This tape is a continuation of a formal interview with David Abramovich Vider (b. 1922 in Sighetu Marmatiei). The tape begins with a discussion of the concept of "a giter yid,” (lit. "a good Jew) to whom Jews and non-Jews would go on pilgrimage to receive advice and/or healing. Vider describes how Orthodox Christians from around the region today come to him, calling him "dobryi evrei” ("a good Jew”), paying him, so the Jews in the Kolomyya synagogue will pray for them and thus solve their problems. Telling a few stories of such "pilgrims,” Vider explains that he writes the names of these Christians down in a special notebook and uses their money to pay for community celebrations.
From the machine transcript
Kerler asks what 'a good Jew' means; Vider explains that Orthodox Christians from Kosiv, Kolomyya and nearby villages come to him, knock on his window, and ask him to write down their names so that prayers are said for their troubles, such as illness, a failed love or a wedding. They pay him a few rubles, and he uses the money for the Sabbath kiddush after prayers in the synagogue. He tells several stories of such visitors, says he gives no guarantees, and mentions the rabbi who came to the synagogue.
Also covers the kiddush gatherings, a visitor who promised a gift after his wedding or a trip to America, and the rabbi's role.
Vider briefly shares the history of the Kolomyya synagogue and how these pilgrimages began. He also talks about his two marriages: Vider’s first marriage was to a Communist Jewish woman; he is now married to a Christian woman from Kolomyya. Vider had no children with his first wife, nor did they get married under a "khipe” (wedding canopy) as she was a committed Communist. He shares some details of his difficult relationship with his first wife. Vider also mentions that he enthusiastically listens to records of cantorial music.
From the machine transcript
Vider says when the synagogue reopened and how the first Christian visitors came, including an old woman from Kosiv with a sick child. He talks about his two marriages: twenty-eight years with a Jewish Communist wife, with no children and no wedding canopy, and a difficult relationship in which they lived apart for four years. His present wife is a Christian woman who attends the Hesed centre and is liked there. He listens to cantorial recordings at home.
Adds the opening date of the synagogue (unclear figure), the Hesed centre, the second wife's name, and the cantor recordings.
Vider details his early education in the Jewish schools in Hîrlau where he studied in Yididsh in the morning and in Hebrew in the afternoon. School met six days a week, according to Vider, and taught Modern Hebrew similar to what is now spoken in Israel. Vider then sings HaTivka.
From the machine transcript
Vider describes his Jewish schooling in Hîrlau, a Romanian-Jewish school where Yiddish and Hebrew were taught and the old pronunciation of Hebrew used. He studied until about age twelve, then moved to Iași. He recalls singing Hatikvah there and sings part of it for Kerler.
Adds the hours of Yiddish and Hebrew instruction and the school's name and head.
He briefly mentions his "bal-mitsve” ("bar mitzvah,” or coming of age ceremony).
From the machine transcript
Vider talks briefly about his bar mitzvah. Rabbis came from Palestine, and he had a tallit but no tefillin yet. He says he cannot recite the whole prayer.
Vider states that he remembers and recites the traditional blessings to be said upon hearing thunder, seeing lightening or a rainbow, and on other occasions.
From the machine transcript
Vider speaks about the blessings said on seeing a rainbow, hearing thunder, seeing lightning and similar occasions, and recites some of them. Kerler asks about the grace after meals, but Vider does not remember a tune for it.
Vider describes a "pirimshpil” (Purim play) that he would put on with his brother in which he played a chimney-sweep and his brother dressed as a woman. He then recites the whole rhyming ditty they would sing and repeats it again for the sake of clairty. He explains how they performed this skit around the neighborhood in Hîrlau and Iași, and received money, candies and wine for their efforts.
From the machine transcript
Vider describes a Purim play he performed with his brother in Hîrlau and Iași, in which he was dressed as a chimney-sweep and his brother as a woman. He recites the rhymed dialogue (a chimney-sweep seeking a bride from a fine family) and repeats it more slowly at Kerler's request. They received money, sweets and wine from the households they visited.
Vider recites what he refers to as another "pirimsphil,” a loshn-koydesh (Hebrew-Aramaic) and Yiddish song called "A gemakhtn got hobn zey” ("They have a manmade god”) based on a part of the Hallel service.
From the machine transcript
Vider recites a Purim piece in Hebrew and Yiddish, based on a passage of Hallel, that mocks idols made by human hands. Kerler interrupts to ask him to sing the entire song.
He discusses his current health problems.
From the machine transcript
Vider briefly talks about his current health: a throat problem and a cold, medicines he buys, and a doctor who visits twice a month.
Vider recites the lyrics and then sings a song entitled "Ven futer yakoyv iz geleygn oyf deym shteyn” ("When the Patriach Jacob Slept on the Stone”) which he remembers hearing from a cantor at a concert.
From the machine transcript
Vider recites and then sings a song about the patriarch Jacob sleeping on the stone, a song about a dying father and an orphan asking the cantor to say kaddish with him. He remembers it from a cantor's concert in his childhood in Hîrlau. At the end he starts another song.
Vider sings another song in Yiddish, consisting of a dialogue between a daughter and mother.
From the machine transcript
Vider sings a Yiddish song consisting of a dialogue between a daughter at night and her mother, who refuses to let her in. Kerler praises how well he remembers it and asks about another song his father taught him.
Professor Kerler discusses the logistics of finding other interviewees with a woman from Hesed.
From the machine transcript
Vider says the song he mentioned belongs to the morning prayer, and Kerler tries to look it up. The rest is mostly Russian talk between Kerler and a woman from the Hesed about finding other interviewees: telephone numbers, a minibus outside, and an elderly woman. She praises Vider's talents, character and cooking, and Kerler explains why dialect speakers from the Kolomyya region matter.
Adds Vider's remark about the prayer and the Hesed woman's praise of Vider.
Vider reads the loshn-koydesh portion of "A gemakhtn got hobn zey” from a prayerbook and then sings the song once more in full.
From the machine transcript
Vider reads the Hebrew portion of the song about the idols from a prayerbook, then sings the Yiddish song in full. Kerler asks whether he remembers it from Hîrlau, and Vider says yes.
He then sing another "pirimshpil” entitled "Got hot indz gegebn tsvey gite simunim” ("G-d gave us two signs”) that he and his brother used to sing while performing another skit dressed as a rabbi and his wife. Vider states that he learned all these songs and ditties from his father, who was well-educated and encouraged his children’s learning. Vider’s father was especially adept at mathematics, and Vider shows Professor Kerler how his father counted on his fingers in a special way. Vider then switches into Russian to demonstrate another mathematical trick that he learned from his father.
From the machine transcript
Vider sings another Purim piece, about God sending Moses as a matchmaker for a wedding, which he and his brother performed dressed as a rabbi and a rebbetzin. He says he learned these songs from his father, a learned man and mathematician, and shows Kerler his father's finger-counting method for multiplication. He then switches into Russian to demonstrate another arithmetic trick with three-digit numbers learned from his father.
