Sokolov High . V, OO X

Israel 1957-1960

Hello everyone,
 
   Most of my good friends from Grade-School, were going to''Public High School Number Seven'.            I was unable to join them since I failed the entry exam of the 'Accursed' Mathematics! Never mind the letters of recommendation from my teachers and principal, the awards I received for my creative writing the Impressive Positions I held as the Newspaper Editor and 'Minister of Social Work', in the school's government... But nothing helped! I needed to achieve a certain score in Math and couldn't... For a while   I was devastating... Little did I know, this was a "Blessing in Disguise"... Sokolov High, was a small private school which my Parents found for me.... It had a good reputation and was less strict then the Public High Schools and less X Di mending... The new principal, agreed that I join the school, on the condition that I take Math Lessons, during Summer Vacation.

  Some of the kids in my new school, were 'Somewhat Eccentric' (which I liked) Most of them, including the teachers, had a Free Spirit and minds, and were able to think; "Outside of the box". The teachers were "Unusual Characters"... A few of them were not invited back to teach, in the previous public High Schools because of their Revolutionary Social and Political Ideas...These teachers would help us to us expend our minds and learn how to think independently.

  Our principal, who was our Literature teacher as well, introduced us to English and French poetry;    even though, it was not included in the Curriculum of the Ministry of Education...With his thin child-   like voice, he would read out loud the Hebrew translation of these poems and then, the original English  or French verses, of the well known Poets who wrote them... The ones who left the Greatest Impression  on me, were Longfellow's "The Rainy Day", Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe... Others were written, by Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" and Charles Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal" (The Flowers of Evil). I still remember the few first verses from the poem Annabel Lee

	"I was a child and she was a child        in this kingdom by the sea         but we loved with a love    that was more than love       I and my Annabel Lee"
Annabelle Lee By Edgar Allen Poe		The Last Leaf By O. Henry

  How different this Principal was from my "First love"; my previous principal x MR Shribman... While Mr Shribman was tall and very good looking, this new principal, was very small and shorter then most of the boys in my class... (who grew like weeds, during the Summer Vacation)  I don’t remember his real name, because of the Nickname we gave him: X"Mr Globes"(a 'Globe' in Hebrew) The reason for this Nickname, was the fact that Mr Globus was Hairless... No eyebrows, no eyelashes and no trace of a beard or one single hair on his head; which was perfectly round and shiny, just like the 'Globe' in our Classroom which was used during our Geography lessons... A few months after we started our new School Year, we celebrated the Holiday of Hanukah (which comes around Christmas, in other countries) During bouth of these two Holidays Gift are given (on a much smaller scale in Israel) After handing gifts to our Teachers we handed Mr. Globus a beautifully wrapped gift box, which contained a bottle of Shampoo, a small black Comb and a Hair Brush. (by now you should know whos idea it was...)

   The Higher Grades students, thought it was not only Hilarious to give the principal such a gift, but also showed an amazing Chutzpah! (Nerve!) Since the idea of the gifts was My 'brain child', I became famous over night in our small school... Even some of the older students, who usually paid no attention to the us the ' Beginner Students', which they called “Tzutzikim” (Midgets) came to introduce themselves and praised me for my 'Great funny ideas and courage... It was during this first year, when my 'Inner Rebel' was born...I was  deriving a great pleasure from breaking the rules and tried to entice my friends, to do   the same: Skipping classes (mainly Math and Chemistry) and sneaking into the nearby Amusement Park pay a visit to the Flea Market which was a walking distant from our school and followed my brother's idea, of 'cutting classes' and go to the movies   Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers, Scaramouch and for the fourth or fifth time, the breath taking,chariot race in Ben Hur... Most of my friends were too fearful to join me, except for Yoram, my new friend from the senior class...

  My girlfriends and I together with other girls our age, were in love with some of the Big Screen heroes...  Mine were Robert Taylor, Stuart Granger and Gregory peck...We would later add to the list, the names of Rock Hudson and James Dean; who broke our Teenage Hearts...

Robert Taylor	Stewart Granger	Gregory Peck	Rock Hudson	James Dean

  In order to cut classes for my escapades, I would write a note, asking to be excused from class for one reason or another and forge my mother’s signature... One evening,  my mom went to a Parent-Teacher conference in my High School and  met with Mr. Seel, our home-room teacher. After discussing my school work, which was very good (except for Chemistry and Math) Mr. Seel took out the stack of my "Forged notes", gave it to my mom and with a knowing smile, asked if she is the one who wrote them... My mom looked through the forged signatures and after a minute said: "My hand writing is not great, so I usually ask Shira to write the notes and then I sign them..." When she came home, after sitting me in front of her and putting on a stern face, she said: "I would like you to know, that this is the first and last time,  I am going to lie for You! Do you understand?!" I'll never forget the relief and gratitude I felt, knowing that My Mother's love is so strong, she would lie, in order to save me from being humiliated...

