Hats

My grandmother, Ilonka (Ileana) Mezey Raab; and my grandfather, Zoltan Raab.

What did the High Holidays mean in Arad, Hungary (after WWI, Romania) for members of the Raab family? It meant hats: my grandmother always bought a new hat, Panni used to tell me. And perhaps my grandfather did, too? (Or at least he wore one to services: not a yarmulke; not one of those furry ones that the Hasidim do. But, definitely, a hat.) I don't know if Panni and Agi (my Aunt Agnes) did...but I think I remember Panni telling me that they got new clothes--perhaps, a new coat?

I didn't grow up observing the High Holidays; it was fifteen years ago that I attended my first services. And I've tried to, since then, though it has not always been easy (and with synagogues being so packed in South Florida, there's no guarantee I'll get to go this year). But at least I'm aware of them; of what roughly goes on at services; the special meals (and lack therof); the sounding of the Shofar at the beginning of Rosh Hashanah...and, again, at the end of Yom Kippur; the Yizkor part of the service Yom Kippur afternoon, which was especially difficult to get through in 2000; and, in general, how this time of the year marks both beginnings and endings.

Traditions. Whether in South Florida or in Arad: food; clothes; hats.

Happy New Year!