Full Transcript
okay okay so I'm Claire rakman and I live in Dallas my address is 1245 cable Circle Dallas 75230 okay Claire tell us a little bit about why your family originally immigrated to South Africa um my mother's side came from Germany and they immigrated just before the war around 1937 they left um braslau Germany and they had a good business in Germany and basically they left to just get away and my father's side immigrated actually my father himself left came from Egypt and he immigrated actually by himself after the war around 1948 just because South Africa was a British colony and could easily get into South
Africa W very interesting his family actually followed him afterwards tell us a few things about your own life growing up in South Africa some things that really stand out in your mind what life was like when you were younger um when I was I was born in South Africa with my sister marel and um around around the age of seven we actually went to live in Israel and we lived in Israel for 5 years and when I was 12 we actually returned to South Africa so a part of a chunk of my life we actually grew up in Israel growing up in South Africa it
was very family orientated we spent a lot of time with family and that's something I really miss I mean as much as we do it we just had an very big extended family and it was every Sundays together having Bri fles which is a barbecue all those things it's just it was a great laugh what city were you in in Johannesburg okay can you think back on why your family did or might have wanted to uh make Aliah for even for a while to Israel my parents were big zioners and were would have remained in South Africa in Israel they would have never actually returned
to South Africa except my grandparents my maternal grandparents were very upset that they were living in Israel and after about 5 years they basically told them come back put the pressure on put the pressure okay I think the South African Jews were very strong Jews and they felt very close to Israel we always say as South Africans that became Jewish first and then South African whereas we always claim that in America we American first and then Jewish speaking of Jewish traditions and Customs can you think of a few that you could share with us about life and South Africa Jewish Customs that you had there
Jewish Customs well my mother used to make her own Kal every Friday and coming from Germany for some reason they called it Bas she used to make her Bas every Friday um they were just very committed Jews my my family and as actually the time went on after we got married they became actually Rel a lot of South Africans became religious including my parents and my younger sisters now leading up to your decision to leave South Africa what was going on at that time and how old were you yeah we left South Africa when we were I was 24 and I had been to college
in South Africa and I had worked for two two years and then i' met Julian who became a husband and he had always said he was going to leave South Africa so after we got married we left were you in complete agreement yes with the move oh yes okay so how did you pick or where did you go to First so we left South Africa not knowing where we were going to we actually had a ticket to Israel and the first thought was you make alah and you go to Israel and we got to Israel and we spent over four weeks there and unfortunately the
engineers were on strike and my husband could not get an interview so it was every week was what do we do what do we do and after four weeks we decided Well let's go and see America and then we settled in New Jersey at my Uncle my father's brother and um my husband got a job very easily we went through immigration in New York with a lawyer and it was went very well very easy what did your immediate families feel about you leaving they were for it and they supported us it and slow my siblings in South Africa left to and 2 years later we
moved from New Jersey to Dallas and at that point my husband's family joined us in Dallas so just about everybody ended up here that was important to you okay what choices did you have to make on your journey from South Africa to Dallas that were perhaps very challenging to you to me the hardest part was leaving my family but short of that really you young you just just get married you leave and you just start over so basically besides Israel which you tried uh were there any other countries that you considered or your husband for sure was going straight away to the us correct okay
all right now in what ways were your friends and family helpful to you when you arrived here the people that you may did you know anybody else besides in Dallas here yet actually funny story um there were a lot of South they weren't that in New in New Jersey the the South Africans were quite far away from where we lived so we didn't really get to know many and then when my husband heard about the job in Dallas and we moved here we immediately called Joe gont and she was just absolutely fantastic she we stayed at her for the first week and she could not
have been sweeter and and interestingly back in South Africa I was very friendly with Joan's sister in fact I always remember I wore Jones wedding dress when I got married your husband told us that that was very I thought wow what a great connection you know because I also know Joan from way way way back but and she was already married at the time wasn't she okay so what challenges can you think of maybe that pop into your mind that were adjusted ments to you to your life I mean Dallas is not exactly maybe not even a typical US city but what adjustments did you
have to make coming here or being here and trying to settle in here I'll be honest I didn't find that there were many adjustments I we settled very very easily we had no kids at the time which I think made it much easier and um I got a job my husband got a job where was your first job at uh first down downtown First City Bank and my husband got a job immediately I started teaching Hebrew and we got into the community we met lots of people and it was really a very smooth transition did you have to take any type of classes or college
