set up by the organization, with the understanding that they will draw food from it at the same standard they were used to in their homes. The honor system was quickly abused by many of the refugees, who though not usually having meat on their table more than once a week, now started eating meat everyday. For Lia, this could not be. He drew up a rough 1

An international Jewish welfare organization whose central offices are in the USA.

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list of the food items the family consumed at the outbreak of the war, and told Esther that this was what she was going to draw from the store, and if he found any extras on the table she would have him to reckon with. Not only that, but Lia, who did part of the shopping, when coming across people in the shop who were obviously abusing the system, did not mince his words when telling them off, about what he thought they were doing. It did not take too long for the "Joint" itself to realize what was going on. As a result it drew up a rationing system. The Joint managers also heard that there was this Lia Adato who spoke out against the abuse and was pretty rude to abusers. On the strength of what they heard, they appointed him the executing head of the rationing system. Lia now had his hands and mind full with the requirements of the job, and stopped the preaching, although I would not be surprised, if he missed a little, the preaching part. The meeting with electric lighting, end October 1912: Upon arrival to the camp each family was allocated a small barrack. In the evening of their first day, when the time came to have some light, Lia had no idea as to how to get some. He did observe that some glass balls of a shape he had never seen before were hanging down from the ceiling, but he had no idea what they were for. So he took Menahem with him, went to the Joint officer who was on duty that evening and asked him for some candles, or what he thought to be better still, a lamp and some lighting oil. The person looked at him in amazement, but only said "As you enter your shack there is a black knob on the wall. Just turn it to the right and then you will get light". Returning to the shack, they found the mysterious knob without difficulty. However, Lia felt uncomfortable over the whole matter. It all sounded so simple. Lia distrusted simple things as a matter of principle. He asked himself "where is the catch?" "What if the Joint person forgot to tell me some vital detail on how to operate this knob?" In such cases the safest thing to do was to delegate. So he asked Menahem to turn the knob to the right. Despite his own fears on the matter, Menahem dutifully turned the knob to the right like the good boy he was; when father asks you to do something, you just do it! With the turning of the knob, the little shack was flooded with light of an intensity they had never known in Kirklareli. Everybody was in smiles and they all cheered. Of course all the credit went to Menahem who then spent quite a good deal of the time switching the light on, and then switching it off, under the benevolent looks of his father. Then came the turn of Barzilai and then Sultana, until they too satisfied their excitement.

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In concluding his story, father told me, "If you think you know what it is like to meet a new technology head-on, or feel what a real invention feels like you are mistaken. Nothing you have experienced for the first time as the fruits of a new technology can compare to my meeting the wonders of electric lighting". The Return to Kirklareli and Emigration The Brethern: In April 1913 a peace agreement was signed between the warring parties according to which the whole of Thrace, including Kirklareli, became part of the Bulgarian Kingdom with Kirklareli itself reverting to its Bulgarian name of Lozengrad. With all their properties and businesses in Kirklareli, there was no point in remaining in Istanbul as refugees. The Adatos decided to return to their hometown, despite their apprehensions about having to live under Bulgarian rule. The Bulgarian authorities did not voice any objection to their return. However, the border on the direct route at (patalea still remained closed to traffic for reasons I could not find out. The return journey followed a rather circuitous route first by boat to Constanza, Rumania, from there again by boat along the Danube to Rustchuk and from there to Kirklareli by rail, all this in seven days compared to the normal route by rail in half a day, even during those times. Upon their arrival, Lia found out that his house had been taken over by the Bulgarian army who used it to billet officers. The family was obliged to rent alternative accommodation for three months before the Bulgarian army agreed to vacate the house. Lia found the stock left behind in the textile store to have disappeared with IOU chits signed by the Bulgarian Army Command as evidence of who had taken it. The IOU's were never honored. All the wine and arak that were distilling in the liquor cellar at the time of the family's departure, was also missing and on these items there were not even IOU's. There was, however, one piece of luck. At departure time the family had buried some carpets, silverware and other valuables in a corner of the garden. The Bulgarians by accident dumped at exactly this corner some of their military supplies that acted as a form of cover to the spot. Thus the "treasure" remained undiscovered. The Bulgarian sovereign presence did not last for long. In June 1913, the Second Balkan War broke out, on the initiative of the Bulgarians, who attacked their former Allies, Greece and Serbia. Rumania also joined the fray against Bulgaria. This time, to the surprise of all, the Bulgarians were soundly defeated. Exploiting the opportunity thus created, the Ottoman Empire also joined in and recaptured eastern Thrace, and on July 22, 1913 reentered Kirklareli.