  My first year in high school came to an end. It was an exciting year, full of changes. We were no longer    members of the 'Scouts Movement', instead we joined the 'Gadna' (Youth Troops) which prepared us for our future military training...We were reminded how Vulnerable our Little Country is, surrounded from three sides by enemies, who wish to destroy us... We were reapetadly told that we; the Boys and Girls of Israel, are the Future protectors of our beloved country and it’s Innocent Civilians; the defenseless old man, women and children! I remember feeling important, powerful and proud, to be given such a 'sacred duty' and promised myself to be worthy of it!  Knowing the constant danger, our "Beloved Israel" was   under! The seriousness of our Responsibility to protect it, made us walk taller and grow up faster...  We    no longer seat next to a campfire, roasting potatoes and singing love songs for our country; instead,  we spent our free time on the weekend, at each other's homes, listening to the popular records of the 50’s and early 60’s and were dancing "Cheek to Cheek", in the "Salon"(living room) which our parents, as well as the annoying 'younger siblings', vacated for us... 

   The first story we read in our English Literature class, was The Last Leaf... A moving story, taking   place at the turn of the 19th Century, in New York's Greenwich Village.This "Village" was a gathering place for all kind of artists; Painters, Poets, Dancers, Musicians and Writers... The story was about an older man, who arrived in the "village" during the early stage of his life and was planing to paint a real Masterpiece... However he was unable to establish his dream... Instead, he became a handyman in an old apartment building, where two impoverished sisters lived... Knowing they had no family or friends, this man developed a close, protective bond with them and was able to save the younger sister's life, by sacrifices himself... This was his "Masterpiece!" One can not appreciate the power of this story, until reading it... The ending is so astonishing, I can still remember the goosebumps it gave me ...

   It was the first time, I read and was able to understand, a story in another language!  My excitement   was so great, that after the last sentence of the story, which was read in class, I decided there and then  that when I grew up, I would travel to the US and live in Greenwich Village! However, since my gift was not painting,  but writing, I will Write my Masterpiece there!  Years later, after receiving my B.A degree from the University of Detroit, I would live for a year in Greenwich Village,where I wrote and publish  a small book... My book did not became a masterpiece, but I was able to accomplished my dream...

With Love and Light,
Shira

Graduation V, (more Photos) . V 00

Hello everyone,

Israel 1953-1957
Grade school

In the
schoolyard

   There was no middle school in Israel, during the years I was a student; we graduated from Elementary school after eight years and began the four years of High school. We were very excited, as well as a bit sad, to say goodbye to our friends after beaning together for so many years... High school sounded very serious! Most of the High School students, we knew now seemed to be big and tall, almost as big as the Adults in our life... We said goodby to our friends, those who were going to different schools, promised to always be in to be in tuoch.

   We must have sensed, that the 'Care Free Days' of our early childhood, was coming to an end... I remember the 'somber' graduation ceremony and how my eyes were full with tears when my turn came, to step up to the podium, like the students before me and shake the hands of the teachers and principal, who presented each of us, with our Graduation Gift: A beautiful Bible, together with their best wishes for our future...Now,so many years later, I still have this small black Bible with me.

Graduation

  The party that evening was very emotional...Thinking back, I realize how different the boys and girls were, during that last year..We the girls began to physicall develope, about  a year or two before the boys, who were much shorter then us and often looked like our younger brothers... Unlike the girls, the boys acted childishly; Running around yelling pushing and shoving each other, whispering dirty jokes and pulling at the girls hair... 

