A: You fry meat, If you want to put meat in it. And if (it is) without meat, you fry onion and a little bit of oil, and you put a little bit of water to it… tomato paste with it. Also you bring .parsley. You chop a bundle of parsley and one of mint into small pieces.

?B: And what 

A: Mint. You chop it, you mix it together in… and you throw it on the water or the meat. And if it is without meat, put kǝbba. These small (kind of) kǝbba. Yes. you put it, And you add sour and sweet (ingredients) to it. We (used to) do it with… we don't have it (anymore). What's the name of this sour (ingredient)? Tamarind. Or lemon. a lemon… If you don't have tamarind, you squeeze a lemon, and you add sugar to it, And a little bit of salt. You pour it on the chard and the (parsley and mint). And you throw kǝbba on it. That's it.

?E: How much turnip

A: It depends on you. (Literally: isn't it your will?) According to the amount that you want to cook

Translation is provided by courtesy of Dr. Assaf Bar-Moshe

 A: so I…. during that time… The lawyer ˀAnwar Šaˀūl, (who was) a poet and writer, you know… I was always in contact with him, Yes. He told me: Abraham, would you do me a favor? I told him: What's going on? he said: when I got married, the first (Iraqi) pilot, Nāği…

.B: Nāği, the pilot

A: Nāği, the pilot. When I got married, what did he give me as a present? He gave me the lid of a bomb, the one that hits an airplane. Its lid. and he wrote on it: "A gift for my marriage" and that. And there was another piece with it. Another piece of which I managed to get rid. But this lid, I am afraid to put it at home. It was the first Friday after the (Six Day's War), I told him: Wait! I will come. I went to their house. And I took it and put it in the (shopping) basket.

?...B: So he was afraid that they will catch him and

A: He was afraid… they (the Iraqi authorities) were searching the houses, they (the Jews) were afraid. Yes. Because it was (easy) to say what it is if you… it's clear what it is. I put it in the… (I put) it in the basket. And I put an eggplant on top of it. (laughs) Eggplant and tomatoes and I don't know what (else). As if it (was used for) vegetables. Yes. I put it in my car and I brought someone with me, a friend of mine from our relatives, I told him: Come with me. He (this friend) was a coward. B: And he knew, Or didn't he (know)?

A: No, He didn't know. Yes. I told him: Come with me. I took him and we drove the car through Bǝġdād ᵊğ-Ğadīda road, It was a new road they made from… the Tigris River till Dyāla. And it cuts Bǝġdād ᵊğ-Ğadīda from its edge and it became a place of parks and gardens and that. But in the mornings there was not a lot of traffic there (literally: there is no one driving in it so much). I took him with me and I sat down in the car. I told him: I am looking in the mirror, if I don't see a car behind me, people coming from behind, you, wherever it is, throw it from the door. Throw it and we will get rid of it. Indeed I came, I saw there isn't… we saw a piece of land with water and plantation that grows in it, I told him: Go ahead! Throw it! Indeed he threw it into the water and we came back. We came back to my house, suddenly I see that ˀAnwar Šaˀūl and another friend of mine were sitting there…

?B: Wait a minute! It means that (you didn't throw it) into the water of the river

...A: no, not in the river

B: But his name is written on it... A: No, no! We threw it just like this on the ground… It didn't have the name of ˀAnwar Šaˀūl on it. "My gift on the occasion of…" Yes. Indeed we threw it and got rid of it. 

Translation is provided by courtesy of Dr. Assaf Bar-Moshe

The Jew and the jar It was… There were many… around four or five Jewish men, every Saturday they used to fill their pockets with watermelon seeds, and there was a coffee shop, they went to sit in the coffee shop. Then… they were sitting in the coffee shop, And there was someone who had a donkey on which he used to load jugs. He went to sell them. Every time he used to pass by (the coffee shop) he saw them and started to curse and to come down on the Jews. One time, One of the men that sat there said: No one but me can deal with him. What do you intend to do to him? he told them: I won't say. I will do the thing and then (you will see). He (the donkey owner) came by all cocky on Saturday cursing and coming down on the Jews. The other one prepared a needle, got close to the donkey, (and) pricked his ears with the needle. It hurt him (the donkey), (it was a) strong prick. It hurt him, and he started to jump. He shook off and all the jugs fell down on the ground. This guy went to complain about him, to the police. They brought him (to the police). Why did you break his jugs? he told him (to the police officer): I didn't break his jugs. I went to whisper in his (the donkey's) ears. I told him: If you are a Jew who is the son of a Jew like he says, how come... today is Saturday, How come you work on Saturdays? And he got angry and shook off his cargo. I have nothing to do with it (rhetorically: what do I have with it?). They told him (to the donkey's owner): Quickly! They kicked him out, The donkey's owner. And he (the Jew) came out innocent.