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Thus, superficially it looked as if for the Jewish Community, the good old days of Ottoman rule were back again. However, it became clear pretty fast that this was not to be. By far the large part of the Bulgarian population of the town left in the footsteps of the retreating Bulgarian army. The town got in their stead some Turkish folk, though in numbers much smaller and less endowed than the departing Bulgarians. The fertile countryside, the pride of Thrace was mostly devastated, firstly with the oncoming Bulgarian army burning and devastating Turkish and Greek villages, and secondly, the Ottoman army in turn doing the same to Bulgarian villages upon returning.1 The three Adato brothers tried, as well as they could, to rehabilitate their business and their home, but given the overall environment this was not an easy proposition. The success of the brothers to restore the status quo ante in their business was limited. The liquor business was not renewed. The wine cellar and the casks were now without use except for one or two Simanto used to make wine as a hobby. However, most of the wealth left to them by El Moravi was still intact. Their standard of living did not fall yet and in a sense they were still living like they used to in the past, at least until the opening of World War One. Emigration Overseas: Kirklareli had become an out of the way border town with poor economic prospects. To make matters worse, there was the population explosion that had been taking place over the last fifteen years within the Jewish Community. The cause was a drastic reduction in infant and teenage mortality without a compensating decrease in births. Seventy five percent of the unmarried young men, in their late teens or who already were in the market in their early twenties, emigrated between the end of the Second Balkan War in July 1913 and June 1914, two months before the First World War broke out.2 The Adato family was not immune to this development of emigration. Of the five sons of Avramachi Adato, El Moravi's eldest son and another five of Nessimachi Adato, El Moravi's young brother, five emigrated during this period, two to Cuba, one to Columbia, and two to France. A sixth already mentioned, Menahem Adato, who was the eldest son of Avramachi, went to Istanbul to study law never to return again to Kirklareli.

' AA1U, Kirklisse, 04.11.1913, Roza Avigdor to Paris. 2 La Boz de la Verdad, Anio 5, 04.06.1914.

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This probably is the most appropriate point to make a leap in time concerning the fate of two of the Adatos of Kirklareli who immigrated to France during this period. The older one of the two, Hayim Adato, his wife and son, perished in the Holocaust, as did his brother Marco Adato. I could not get details on the circumstances of the apprehension of Hayim Adato and his family by the French police and his subsequent shipment to Auschwitz to their death. Hayim was 58 years old at the time of his death. He was survived by at least one son who became an Inspecteur de finance, a member of one of the upper casts of the French civil service. I have more detail on the circumstances of Marco's death. Marco and his family hid during the whole length of the war in the house of some French Gentile friends. During early August 1944, when the Allied forces had broken through German lines and the end was written on the wall for all to see, Marco got restless and started abandoning his normal vigilance. In one particular day he decided, despite the almost ferocious advise of members of the household, to go into the street and buy himself a package of cigarettes at the neighborhood store. On the way back the French police who asked him for his identity papers apprehended him. Not being able to produce any he was arrested on the spot and sent to Drancy, a townlet about 30 kms north of Paris where a transit camp had been set up to assemble the Jews whom they were planning to send to Auschwitz. The camp authorities kept meticulous and detailed records to the point of recording the number of the freight car and the train number on those transported. According to these records, Marco Adato was sent to Auschwitz on July 31, 1944, in train number 77. The number of the freight wagon in which he was transported is also on record. 1 In the first round of the "selection process" that took place on the day of his arrival to Auschwitz, he was declared "unfit for work", and was sent to Birkenau where the gas chambers were located. Drancy was liberated by the armored columns of General Patton's Third Army on August 19 th 1944. Marco was 43 years old when he died. He was survived by his wife, and at least a son. A grand-daughter, Mazalto Adato works at present in a top secret French public organization as a researcher, my guess is nuclear research.

' Klarsfeld, unnumbered page.

10 LIA ADATO, WORLD WAR ONE YEARS

The First World War Year The two brothers, Lia and Simanto are called-up (1914-1915): Formally, it was the Entente Powers, Great Britain, France and the Russian Empire who declared war on the Ottoman Empire on November 4,1914. The declaration of general mobilization immediately followed suit. It was applied to all Ottoman subjects without regard to either religion or ethnic identity. During the first months after the declaration of war, the national authorities did not press hard to achieve a speedy mobilization of the ranks. There was a considerable shortage of funds, and the capacity of the army to recruit at a scale unheard of before, was limited. To supply the recruits even such elementaries as uniforms and food, not to mention weapons, ammunition and command structures able to absorb and train them, was a problem. 1 As a result, during the first months following the declaration of war, it was still possible to avoid being inducted to the army by paying the State an indemnity of OGL 30 (in Turkish bedel, roughly about US$ 4700 in 1995 values), although at time of payment it was not stated how much deferment time one was buying in exchange. Both the brothers paid the bedel and bought themselves an undefined amount of time. Avramachi the eldest, who by then was 49 years old was past the age of recruitment. Lia, cautious as ever, did not go to the Recruitment Office to pay the bedel. Perhaps Lia might have thought that if he was seen brimming with health, they might take him in anyway, even after he paid the sum. So instead he sent his eldest, Menahem, who was twelve years old, to make the payment and come back with a receipt. For poor Menahem who had not in his life seen more than a few copper coins at a time, carrying a purse containing 30 golden coins felt like holding in his hand a hand grenade which could explode any moment. However, being the dutiful boy he was, he carried out the assignment and came back with the receipt.

^Frumkin, pp. 52,103.