  Life was not easy for the 'New comers', who escaped the war in Germany, lost family members and came to live in a new country, after losing most of their family members... They had to learn a new language, a   way of life  and ovber come the differences, between the 'New Comers' and us;  who were the small amount of "Sabras", tho and was fascinating, by the differences between my family and those of my new friends

  We couldn't wait to leave behind the elementary school, graduate from High School and begin our early "Military Training" in the "Gadna": Youth Troupes,which are given the basic Military Training, to learn how to protect our families and small country, from the Arab countries, which surround our small beloved  vulnerable Israel...  As young as we were, we understood that the day will come, when we will  have to fight and protect our beloved Israel, from the neighboring hateful Arab countrie, sarounding our boerders

Esther and me

With Yosi, my small
"Admirer"

    During our graduation party, the boys acted much more mature then usual... Even 'Sworn Enemies', made peace; forgetting their  old disagreements; it was time to say goodby...The girl cried and  the boys were serious for a change. I still have the 'Memory Book' in which we wrote our good wishes, to our old time friends...There were three 'Abraham' in our class, so we used their last name when  we wanted to communicate with one of them: Abraham Berkowitz from Romania, Abraham Rosenberg from Poland and and another "sabra'  whos name was Abraham Nir...    

   I am still a bit surprised, when I look at these school photos and realize that after all these years of my several moves, across the ocean and inside the United State, I still have this 'Memory book' which by now is very old with yellow, crumbling pages... I struggle to decipher some of the faded words, my classmates wrote to one another, during the final days of our school, before moving to High school and here they are: 

“To my dearest friend Shira, remember the fun we had together, when we played the "trick" on Mr 'Mustache', our history teacher?! It was so much fun... I am sure we'll be friends forever and see each other, even though we are going to different High School. Love, Ora" 

*********** 

“ Hi Shira, remember the 'stupid fight' we had in six grade? I completely forgot what it was   all about, can you remember? We were such babies then! I know we'll keep in touch and stay friends forever and ever!  Your loyal friend, Ester"

*********** 

“ Dear Shira: Trees are green, the sky is blue, I was too shy to tell you, but I was always in love with you"!  Yosi.

*********** 

“Dearest Shira, thank you for being such a good friend, always standing by my side,no matter what... I enjoyed the books you recommended, you have a real good taste in books and you are pretty too...”  Your grateful friend, Abraham Berkovich 

*********** 

“Dear Shira, I will never forget how after we read Treasure Island, the two of us went to dig for Treasures at the Ruined old Monastery, near your house... I am sure there are many books waiting for us in the future, but I believe that our digging days are over... Daniella”

*********** 

“Dear Shira, thank you for letting me copy your homework in Bible, History and Literature... If it wasn’t for you, I will never graduate! Your friend Rosenberg (Abraham). P.S. I am sorry about putting the rubber spider on your arm, during History class, but you weren't even scared! You just laughed !!! You are very brave, not at all like a girl!"  Your friend Gil

*********** 

"Dear Shira, I set behind you all last year and I think you have the most beautiful hair then all the girls in the class!!! It is Straight and very Shiny; Just like 'Helen of Troy' in the movie! (Not like the curly hair of Rena, who set next to you...) I also think you are very pretty and smart too!  Solomon (Abraham)"

*********** 

"Shira, what can I write to my best friend!!! Thank you for pushing my wheelchair around...  Unlike the others, you  always treated me like a 'Normal Kid' which has nothing wrong with her legs! Don't forget how we pricked our fingers with a needle and mixed our blood; in order to become 'Blood Sisters'... I know we'll be friends forever! Your "Blood Sister", Miriam.

With Love and Light,
Shira

Joys and Tears of Childhood. V,OO.

Hello everyone,

1953-1957
   My memories from the years I spent in our new neighborhood, between Tel Aviv and Jaffa, are filled with colors and different aromas... I was at the age, where children begin to discover the world around them and the new Joys of Life! We played game and looked' for the the 'Pirates' we read about, in the books we I borrowed from the public library and searcred for Hidden Treasurers... In school, our beloved teacher Gila, asked us to read outloud, pages from the Bible or Literature books It seems that whenever my turn came to read, the sound of my voice, was captivating my classmates, who would sit 'Mesmerized' and very quiet... For the first time that day, there was a total silence in the classroom, which was full with forty restless students... Besides discovering the 'Power of my Voice', I became known for my 'Acting Skills' and was reciving the 'Main Parts' in the school plays... My gift of writing poetry at the age of nine, turned into writing 'short stories' and later on, to 'Satirical Reviews' (mostly about our teachers...) as well as Articles about current events, which were published in our school's Newspaper...