courses at all to transfer your yeah skills here no I did not my husband had to take his PE exam but I did not I was a no no how welcoming did you find the community at large as a new immigrant could not have been better we had a lot of American friends we had a lot of South African friends and just fantastic so I imagine Joan was very helpful getting involved with the Dallas Jewish Community yes so how did you Branch out from there and continue with your involvement with the Jewish Community here well Joan already had kids so she was more involved with
you know I got to meet people that did not have children at the time and we were both working which was different and I joined the Jewish what was it the I remember the the young Jewish what was it called the the Jewish young Jewish I know some organization in town met a lot of a lot of um Americans through there m and then of course the minute we bought our house we became friendly with all our neighbors and before we knew we had a very large Circle mhm did you join a congregation soon after yes we joined Sheriff Israel okay and my husband's father
actually became the was the Torah reader there they moved here two years later what about in general either professional life or other things in the community that you tried or touched on while you were here your early years while you were here it was really these Jewish organizations that I joined and I was I belonged to the evening group because I worked and I'd met lots of people there and did a lot of charity work through them um did a a lot of charity work at the time a lot I was very involved with the JCC doing the once a year we would of course
um then work on the donation you know what's it the Jo arts test or no no when people give their donations oh Super Sunday Super Sunday of course I get that super suay I was in charge of the meals that day and much more with the older people I was very involved in there and still are you still involved much now I'm work much longer hours now so not as much what South African Jewish Traditions if any have you maintained here specifically that you brought over from that I brought over can you think of any you know I think because we got married and left
we really formed our own Traditions after we left okay and I cannot think of you know maybe you know maybe just recipes food from you know that I got from the family like the new name of Kal exactly exactly you mentioned about Israel being very important how important is Zionism to your family today the still visit Israel and we are very my sister's children's children live there and I've got lots of friends there cuz I grew up there so I've got lots of friends there and you've maintained that contact maintained the contact and uh we still go to Israel we meet the friends from Israel
in different parts of Europe we've met them in America and my kids have all been back to Israel in fact my daughter went back two weeks ago tell us what children you have who are they so we've got four children the oldest is Janine who's now married and Janine Shapiro she lives in Indianapolis and theyve got one son my grandson Gavin then there's Daniel who is engaged to get married next year to Ashley Harden then we have David who is living at the moment in Indianapolis and my youngest daughter Talia who lives in Manhattan oh so do you get to visit them all yes one
place and another and another that's right okay I suppose is any part of them does any part of them feel like that they're a Texan or dallasite or is that I mean is that my children yeah definitely part of their being okay they visited South Africa but no one ever showed any interest in living there m they are americ how often do you or have you gone back and visited we I used to to visit every single year till my parents both deceased and then I'm going access how long ago was that about really a long time so you have no desire to go back
I do I do you're talking about actually taking the kids and going on a long trip okay I was going to say since immigrating here how long how much has your family grown but you've told us so that that's very good is there anybody else that's still that you can think of still in South Africa that you wish they would move here or maybe perhaps they're contemplating moving no no one everyone has left friends also as well as most friends there are some friends but far between really most left I think it just does I don't know I don't feel that here but um maybe
times have changed there too because they're just a very very Jewish Judaism was so part of your life there and even though it is here I felt maybe there it was more perhaps because circumstances are different right I mean there's pockets of very strong where my life was 99% Jewish you know but no I understand what you mean coming here it's a whole different thing um what about citizenship do you consider yourself an American yes and have you become a US citizen Through The Years okay tell me tell us in in short what does that mean to you I'm proud to be an American of
and you're wearing your shirt that's why I wore it it's good um very proud to be American one always has the feeling you know South African feeling just because we come from South Africa and it's our childhood and what it meant to us them and maybe when you I think of South Africa I think of my parents which are deceased and you know that pulls me back to South Africa but we've been extremely happy in America and this is our country and our children we're very pleased we came here very good that was that was the last question are you obviously you've said you're glad
that you came here is there anything else you want to add to that about coming here Dallas was just the perfect place to raise children the people here our friends could not have been better wonderful good well thank thank you for this I've really enjoyed listening