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A few months later, in March 1915, the battle for the Dardanelles began. The Dardanelles were only 150 kms from Kirklareli. With the help of copious German technical assistance, the capacity of the army to absorb recruits increased, and so did the demand for front line troops. The Government cancelled the bedel, and the ones which were already issued were declared as invalid. As can be expected, people whose health profile was below a certain standard were not inducted. As a result, a competitive market came into being for health certificates showing inadequate health, with which exemption could be obtained from military service The result was that except for a small minority, the male Jews of Kirklareli got exemptions from military duty because of health reasons. Young Simanto was among the few who could not, or would not prove inadequate health. In September 1915 he was recruited, while Lia who seemed to be a better operator, was not. After a brief period of training, Simanto was shipped to the Egyptian front just in time to participate in the abortive offensive launched by Cemal Paga to cross the Suez Canal. His military career did not last long, fortunately for him. When the British crossed the canal in mid-1916 he became a prisoner of war in one of the early skirmishes of the war around Rumani, and sat out the remaining length of the war in a prisoner of war camp in Egypt. Three months after his joining up, a daughter was born to Simanto, his first of three. The name given to her was Victoria and not Sultana, the name of Simanto's mother, as customary. The reason was that the birth was extremely difficult, with labor lasting three days, and it was a matter of touch and go whether either the mother, the baby or both would survive. The day of the birth, when Sultana was under excruciating pain not even knowing where her husband was or whether he was still alive for that matter, Lia turned up from a business trip to Istanbul. To Sultana this was a great omen and she exclaimed: "Now that Lia came, I will surely give birth today!", and so it was. Victoria meaning victory, was the name chosen for the baby girl. In the meantime the authorities in Istanbul started feeling queasy over the fact that the health of so many Kirklareli Jews was so poor and prevented them from being recruited. Probably the authorities smelled a rat, and they decided to act. According to a new decree issued, from now onwards, no more health certificates would be issued by individual physicians. Instead a commission would be set up in Kirklareli, composed of Ministry of Health officials, army representatives and more than one MD. This commission would act as the sole authority to issue exemptions from military service due to health reasons.

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It was hoped that as a result, the number of Jewish recruits from Kirklareli would increase significantly. In fact it did, but only for a small period of time. What the authorities in Istanbul did not allow for was the Hegelian outlook of the leaders of the Turkish and Jewish communities of Kirklareli, although, of course neither had heard of Hegel in their lives, both had the Hegelian process of thesis, counter-thesis, synthesis flowing in their blood streams. Both sides, each on his own, were groping towards a solution of the situation which the central authorities of Istanbul had created. At some point one among the persons concerned came up with the following disingenuous idea: Why not open negotiations between the Commission, comprising all its members, and representatives of the Jewish Community, get together and negotiate an agreement on military exemptions to the benefit of all involved, establish a single uniform tariff for an exemption certificate, and everybody would live happily there after. There is no claim in the family memory that Lia had anything to do with this initiative, but once it came to pass, he entered into the act in a forceful fashion. Lia had developed a truly socialist outlook, since his experience with the "Joint" during the Balkan War. He proposed the following: Let the Community establish a fund for paying the fees to get exemptions. Community members would participate in the fund according to their means, the rich would pay large sums, the poor much smaller ones, but the tariff to be paid by the fund to the Commission would be the same for every Community member no matter what his income. Commission members do not have to know anything about the existence of the fund. What in effect Lia had hit upon was a sort of progressive income tax, not bad for a person born in Kirklareli in 1879. Should he not be given some credit for thinking out the concept? Everybody in the Community congratulated Lia on his brilliant solution and authorized him to act as chief negotiator with the members of the Committee on establishing the single fee and the attached modus operandi. The doings of Avramachi during the second half of 1915: Before I continue with the further doings of Lia it is necessary to sidetrack to describe the doings of Avramachi, the eldest brother, who would play a central role on how the Adatos fared during the World War One period. The importance of these doings became evident not when they happened, but later. They centered on his decision to liquidate the family business in Kirklareli, and his leaving the town for Istanbul to start a new life and a new business there. He in fact converted all the business assets of the three brothers into cash and took it all with him.

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The testimonies about why he did this are those of his future victims and, as such, one sided, without counter testimonies that could set the balance right. So some speculation is in order as to why his motives could initially have been nobler than how they were perceived later. For starters, the economic outlook in the aftermath of the Balkan wars was not of a kind to write home about. Only a year had passed since the end of the disastrous Balkan Wars, and here was a third one on a much larger scale. With the beginning of this one, followed by general mobilization and the uncertainties that developed, business plummeted further. Matters only became worse when the armies of the Entente powers landed in the Dardanelles. At some point it was considered probable that eastern Thrace would be overrun by the British army on its way to Istanbul. At such a time who would think of buying cloth? In the autumn of 1915 with Simanto already in the army and Lia's future still uncertain, Avramachi was the only one among the three brothers who was free to think about what to do next in the business, and assuring that the old couple now living in Jerusalem, would have adequate means to do so. Before departing for Jerusalem, El Moravi had appointed Avramachi as the president of the partnership. This he had done due to Avramachi's seniority in age. As a result he had implicitly become responsible for the well-being of his two younger brothers and their families. That Avramachi decided that there was no business future left in Kirklareli and to liquidate the family store at as good a price as possible, leave town for Istanbul and start a new business there on behalf of the whole family, is entirely understandable. In addition, Avramachi was a restless spirit, and liked to be on the move. Also perhaps, he wanted to distance himself from his quarrelsome brothers and here was an occasion to do so. One can assume that he kept Lia informed of his plans, at least for the record. Having his hands full in so many ways, Lia probably hardly paid attention to what Avramachi was telling him. Most likely he nodded his head half absentmindedly when Avramachi was telling him of his plans. Menahem, Avramachi's eldest son, had in the mean time finished the idadiye (high school) that El Moravi had put in him in 1914, and had entered the Daruljunun (later University of Istanbul) to start his law studies. He had also ended the boarding arrangement with Kimhi, El Moravi's Istanbul friend. Menahem joined two of his friends studying law with him, and together they rented an apartment in a Jewish neighborhood of Qrtakoy, on the European side of the Bosphorus right on the water front. The apartment was of

