When parents were concerned that their child was not learning how to walk early enough, they took the child to the synagogue. There, the parents tied the child’s feet together with a rope and another person then untied the rope. It was believed that this procedure could make the child begin to walk.
When a child attended school for the first time, his mother distributed fritters with honey to all the students in his class. The rabbi of the school also received a gift on this occasion. (From Marc D Angel, The Jews of Rhodes)
Childhood Customs
Contents
Rebecca Amato Levy’s reflections on Rehmido or Pidyon as it was practiced in Rhodes
When a child was about ready to walk, the mother felt that saying the following little ditty would encourage the child to start walking. It went something like this:
Po, Po, ke se esta… Tapate poso Tapate mar
Ke el ijo va kaminar … I se va ir a la Havra
Kon el pan … y el keso … i el libriko en el pecho
Onde vas … ijo del Dio?
A meldar la ley del Dio!
In essence, this meant: Little one, stand up. To the well and to the sea….cover yourselves… for my son is going to walk … and to go to Hebrew School… with his lunch of bread and cheese and books under his arms. Where are you going, son of God? To learn the laws of God!
If the child was late in learning to walk, the mother would tie the child’s feet together and take the child to the entrance of the Synagogue. The first person entering the Synagogue would untie the child’s feet and say: “Just as I walk, dear God, so make this child walk.”
In order to encourage a child to talk, the parents would get a small live fish and have the child bite it. So, when an adult was extremely talkative, the expression was used:
“You talk too much… you must have bitten a fish when you were a child.”
When the child was about four years old, he was ready for the Havra or Hebrew School. This was a very momentous occasion. The mother would take the child by the hand, walk him to the school and leave him (most of the time, crying). Some of the parents would take likoum (Turkish Delight confection) for all of the youngsters, hoping this would pacify the child and at the same time make an impression on all the other youngsters.
I can vividly remember when Lieto Hasson first went to Hebrew School. He was considered desiado (desirable) as he was born after his parents had five girls. The father, Senor Gevir Hasday Hasson, who was a wealthy candymaker in Rhodes, paid some Turkish men to string green myrtle from his home to the school, which was about half a block away to celebrate his son’s first day at school.
He then prepared “pitikas kon miel” (honeycakes), sesame bars and likoum for all the boys in the school. He did the same type of celebration for the Bar Mitzvah.
Tragically, this boy-child who was born “with a silver spoon” in his mouth and had everything in the world to live for … died at a very young age in a concentration camp.
When a child was about ready to walk, the mother felt that saying the following little ditty would encourage the child to start walking. It went something like this:
Po, Po, ke se esta… Tapate poso Tapate mar
Ke el ijo va kaminar … I se va ir a la Havra
Kon el pan … y el keso … i el libriko en el pecho
Onde vas … ijo del Dio?
A meldar la ley del Dio!
In essence, this meant: Little one, stand up. To the well and to the sea….cover yourselves… for my son is going to walk … and to go to Hebrew School… with his lunch of bread and cheese and books under his arms. Where are you going, son of God? To learn the laws of God!
If the child was late in learning to walk, the mother would tie the child’s feet together and take the child to the entrance of the Synagogue. The first person entering the Synagogue would untie the child’s feet and say: “Just as I walk, dear God, so make this child walk.”
In order to encourage a child to talk, the parents would get a small live fish and have the child bite it. So, when an adult was extremely talkative, the expression was used:
“You talk too much… you must have bitten a fish when you were a child.”
When the child was about four years old, he was ready for the Havra or Hebrew School. This was a very momentous occasion. The mother would take the child by the hand, walk him to the school and leave him (most of the time, crying). Some of the parents would take likoum (Turkish Delight confection) for all of the youngsters, hoping this would pacify the child and at the same time make an impression on all the other youngsters.
I can vividly remember when Lieto Hasson first went to Hebrew School. He was considered desiado (desirable) as he was born after his parents had five girls. The father, Senor Gevir Hasday Hasson, who was a wealthy candymaker in Rhodes, paid some Turkish men to string green myrtle from his home to the school, which was about half a block away to celebrate his son’s first day at school.
He then prepared “pitikas kon miel” (honeycakes), sesame bars and likoum for all the boys in the school. He did the same type of celebration for the Bar Mitzvah.
Tragically, this boy-child who was born “with a silver spoon” in his mouth and had everything in the world to live for … died at a very young age in a concentration camp.