Family Stories

Every year I take an old prayer book from my dad’s collection when I go to synagogue on the High Holydays.
This is mainly for the book to fulfill its purpose of guiding me through the service, however it returns the favour in many, often surprising, ways.

This year when we got to the prayer for the Royal Family, the one I used on Yom Kippur referenced – drum roll here – Queen Victoria!!
Quite shocked I hurriedly found the publishing panel – 1897!

There’s a back story to this…. over 40 years ago, an elderly Jewish couple had passed away and a cleaner was clearing the house which was next door to my parents.

The cleaner, unknowingly, had lit a bonfire to burn unwanted items.

When my father saw there were books about to go in the fire he asked to have them, not knowing what they were; thus, my father saved these charming old prayer books – some of which are in Russian, as well as English and Hebrew – to continue their holy purpose…