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above average standard and so was the neighborhood, stretched out literally along the Bosphorus waterfront affording a scenic view of the straights. The neighborhood was a pleasing one and has remained so until the present day. During my last visit there in 1996,1 found a still active synagogue, a school and a house combined, for Community orphans, but only very few Jewish residents still lived there. Ever since living in Istanbul, Menahem urged his father to settle in there, and finally the time had now come. So one fine day Avramachi packed up several suitcases and traveled with his wife, Amada, to Babaeski, by horse carriage. They spent the night at Mazaltucha Adato's (Behar) home and the morning following after boarded the train for Istanbul. The Avramachis pulled up at the Behars with baggage of something like seven or eight cases which they of course brought into the house for the night, but two of them they were in no way prepared to part with and they took them to the room they were given to sleep in. According to the testimonies of Sultana Adato (Bensusen) and Rachel Adato (Lin), his nieces both the cases were mostly filled with gold coins and some paper money. This in fact was the Adato family fortune made by El Moravi, and bequeathed to his three sons, now converted into cash. Some inroads had been made into the fortune by the losses sustained during the Balkan wars, the businesswise lean years of 1914 and 1915, and in addition, the special payments to buy exemptions from military service, the bedels. However most of the fortune was still intact and it was substantial, too. I personally do not believe however that these two full size suitcases were filled mostly with gold coins. Only a Rothchild could fill to their full two such suitcases with gold. And if they were mostly filled with gold, as reported, given the specific gravity of gold, it would have taken a good mule to carry them, and not the arms of Avramachi. However, be that as it may, that there was a lot of gold and other valuables in the two suitcases there cannot be any doubt. My best estimate of the amount is about OGL 400 (about US$ 70,000 in our times), of which probably about OGL 250 belonged to Lia and Simanto. Upon arriving in Istanbul, Avramachi made for Menahem, his son's apartment. It just turned out that the second floor of the house had become vacant. He rented it on the spot. Shortly after this, he had three of his remaining children, Nessim, Mordo, and Victoria brought in from Kirklareli, Two older ones, Mosse and Chilibi, had already departed for Cuba.

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His was a spacious seven-room apartment on the second floor of the house with a parquet floor, tall French windows through which a magnificent view of the Bosphorus could be enjoyed, and a balcony to match. The family had a sleep-in maid, and all this from day one, even before Avramachi was earning a single piastre. Lia's recruitment Phase II: Negotiations with the Commission for granting exemption to persons of inadequate health were successfully concluded with Lia in the lead. A uniform fee per person was agreed upon, no matter what the income of the person who was the subject of the exemption. Any Jew who asked for one got his exemption due to health reasons, though a few were refused and inducted to the army for the sake of good form. Also, for good order's sake a report went out to Istanbul stating that the health of Jewish recruits were reinvestigated and it could be reconfirmed that its level was lower than expected, but at this point there is nothing that could be done, except accept it as a fact. Little hope remained that the Jews of Kirklareli would make a significant contribution to the manning of the various fronts of the Ottoman Empire. The report ended by declaring that the Commission was planning to launch an in-depth study to establish the causes of this poor health phenomenon among Kirklareli Jews. Thus the Community earned six more months to delay recruitment Lia had become the kingpin of the system and was recognized as such by all, to an extent that when one of his Turkish friends, a butcher, came to him one day, with tears in his eyes explaining to him why he could not for this or that reason join the army now, and pleading for help for a way out, could Lia refuse to help him out? Lia had a soft heart. So he declared to the Committee that his Turkish friend was Jewish, and of course, in poor health too, following which his butcher friend won his exemption papers. Lia's new status had its down side too, in terms of drawing too much publicity that led to his undoing. Members of the Community knew the method he had invented, all of whom were supposed to keep it a secret and not to leak it to people outside the Community. This of course they did, except to a close Turkish friend, just one or two. The trouble was that almost every Jew had one or two close Turkish friends, so that given a little time there were tens or more of them who knew the secret of the system. At some point so did some of the influential members of the Deferment Commission, who felt that they were being had by Lia. After all, the better off members of the Community were paying much larger sums for their deferment, but the beneficiaries were the poorer members of the Jewish Community, and not the members of the Deferment Committee. In fact, these

