Max Gass and his family kept the Sabbath. Adele described what this entailed:

“On Fridays, Max left work early to come home before sundown. Sometimes, he would go to the synagogue. I would light the Sabbath candles and Max would recite Kiddish over the wine and say the Ha-motzi over the challah [braided bread]. Then I'd served the Friday night meal. At the end of the meal Max sang Hebrew songs.

“The candles were lit no later than 18 minutes before sunset. I usually covered my hair with a lace shawl but if I was in a hurry I just threw on a napkin. After I kindled the candles, I moved my hands back and forth over the flames three times, placed my hands over my eyes, and said the blessing:

Baruch ata Adonoi, Elohenu melech ha-olam, asher kideshanu be-mitzvotav, ve-tzivanu le-hadlik ner shel Shabbat.

(Praised be Thou, O Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath lights.)

“I kind of meditated after saying the blessing and I blessed my family so they would be well and happy. When I had all three children I lit five candles—one for each family member. And then when I lost Jay, I lit four, than three candles after Janet was gone. Sometimes I would light only two.

“I placed three challahs on the table. Two little ones were used for the Ha-motzi. Over the challah I placed a decorative cover with the word Shabbat embroidered on it in Hebrew. After Max said the Ha-motzi, he removed the cover, broke off a piece of the challah and passed it around. The third challah was normal size and not part of the ceremony, it was just for convenience. It had been pre-sliced and we ate it during the meal. When I was first married I used to bake my own challah. I would let the dough rise overnight and then I would braid and bake it. I even had special pans to make different shapes. Later, I just picked it up at the bakery.

“After the meal I cleared the dishes but I couldn't wash them and I couldn't do any more cooking, although I left food on the stove with a low flame burning. Max wouldn't even allow me to turn on lights. It was like living in my father's home—come Friday after sundown we weren't allowed to do anything

“However on the Sabbath, I could prepare food like making a salad, and serving it. I could use knives. The prohibition was against cooking because in the olden days making a fire took a lot of work. You weren't allowed to do anything that was work. Half of the things that are prohibited in modern times wouldn't be prohibited if the Bible were written today. The main theme of the Bible was that G-d created the earth and everything else in six days and on the seventh day He rested. When the Bible was written, you didn't have electric lights, telephones, and cars that started with the turn of a key. Max refused to talk on the telephone on the Sab­bath but I did and this bothered him. He didn't like the idea of my answering the phone and even in an emergency he wouldn't use it.

“On Saturday mornings Max walked to the synagogue—about three miles away. He walked even in the worst rain and snowstorms because he wouldn't violate the Sabbath by driving. Max often lead the service in the synagogue. He was like the gabbai, the person who assists in running a congregational service. He'd read and translate the Torah and Haftorah. There were other congregants who could lead the service, too, but Max led the most often. After he died, the Winthrop synagogue placed a plaque in the chapel to honor his memory.

“Sometimes after services Max brought people home for the mid-day meal. If he returned by himself, he would nap after eating. I would be very bored so I just read.

“I never made gefilte fish for Max because he hated it but Paul loved it, so sometimes I prepared it for him. I made mine using pike and white fish—it was very good. I never wrote down the recipe for it or for anything else. I did every­thing from memory and somehow I managed to make it come out right.

“Max didn't like tzimmes [a vegetable casserole sometimes prepared with meat] but it was easy to make and it could be reheated without losing its flavor. I made tzimmes with sweet potatoes, carrots, and kishke [a mixture of bread crumbs, spices, and egg stuffed in a casing] and I baked it in the oven. The kids liked it. I only prepared cholent [slow-cooked main dish with meat, beans, and potatoes] for my father-in-law. He used to love stuffed chicken neck with baked beans and potatoes.

“Shalosh Seudos [the third meal] was served before Havdalah. It was a light supper, a milkh [dairy] meal, usually consisting of cheese, lox, tuna, and so on. We never had herring because it came with onions and Max hated onions. However, Max loved kippers. So on Saturdays he got canned kippers but on Sunday when I could cook I made him fresh kippers—they stunk up the house.

“After sunset on Saturday, Max conducted a Havdalah ceremony and then I was free to do anything. Havdalah marks the end of the Sabbath and separates it from drudgery of the work week. We used a special wine cup, and a besomim [spice­box] that I bought in Israel. It contained cinnamon, cloves, and other spices. Max lit the Havdalah candle [a braided candle with two wicks that burned like a torch] and recited a blessing. He would put his fingers in front of the candle and look at his fingernails in the candlelight. We used to say to our children, Hold the candle high so you will grow tall.

“Max blessed the wine and the spicebox and then we passed the spicebox around and sniffed it. He said a few more blessings and extinguished the candle by spill­ing a little bit of wine on the counter and dousing the candle in it. Then he would dip two fingers in the spilt wine to bring good luck and put his fingers in his pocket.”

Max's son Paul, did not follow Max's religious traditions but it did not generate conflict between the two. According to Paul:

“I had a great respect for my father and although I drove on the Sabbath, I always parked the car two or three blocks away from home in a direction I knew he wouldn't walk in. My mother was aware of this. My father would never acknowl­edge that I would deliberately violate Jewish laws. After I was married, if he saw something that wasn't kosher in my house, he would assume that it was someth­ing my wife, Judy, brought in by mistake. He rationalized these things. Out of respect for my parents, we always prepared everything 100% kosher for them when they visited.”
 

     
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