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The Lipskys Meet the Salters 95
A SALTER SUPERSTITION
From the time I was a child, I remember the family gathering for Jewish holidays. But I also recall a family superstition: Nobody was permitted to tally the number of people, or else the person doing the counting would be cursed until the end of the day. People who believed in this counting superstition suspected “the devil might take them away.”
Because the Levine family was very large, it was impractical to plan a dinner without calculating the number of places to set on the table. Nevertheless, as nobody wanted to be cursed, the family did not want to violate the superstition. Therefore, our family counted like this: “Not one, not two, not three...” until the total number of people was tallied. I honored this superstition as a child, but once I married Janet, she cornered the market on superstitions.
Above and below
Prayer book, dreidel and a well-used menorah brought from Russia by my mother, Lena Levine.
Salter collection.