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members of the Commission felt Lia was cheating them. They ended up getting absolutely mad at him, and accused him of behaving in "unpatriotic fashion", cancelled his exemption papers and recruited him, poor health or no poor health. In November 1915 he was issued his marching orders to join a combat unit being formed in Istanbul. Succor came for Lia's predicament from a committee member, an MD who particularly liked Lia and thought that Lia got an unfair deal from the Deferment Commission who appeared to both want to have its cake and eat it. After all what did Lia do that was wrong? He was only trying to introduce some socialist justice into the free enterprise jungle of the trade in exemptions from military duty! So this good MD taught Lia how to simulate epilepsy symptoms. He conceived a plan, that on his way to his future military unit in Istanbul, while crossing the bridge on the Golden Horn, in the direction of Galata, at a predetermined time of the day, Lia would perform, and the rest would take care of itself. Playing it cautiously the MD had not divulged further details of the operation he had in mind. On the appointed day Lia traveled to Istanbul, arrived there in the evening, and the next day he walked across the bridge and precisely on time threw his epileptic fit faultlessly. Lo and behold, a military ambulance just happened to be passing by, and who was in the ambulance next to the driver but his good MD friend? When he had given his instructions to Lia, he had prudently not told him that he too would be travelling to Istanbul and would be on hand for the event. The ambulance drove to a military hospital not too far away and Lia was hospitalized with "acute epilepsy symptoms". All this the MD did for the sake of introducing some justice to the wrong that had been done to Lia, and for the sake of their long-standing friendship without any thought of claiming a financial reward. After spending some days at the hospital, the "condition" of Lia "improved", and this meant that he had to be returned to his unit, but then which unit? A combat unit was now out of question. In the meantime, some army authorities found out that Lia not only spoke a passable Turkish, but also he knew how to read and write in the language. This of course was thanks to El Moravi who saw to it that Lia learned Turkish properly by organizing private lessons for him.

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For a person who held no rank in the army, literacy was a very rare attribute, and such people were in short supply. So Lia was recruited to the army unit stationed at the central post office of Istanbul whose responsibility was to open all incoming mail, read the letters and censor them as required, this being quite a normal practice during times of war such as these. Lia remained in this job until the end of the war Esther gets into the act, November 1915: Lia kept mum and did not let Esther into the secrets of his dealings. She was going mad with anxiety. She had no inkling as to the whereabouts of Lia. As far as she was concerned the army had swallowed him up. She was 32 years old at the time and in her seventh month of her sixth pregnancy (one child had died during infancy). Her condition not withstanding, she decided to journey to Istanbul to enlist Avramachi's assistance to try to help Lia. She dumped her four children on Neama, her young sister, and asked her to look after them until she returned. Upon her arrival at the railway station of Sirkeci, she took the streetcar to Ortakoy where Avramachi had settled in. When she showed up, Avramachi did not look exactly enamoured with seeing his sister-in-law, but nevertheless had to offer her hospitality, as this was part of the social rules that applied under the circumstances. Somehow she managed to find out that Lia was hospitalized, but not being let in on the secret of the circumstances, this increased her anxiety. Through sheer guts and persistence she exploited old family connections that led to military authorities that told her that if Lia could show an Istanbul residence address he would be eligible for an assignment that would not take him away from the city. And what was easier than going to Avramachi and asking for his assistance in giving his address at Ortakoy as Lia's residence address in Istanbul? Avramachi was not obliging and he turned her down. I could not find out the excuse he gave her for this. Esther was now desperate, while getting so little support from her senior brother-in-law. Sitting on the terrace of the Avramachi residence, she was seen bursting into tears accompanied by loud sobbing by what turned out to be a kindly neighbor. The neighbor was intrigued by the sight of this young woman, obviously good-looking, sitting in this balcony with one of the more beautiful views anywhere in the world, but nevertheless crying her heart out. He asked her what the matter was and Esther told him her story, all the conversation taking place across two balconies a few meter distant one from the other. It seems that the person was some-one of some standing. He said that he would try to help, and took down some details. Until the end of her

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days, Esther thought that this person was the one who had saved Lia from frontline duty. A combination of the two is the most likely answer, firstly there was the step of getting Lia into hospital, but the actual placement was the result of the intervention of Esther's helper. How long the Committee in Kirklareli continued to hand out exemptions after Lia's demise is not known. Even within the framework of the four families I investigated I do not have a full picture. I came across cases of people crossing into Bulgaria to escape the call-up, and from there to the Western Hemisphere. There were also plain desertions after or before being recruited and of people who remained hidden in the country. There were also cases of people who did not succeed in avoiding recruitment. There is a Behar who was killed in action in the Dardanelles, leaving behind a widow and three young children whom the Community took upon itself to support financially throughout the duration of the war and possibly longer. There were other KIA's (Killed in Action) who received support from the Community. One intriguing question that remains unanswered is, had Lia not involved himself in the highly visible role of negotiator with the Recruiting Commission and kept a lower profile, would he have escaped the call-up? An incident in Menahem Adato's War Record: To present a balanced picture of the contribution of the Adato family to the war effort during World War One, it is necessary to relate the story of young Menahem Adato, El Moravi's oldest grandson, and, how he was called-up and did his duty to the fatherland to the full. Menahem joined up in mid 1915 and was ordered to enter the military school for reserve officers as a cadet, which he finished at the end of the year with the rank of Second Lieutenant. He was appointed to the Intelligence Service of the General Staff as a young officer and served in it through the end of the war. Among the various positions he held during the course of the War as an intelligence officer, was one in an army department that censored the Istanbul press. Sometime during 1916, probably during its second half, an important event took place in the railway network of the country which was of prime strategic importance. The railway tunnel through the Toros mountain range was finally dug and opened to traffic. This was the last section of the BerlinBosphorus-Baghdad railway, with its branch line all the way to Hidjaz which was thus finally completed.