Translation is provided by courtesy of Dr. Assaf Bar-Moshe

When I lived in Baghdad, (people) would slap themselves in the face when a woman would give birth to a girl. (They) were worried about how much money she would cost them, which man would take her, (whether) she would be a good girl or not…all of those things. My mother and father had one boy and one girl. My brother and sister. (People) said to my mother, “you need to give birth to another boy. That would be a good thing to happen. You need to have another son.” And (she) got pregnant, and (she) gave birth to me. (People) say that when my father heard that my mother had given birth to a girl, he didn’t speak to her for three weeks. But no matter. (He) started…(to see me as though) I was his daughter. He would take me wherever he went, and teach me, and (it was) good…I was by his side a lot. When I was ten years old, we came to America. And my mother started thinking. She was afraid to speak. How much (money) will we (need to) bring a man for this (girl)? How much will this girl cost? How much money will she need?I heard (this) and said, “what are you talking about? I won’t take him (a man)! He should love me. I don’t want money! He shouldn’t need a (financial) deal in order to take me.” She said, “if you don’t find someone to take you, what will you do? What will all of us do?” I said to her, “no…I won’t get married. What’s wrong with that?” She said to me, “your death (would happen) before you not getting married. Your death (would happen) before (that).”

A. Then pray. The prayer begins. The entire day goes to prayer.

B. Why pray? What are you praying for?

A. We're not going out. We pray Shaḥarit (morning prayer).

B. What are you praying for? Why pray?

A. Why pray?! Yom Kippur!

B. What do you want? for what?

B. Why pray Yom Kippur?

A. Why Yom Kippur?

B. Yes. Why make this holiday?

A. Why do it? It's Yom Kippur. It is Yom Kippur… not from the Tora. It is probably called Kippur, by Him (God).

B. For God to cleanse us of wrongdoing.

C.  Will atone for us. Will atone for us.

A. It is Yom Kippur, Yom Kippur, called from Mount Sinai. Isn't that so? Maybe a mistake? [...] Something else?

B. Yes. It said so in the Tora.

A. Yes. It is from the Tora, from Mount Sinai. Yom Kippur is accepted from Mount Sinai. Unlike other things - they were fixed by the wise. It is Yom Kippur from Mount Sinai.

B. But why? Why? 

A. It's from Him (God).

B. To cleanse us of wrongdoings.

A. Yes. Yes. It's not about that. it's clear. Accepted with the Tora. Descended with the Tora, Kippur. Oh.

B. One day of prayer ...

A. After Shaḥarit, Neʿila (closing prayer) ... not Musaf (additional prayer). After Musaf – resting for an hour. Some company gather together to read Tehillim.

B. What is a company?

A. Company means a gathering of people – gathering together to read Tehillim. Society, company of people - gather. After the prayer, go their separate ways, go to rest for an hour. And some gather and sit down to read Tehillim.

B. Aha. 

A. Then they call for Minḥa (afternoon prayer), remember that.

B. Yes. Yes.

A. Because the people are all gathered and separated. They call out to let everyone know – it is time for Minḥa.

B. Minḥa, Minḥa.

A. So they will come back. Be present.

B. Gather.

A. After Minḥa - Neʿila. After Neʿila – according to the day, they add readings of Seliḥoth.

B. Add after Neʿila?

A. What?

B.  Continuing to read after Neʿila?

A. What?

B. Continuing to read after Neʿila?

A. After Neʿila, if you’re interested in Djerba's custom, they continue to read Seliḥoth. To add the sacred to the profane. After that - ʿAravit. After ʿAravit they prepare their candles and return home with them.

B. Yes.

A. Lit from today. They want to return home whilst the candles are still lit. They walk half a mile with them on.  

B. On?

A. On! And whoever puts the candles off – does not enter the home until they light it back on. Remember that. Remember that! Hahaha and there are some who return home with the candles still lit.

B. Yes?!

A. We come in for dinner. After that we go out to bless the moon. It is a known custom. After the moon, we move the sukka.

B. Begin to build parts of the sukka.

A. We begin a bit with the sukka.

B. Why?

A. This is something. Why?! Applies to Corps. Always say it.

B. What is it?

A. I mean from mitzva (good deed) to mitzva. We do not stop. From mitzva to mitzva. We didn't eat a chicken and ...

B. And we stopped (laughing)