Transcription
Luna: These in every trousseau that show what trousseaus they give and what they don't give and in golden items in these, every bride had to have six silver spoons.
Michalis: And tell us, what use did silver objects have when someone had a firstborn son?
Luna: Ah, they would do before the brit, no I'm not lying, they would do the brit at eight days and immediately after in the month they would do another celebration that they called Pidyon Haben.
Not for all children though, for women who had a firstborn son until the year when she got married, when she had given birth.
This had to be done as a small party here at home, with relatives. And...
It was, always let's say someone Cohen would "buy" the child.
Some Cohen.
And then for the mother to get the child back, she had to give him something silver.
Michalis: And what silver item did you usually give?
Luna: Then you would take them back again.
These were all, yes.
With the spoons what you had, yes.
How many silver ones.
Michalis: And the brit, where was it done, at home?
Luna: My two children, the first ones.
I did them here at home.
And they had opened the neighboring house too.
All of them and all these people.
And we had the courtyard as help, very many people gathered.
My third son, I did at a center later.
In this one.
Michalis: And who performed the circumcision?
Luna: The circumcision, the one we mentioned as more, Felous Yakos who was also the more of the school here.
And he did the best we could go to.
As I said before, my brother-in-law was the Chief Rabbi Yakos Arar.
The Chief Rabbi of all Greece who was in Athens.
When he died, his son, Avis Arar, if you know him and David, if you know them I don't know.
He came here one day, he says I want to come uncle, we have very good relations.
And he says I want to give you two things that belonged to my dad.
And I think.
I think to Sissis, as the only brother of my husband, and he gave us this, which is the tzitzit, what do they call them, these that they wear inside.
They wear them under the shirt.
Under the shirt, yes.
This is the tallit that my brother-in-law wore.
Michalis: When did he wear it?
Luna: In all, when in the services, in the synagogue.
Yes.
Something like this that he had here, a rosary of his, it's silver.
We took this too.
Yes, he gave us.
This is the case where they placed inside the...
With this we cover the matzah plate of the Seder.
This is the mezuzah, it's the mezuzah that my brother-in-law had in his house.
And they gave us this and we put it.
They gave us this and we put it inside.
Michalis: And what does the mezuzah mean to you?
Luna: It's an amulet that protects...
Inside here there's a small papyrus that has the ten commandments.
You kiss this.
In the morning
I kept it, they don't want.
In this interview, Luna shares valuable information about Jewish traditions and family heirlooms. She describes the Pindion Abben ceremony for firstborn sons, where silver objects were used, and mentions the circumcisions that took place at home with large family gatherings. Of particular value is her reference to the heirlooms she inherited from her brother-in-law, Chief Rabbi Yako Arar—the tallit, the tzitzit, a silver rosary, and his mezuzah. The interview offers a personal glimpse into daily religious life and the preservation of Jewish customs through family objects that carry history and spiritual significance.
Luna Arar
Transcription
Luna: These in every trousseau that show what trousseaus they give and what they don't give and in golden items in these, every bride had to have six silver spoons.
Michalis: And tell us, what use did silver objects have when someone had a firstborn son?
Luna: Ah, they would do before the brit, no I'm not lying, they would do the brit at eight days and immediately after in the month they would do another celebration that they called Pidyon Haben.
Not for all children though, for women who had a firstborn son until the year when she got married, when she had given birth.
This had to be done as a small party here at home, with relatives. And...
It was, always let's say someone Cohen would "buy" the child.
Some Cohen.
And then for the mother to get the child back, she had to give him something silver.
Michalis: And what silver item did you usually give?
Luna: Then you would take them back again.
These were all, yes.
With the spoons what you had, yes.
How many silver ones.
Michalis: And the brit, where was it done, at home?
Luna: My two children, the first ones.
I did them here at home.
And they had opened the neighboring house too.
All of them and all these people.
And we had the courtyard as help, very many people gathered.
My third son, I did at a center later.
In this one.
Michalis: And who performed the circumcision?
Luna: The circumcision, the one we mentioned as more, Felous Yakos who was also the more of the school here.
And he did the best we could go to.
As I said before, my brother-in-law was the Chief Rabbi Yakos Arar.
The Chief Rabbi of all Greece who was in Athens.
When he died, his son, Avis Arar, if you know him and David, if you know them I don't know.
He came here one day, he says I want to come uncle, we have very good relations.
And he says I want to give you two things that belonged to my dad.
And I think.
I think to Sissis, as the only brother of my husband, and he gave us this, which is the tzitzit, what do they call them, these that they wear inside.
They wear them under the shirt.
Under the shirt, yes.
This is the tallit that my brother-in-law wore.
Michalis: When did he wear it?
Luna: In all, when in the services, in the synagogue.
Yes.
Something like this that he had here, a rosary of his, it's silver.
We took this too.
Yes, he gave us.
This is the case where they placed inside the...
With this we cover the matzah plate of the Seder.
This is the mezuzah, it's the mezuzah that my brother-in-law had in his house.
And they gave us this and we put it.
They gave us this and we put it inside.
Michalis: And what does the mezuzah mean to you?
Luna: It's an amulet that protects...
Inside here there's a small papyrus that has the ten commandments.
You kiss this.
In the morning
I kept it, they don't want.