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Until the tunnel's availability, when trains reached the northern foothills of the Taurus range, all passengers, now mostly military personnel, would get off and the freight was off-loaded to horse-drawn carriages. These would scamper up to the Pozanti Pass at 1900 meters altitude and then down again to the southern foothills of the Taurus range where they would be reloaded on a different train to take them further south and south east to either one of the two fronts in the Sinai or Mesopotamia. The distance to travel by carriage was only about 30 kms, but the whole procedure including the unloading and loading of the freight took about one week. The tunnel reduced the distance to twelve kms, but its impact on journey times, and in particular to railway capacity was huge, increasing capacity several times over. Needless to say, the Army did not wish the British to get the wind of the development which was to be kept as a top secret. However, a resourceful newspaperman found out the story and published it in his Istanbul paper, seemingly through the negligence of the Army censor who let it pass through. In the morning of the day of the publication of the story, Menahem got a phone call from the General in Command of the Intelligence Division who bellowed into the line, "Telefonumda konu$an deyyus kimdirV "who is the cuckold at the other end of my line?" Answered the hapless Menahem "Mulazim Menahem Adato Pa,¡am" (Second Lieutenant Menahem Adato my General) Next question: "Were you the Officer on duty during last afternoon's shift for newspaper censoring?" Menahem confirmed in the affirmative. Without further ado the General thundered away: "You are a traitor to your country and under arrest. Don't get out of your office until someone comes to pick you up" and hung up. Within a short time an officer appeared in Menahem's' office, accompanied by two MP's, who told him that he was arrested for treason and that he was ordered to prison where he would remain until the following morning when he will face a firing squad. Thus not even the courtesy of a court-martial! It took sometime for Menahem to realize what the whole happening was about, as he had never received a news item on the new tunnel or the orders for a total news blackout on the event. So he certainly was not the one to have leaked the story to the newspaper person either by intention or by negligence. Be as it may, he did not argue over his innocence, knowing well how useless that would have been, and, would have antagonized his commander even more against him.

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Instead, he told the officer that escorted him to his prison cell that it is his last wish and duty as an intelligence officer to impart an important piece of information concerning his work, but he would do this only to the General and requested an interview. Towards the evening, lo and behold, his request was granted. He turned up at the latter's office, saluted him smartly and said "Pa§am, I am not here to protest my innocence. It is an honor to die for the Fatherland even under these circumstances. All I want is to make sure that such a mishap will never occur again after I am gone. For this I need 24 hours and a staff car with a driver." His request was a pretty tall order, especially the car with a driver part. In 1914 in Istanbul, a city with a population of about one million, there were only 110 cars to be had. 1 Unbelievably, the General consented. Two points, firstly the General must have had a soft spot for Menahem. Secondly Menahem must have had a hunch about where the "nigger in the pile" lay buried. The next morning a staff car appeared at the prison with orders to get Menahem out with the understanding that it was to remain at his disposal for a full day to take him wherever he wished to be taken, following which the car would return him to his present cell. He ordered his driver to drive him to another military base, a few tens of kilometers outside the city. This base also had dealings with intelligence and related matters. With the staff car and driver, and his officer's uniform, he crossed the gate without any problem. However, instead of continuing to the main entrance of the building, he directed his driver to skit around it and make for the rubbish heap where discarded office paper was also dumped, of course unshredded — no such technology existed in those days. He squatted by the dump, and started rummaging and sifting the trash slowly and systematically through the piles of rubbish in the form of discarded office paper. He did this for hours, until he came to a crumpled-up piece of paper which turned out to be a copy of a telegram received from the Fourth Army headquarters of the Palestine front commanded by Cemal Paga and signed by him, announcing the news of the opening of the railway tunnel and that strict secrecy was to be observed. He drove back to his General, put the piece of paper on his desk, made some recommendations on how, in the future this kind of SNAFU could be avoided. He was released from prison on the spot and asked to return to his desk and "carry on" with not even the vaguest apology offered! He never found out how the guy in the other unit who was the perpetrator of the SNAFU was treated.

1 Frumkin, p. 41.

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How did the news leakage occur? My theory is that this was a typical case of overlapping bureaucratic establishments with no clear notions of responsibilities and job definitions. The rivalry between the three members of the ruling triumvirate, Talat, Enver, and Cemal and in particular between the last two, is a well-known fact of history. The rivalry made matters worse and drove the units to foul-ups such as this one. It is entirely possible that the cable was misdirected, or even if it was not, there should have been a routine procedure whereby a copy of the cable was forwarded to the press censorship unit where Menahem was stationed. It was not, either due to a second foul-up, or deliberately, to screw up the other unit in the context of inter-service rivalry. Menahem had the good sense of smelling this instinctively, and the savvy to handle the wrath wrongly directed against him by his General because of the foul-up. As an aftermath, a few weeks later, when hearing that a Turkish expeditionary force was being organized to bolster the flagging AustroHungarian front against attacking Russians, Menahem went to his commander, smartly saluted and volunteered to join the force, adding that as far as he was concerned, he had already died once, and his request is only for the glory of the Fatherland! His request was turned down. Six months later he was promoted to the rank of mulazimsani (First Lieutenant). Throughout the whole long story with its cataclysmic ups and down, there was not an inkling of a suggestion that his being a full-blooded Jew with a funny name like Menahem Adato was an issue. At the end of the war Menahem resumed his studies at the Dar-iilFunun from which he graduated in 1921. He became a successful lawyer of well respected professional standing and was known in the legal community of Izmir where he practiced most of his professional life, and later in Istanbul as "Hoca", ie "The Teacher", just like his grandfather El Moravi had been two generations back. The story of Avramachi Adato in Istanbul during the war years: Soon after Esther's return to Kirklareli, early in 1916, Avramachi contracted typhus in one of its severe forms. It was a matter of touch and go whether he would survive. In the end he did, but the illness reached his brain, resulting in total loss of speech and memory. His speech slowly returned to him and one of the first questions he asked the family was "who am I?" Gradually everything came back and by the end of the year he had recovered substantially, although it is doubtful that he ever recovered totally from the damage his brain had sustained.

