Konsejas de Shelly

Estambol. StockCake.com

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Dulse de roza de Grandmaman

Nota del redaktor: Prezentamos aki los tres primeros kapítulos del livro Dulse de roza de Grandmaman, en ladino i inglez, por Yossi Suede i traduksion Shelly Roza Swed. Puvlikado kon el apoyo de la Autoridad Nacional del Ladino i kon el apoyo de Fania i Bondi Roza. Yerushalayim, 2026.

   El livro de puede merkar en el Sentro Menachem Begin, en Yerushalayim, o en amazon.com.

Editor’s note: We present here the first three chapters of the book Grandma’s Rose Jam, in Ladino and English. Published by the National Authority for Ladino and the generous support of Fania i Bondi Roza. Jerusalem, 2026.

   The book is sold in the Menachem Begin Center, en Jerusalem, or in amazon.com

Ruvya

Grandmaman (madre grande), Viktorya Rebeka Beki Róża, de Kaza Kohen, nasyo en Estambol, kapital de Turkia, en 5 marso 1916. Era tiempo de la Primera Gerra Mondial. Su padre, Elia, se eskondiya en el tavanarasi (atiko) durante kuatro anyos del espanto ke lo yamaran a la armada Turka. Su madre, Estreya, deviya lavorar en la botika para mantener a la famiya. Deshava a el bebe mueva nasida kon su padre largas oras del diya en tiempo normal. Elia i Estreya ke eran una kamiya ekspulsada de Espanya. En su botika vendiyan ropas bordadas i kozas turistikas.

Despues de unos kuantos anyos nasyo el ermaniko chiko, Moiz, ke era komo un espejo para eya.

Eya tenia un temperamento de huego. Moiz era calmo. Eya gritando i el kalmo, lo ke eya tompiya el lo enderechava. Kuando Moiz se engrandesyo se izo tekniko de makinas de eskrivir. Grandmaman no se kedo atras. Al contrario de todas las mujeres de akel tiempo, se fue a lavorar por su propia voluntad. Se ambezo grafika por korespondensya en una eskola de arte de Paris. Su echo era azer reklames posters para kamaretas de asperar de dantistes. Desenes enriva de ropas, broderias.

Eya no pezo en el mutpak fina ke se murio su madre.

Grandmaman era ruvya de nasimyento, ma no ruvya regular, sus kaveyos eran tan ruvyos, kaji pretos. No se si savesh lo ke la djente pensan de los ruvyos. Ma para eya era muy djusto. Eya era komo un pimyenton kolorado kemando. Mesmo ke la mas parte de la djente la konosyeron kon kaveyos blankos dorados (los kaveyos trokaron de kolor kuando eya tenia cuarenta i sinko anyos).

Ma la flama de au ruvyor kemo fina su alkavo diya.

La primera empresyon falsa ke deshava enriva de todos era de una grandmaman muy dulse i kayada, ma entendyan muy presto ke se yerraron.

Grandmaman guadrava en una anvelop una koka ruvya de su manseves i deves enkuando lo amosteava para provar su ruvyez.

Al kontraryo de oy, ke ruvyo se considera komo koza ermoza i desiravle, en el tiempo de su manseves en Estanbol era komo un defekto. Por modo de esto desiya ke no puediya topar un novio. Eya desidyo de boyadeyar los kaveyos en preto karvon komo todas las ijas halis de Estanbol kon sus sejas godras.

Mezmo esto no izo hayre porke teniya un kuero muy blanko kon pikas. Pichin se entendiya ke era ruvya. Kuando teniya kaji trenta anyos i bekara (soltera), ke no era normal en akel tiempo, le propozaron un ombre aedado i godro eya i aksepto por ke no teniya eleksyon, ma muy presto entendyeron ke era un ladron ke keriya tomar la dota i fuyirse despues de la boda, ma kon sus sensyos rafinados sentyo lo ke le iva afitar i pudo aretar este echo en tiempo. 

Amanyana: El ashuar—La dota

Redhead 

Kasha del livro.

Grandmama, Victoria—Rivka Roza of the Cohen family—was born in 1916, in the midst of World War I, in Istanbul, the capital of Turkey. Her father, Elya Cohen, was an antique souvenir merchant. Her mother, Estrella, was a housewife. Her grandfather was, by her account, as rich as Croesus, but he did not distribute his wealth equally among his children, and her father received almost nothing younger. She was the eldest of two.

Her younger brother was named Moise; he became a typewriter technician—a prestigious and sought-after profession in those days. Unlike her mother (and all the generations of women before her), Grandmaman also sent out to work. She studied graphic design through correspondence with a university in Paris, and for her livelihood she illustrated advertisements, drew embroidery patterns of fabric and painted posters for dentists' waiting rooms. 

Until her mother passed away, never set foot in the kitchen. 

Grandmama was a ginger from birth—but not just any ginger. Her hair was so red it was almost black. I don’t know if or how much the stigmas about redheads are proven and accurate, but in her case, they were entirely apt. She was quite the hot pepper.

Although for most of her life everyone knew her as having radiant, snow-white hair (since it had turned completely white by age 45), within her the red flame burned right up until her final day. Many who imagined her possessing idyllic traits of a soft and innocent grandmother based on a mistaken first impression quickly realized their error.

She carefully kept an old envelope containing a braid from her youth, to prove to skeptics that her hair was once like the burning bush-not that we really needed proof.

Alas, while in our times and places, being a redhead is considered a desirable aesthetic and cultural phenomenon, in her youth in Istanbul it was considered a blemish and a defect. For this reason-or so she claimed-she had difficulty finding a husband. This led her to dye her hair coal black like the other proper girls of Istanbul, with their connected eyebrows and mustache-adorned upper lips, but even that didn't help.

She claimed her fair, freckled skin gave her away. When she was already thirty and still single-an uncommon situation in those days-they desperately matched her with an older, portly man. She agreed to marry him for lack of choice, but it soon became clear that he was a swindler who had actually planned to steal her dowry and flee right after the wedding, as it turned out he had done to desperate women before her. Grandmama, fortunately, with her sharp senses managed to halt the process and escape the situation in time.

Tomorrow: The Dowry