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During all this time with no one in the family making any money, the El Moravi fortune in Avramachi's hands was being slowly but surely eaten up. In the mean time, his son Menahem was doing well in Istanbul, serving in the military but also establishing connections which included some within the Sultan's palace. When, during the beginning of 1917, Avramachi expressed a desire to work, Menahem could be of help. With the remaining El Moravi money, Menahem bought his father a pub selling liquor, both retail and wholesale. The liquor was supplied to the business by the liquor purveyors of the Palace. These provided Avramachi choice liquors of expensive foreign kinds such as Cognac, Champagne and Scotch. The palace received rather large quantities of these, almost free of charge, and there was nobody in the Palace to consume them. It seems Palace people preferred rah. The palace purveyors were quite pleased to provide foreign liquor in exchange for domestically produced rah. Of course they could not carry out this kind of barter themselves, as it was considered unseemly to have Palace staff peddle liquor, especially in a Muslim country, and liquor from countries at war with the Ottoman Empire, to boot. Thus it was more than convenient to operate through a reliable and discreet Jew who would keep his mouth shut over the connection and the business. With more than half of Istanbul's population being Christian at the time, mostly Greeks and Armenians, war time shortages, inflation, and profiteering, the pub became a roaring business success throughout the remaining years of the War. Beginning in 1919 when the Entente Powers occupied Istanbul, the business became less lucrative. However it was still possible to make a good living out of it throughout the occupation as well. Its end came only in 1925, when, the new Turkish Republic nationalized all liquor production, import trade, and wholesale and retail outlets in the country including Avramachi's pub, following which Avramachi returned to Kirklareli to sell cloth. During the war years, the Avramachi family lived it up. Victoria, their only daughter was sent to the Constantinople Girls' College, an American school of prestigious reputation which was probably the most expensive one in town. Victoria graduated from the primary part of the school in 1926. It is now time to return to the story of Lia. The Adato story of the war years in Kirklareli: The brothers Lia and Simanto left behind in Kirklareli their respective families, Esther with her brood of five, and Sultana Behar, Simanto's wife with her baby daughter. They continued to live in the old El Moravi house. How did they survive financially? They lived courtesy of Avramachi initially who gave each one of them a monthly allowance of a single OGL.

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The Ottoman state started printing paper money that became the legal means of payment. The one to one parity between the OGL and the OPL (Ottoman paper Lira) could no longer be maintained. At this point Avramachi started to pay each family one OPL a month. And what could one buy for such a sum in 1917? The answer is three loaves of bread of a kilo each and one kilo of white cheese a day. And what about the rest of consumables? A few more food items on the cheap? A pair of shoes a year? The answer: no money was left for these. Beginning in 1917 and throughout 1918 with inflation accelerating, they could not buy even the bread and cheese! Avramachi did not believe in price indexing of any kind! He did not increase their monthly allowance to at least partly offset the results of price inflation. Thus, the two families dived well below the poverty line. During 1918 Esther could not even afford to buy white cheese as part of the basic daily diet. She had to be satisfied with the watery liquid to be found in a can of white cheese. The liquid was called sorvatka which amazingly enough commanded a market price and therefore had to be bought, fortunately only for a pittance. So everybody dipped their bread into this liquid as a flavoring that provided young children their only source of protein. Sultana was a little better off, though only relatively speaking, because she had only one child to look after, and she visited her mother in Babaeski, who was comfortably off. From her mother she would come back with a few diary products and fruit from her rather extensive orchards. Also, she and her little baby Victoria lived in her mother's home for weeks at a time. It was Esther who had a really hard time. She was hovering not too far from actual starvation. She would occasionally receive from Bohor Chiprut, her elder brother, a can of white cheese, (about eight kilos of the real stuff, not just the juice!) and boxes of grapes and other food. Esther kept the store open to eke out a few additional kuriq from selling threads. She took baby Yako with her to the store in a cot. She would buy the threads in larger quantities, convert them into smaller lots and sell these. Menahem, her eldest, (my father, twelve years old) would come in from school and prepare most of the smaller lots. It was his idea to break up the threads into smaller lots and sell them retail which commanded a higher mark-up. To her credit, Esther never took her three older children out of school.

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The extra few pennies she earned at the store she spent on buying a piece of cloth to make a shirt for Menahem, to buy a pair of second hand, shoes for Barzilai some surplus in-season vegetables or a little firewood for particularly cold winter days, all in all still well below the poverty line but just a little above actual starvation. After a serious family quarrel with La Bulissa, his rather authoritative step-mother, Bohor Chiprut, Esther's older brother, moved into the house of El Moravi where Esther and her children lived, and installed himself in the first floor left vacant after his death in Jerusalem in 1916. Bohor did not pay even a modicum of rent to needy Esther. Bohor and his family had a standard of living which was high, but for the poor semi-starved Esther and Sultana Adato (Bensusen) it was fabulous. Engraved to the present day in the memory of little Sultana, Esther's oldest daughter, who was eight years old at the time, was the aroma of lamb chops grilling in a slow fire as she dipped her slice of bread into the sorvatka liquid for some taste. Ida Hassid, (Dududa), Bohor's wife, told her husband a number of times that he should occasionally invite the Adatos of the house to his dinner table. He agreed but was prepared to invite Esther only, adding her five children was just too much as far as he was concerned. Without her children being invited as well Esther would not even hear of such an invitation, she just ignored it. There was no doubt that Avramachi knew of the dire straights under which the families of his two brothers were living. On occasion he visited Kirklareli. Dudu and possibly others asked him to increase their monthly allowances, at least partly to compensate for inflation. Avramachi refused to do this, claiming that he did not want to "encourage in them a beggar's mentality". It seems he had forgotten that the assets he had taken with him to Istanbul when he left Kirklareli also belonged to his two younger brothers, and that in increasing the allowances to their families he was not doing them a favor. Menahem (my father) remembers the celebration of his bar-mitzvah on December 1917. Avramachi happened to be in Kirklareli at the time. It was Hanukkah week, with my father's birthday falling in the fourth day of the festivity week. There were several good reasons as to why Avramachi should have given Menahem an outstanding present on the occasion. All he could be talked into giving Menahem was a piece of cloth of one meter length for Esther to sew him a pair of short trousers. Avramachi's demeanor when he gave the present to Menahem was such that forty years later, he admitted to Mois Adato, his son, that on no occasion in his life did he feel more humiliated than on that particular one.

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Lia Adato: What was Lia doing during all this period? The remarkable thing is the total absence of the slightest shred of evidence in the family memory suggesting that he made any attempt to contact his family, or find out about how they were doing. After all, he was stationed in the vicinity of Istanbul. Kirklareli was only fourteen hours away, even by the slowest train. Avramachi lived in Istanbul. What about letters? What about even 24 hours of leave for him to turn up at his eldest brother's to get news on the doings of his family? It looked as if the army had swallowed him up completely. It is easy to come up with the usual obvious reasons for his seeming lack of interest in his family, none of which are in his favor. One has difficulty in coming up with reasons explaining his behavior which are not in his disfavor, but here is a try: the obvious one is acute paranoia partly anchored in fact. Lia had landed himself a rather cushy job, to the envy of many. The way he had landed the job was less than straight. His claim to so called "poor health" might have been discovered to be false, following which, even if not actually punished for it, he could have ended up being sent to one of the front lines where the Empire was fighting its life-and-death battles, daily incurring large casualties. The personnel management aspect of how Ottoman armies were run was not one of their fortes. When a soldier fell in battle his nearest kin was not even notified. The standard reply to inquiries about the fate of soldiers was "if you have received a letter from him less than six months ago, than he must be all right, God willing!" Given this kind of environment, asking for leave, or even sending out a letter to the family would be perceived as a cheeky act and unappreciative of the job he was given. He might have thought it would tempt fate. There was also the security risk, with spies thought to be everywhere. What would Lia do willingly or unwillingly once he was given leave? Why, he may even want to desert and spill all the classified information he was in possession of to an Armenian, or some other enemy agent. Lia was not the only person who acted in this fashion. Such action was not uncommon among Jews and Turks alike and culturally acceptable. This is the best case I can make in favor of Lia, my grandfather, for his behavior during the war years, which to our contemporary eyes is entirely inexcusable. Only at the end of 1918 when the Ottoman Empire was vanquished in the War and compelled to sign an armistice surrendering to the Entente Powers, did the family manage to reestablish contact with Lia for the first time after three years. The family found him in a military hospital recovering from typhoid fever. He was visited by Avramachi, Menahem (my father) and Sultana his eldest daughter.

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He was discharged from the army during the early days of January, 1919, and went back to Kirklareli to rejoin his family and begin the arduous task of rehabilitating his business. He did not waste much time before resuming his activities under the "Be fruitful and multiply" injunction and on December 6, 1919, his seventh child was born, Liezer, nine months to the day after his return to Kirklareli. The freeing of Simanto from the prisoner of war camp in Egypt, Winter 1919: On the evening of a cold day, the bell rang in Avramachi's home. The maid opened the door to be faced with a disheveled, middle-aged person looking tired to the bone, unshaved, with his clothes worn and torn and smelling as if he had needed a bath for some time. Thinking that he was probably a beggar or worse, the maid panicked. Without even asking him who he was or what he wanted, she banged the door to his face. In a minute or two, the bell rang again and this time the person physically prevented the door from closing in his face again. He told the maid that his name was Simanto, that he was the brother of the master of the house and asked her to call him to the door. It took a few seconds before Avramachi recognized his brother who was 19 tears younger than he was, but somehow had come to look so old. Simanto told him that he had been travelling in trains from Egypt for the best part of a week, had not eaten anything for the last two days and had hardly slept. It can be assumed that the British had given him a third class ticket and in addition, a few pennies of pocket money, and let him loose. There were no welcoming committees for soldiers returning home. Avramachi looked after him for a while, bought him a ticket at Sirkeci station where trains left for Kirklareli, and probably gave him a few gold coins which were meant to represent "his share of the partnership". Simanto traveled to Kirklareli and was reunited with his wife Sultana after a separation of four years. He saw his daughter Victoria who was almost five at the time, for the first time in his life.

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