   As you learned from my previous posts, I have always been (and still am) a Compulsive Reader...        During the years, I 'consumed' all the Hebrew translations, of the books in my parents library: Oskar Wild,Dickens, Somerset Maugham,Tolstoy and others: Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Shakespeare's (Romeo and Juliet!) and French novels by Emil Zola, Guy de Maupassant, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas... In addition, I read the Hebrew translations, of books by American, English, Italian, French and German writers... Some of these romantic books, which were about Heartbreaks, Suffering and Rejection  which most of the time, had an 'Unhappy Ending'. One of them was a small book, bound in faded green leather, named "Climates"; written by the French author Andre Maurois...This book would have a lasting affect on me... Sympathizing ,with the the 'pain and suffering' caused by 'Unfulfilled Love', created a 'Subliminal massage' in my Romantic young mind':X"There could not be Love without Pain!"x and this belief, would ahape swveral of my 'Relationships' in the future...

  Around the age of twelve, the boys and girls in my school, began to forget the 'Hatred between the sexes' and began to discovered one another... I was like a spectator, standing on the side ,watching the frenzied dance of 'Juvenile Love': Boys asking girls to 'go out' (often through a messenger) Girls, do the same and  cry, when the boy fell in love with their 'best friend' (usually the messenger)...  A 'Couple' would "go out" for three days and  then ''Break up!" until they found a new 'object' for their budding love... I was looking at this 'Circus' of daily changing emotions and romances, blooming and wilting away and observing the "Madness" around me, with a Mature and Detached Amusement...

With Mr. Shribman
(my first love)

Our principal and
teacher Yehudit

   I, did not fall in love with one of my classmates, like my friends did...The reason was, that I have 'already fallen in love'  with the 'Handsome Principal' of my school; Mr. Shribman! I was cretin I would love him forever, until the day I die! It was  as I was just like the heroine from the book 'Camille (by the writer Alexander Duma) who died from a"broken heart" (and Tuberculosis...) I used to visualize myself on my 'Death Bed' wiping my tears with the embroidered handkerchief, which I took from my mother's bag (No Paper Tissues in those days...) and was whispering my 'Last Words', in a Shaky Voice; just like Greta Garbo, in the movie version of the book..."Goodbye Mr Shribman, don't forget me please... I will love you forever until the day I die!"

   The students in our school, were afraid of the Principal! When he came to the Playground, they would quickly walk away or hide... I on the other hand, was always running to greet him with a big sunny smile "Good morning Mr. Shribman!" and was rewarded with a warm smile, a stroke of my hair and at times even a hug! I was sure he was in love with me too! Maybe he was a little; after all, how could his heart not melt, by the pair of hazel eyes, field with admiration, adoration and total devotion of first love? How could anyone, not be moved and touched by the Naked Innocence and Purity which was reflected in those eyes?

Berkowitz

Daniella

   Life was sooooo good! I was always laughing, running, singing and climbing on trees... I had many friends, but was particularly close to three of them: Miriam, my friend in the wheelchair, (The Day I Lost God) Berkowitz (Abraham) and Daniela Berkowitz was born in Romania, his parents were survivors of a Nazi labor camp which crippled his mother and broke his father's back and spirit... Together with their three years old son, they were sent to a prison camp in Cyprus, where the British(who ruled Israel) sent the illegal Jewish immigrants,  who were trying to enter Palestine, in old and dilapidated boats to escape Hitler's Crematoriums...Daniella, my other close friend, was only four years old, when her father brought her to a Polish Monastery, where the kind Nuns hid Jewish children from the Nazis... Her parents were trying to escape the Nazis... After the war, they were able to pick her up from the Monastery and arrived to Israel to start a new life... Both Berkowitz and Daniella, who were not born in Israel, carried 'emotional scars' from the time they were seperated from their parents... Berkowitz feared the 'Bullies' who were tormenting him, for 'Hanging Out' with the girls  and called hin "Curley Girly!" Daniella, who suffered from 'Separation anxiety' ,would be craying if she  was away from her parents...Like the times our class went on a 'school trip' or when she tried to 'Sleep- Over' at a friend house... The two of us were"adicted" to books and became close friends. Daniela shared with me a vivid memory, from the day her father came to pick her up from the Monastery at the end of the war and she ran to hid behind one of the Nuns... The only way he was able to gain her trust, was by giving her a few slices of salami, a peace of bread and an apple...

  We created a small group of four: Miriam, Daniella, Berkowitz and me...The reason we were calling  Berkowitz by his last name, was because there were two more 'Abrahams' in our class, so the teachers    used their last names to avoid confusion... Besides being the members of the Students Government, the four of us became very close friends; visiting each other's homes, doing homework together and going to the movies... Since there was no television in Israel, during those years, we were all 'Avid Readers'  and enjoyed discusing the the books we read and enjoyed analyzing the content and characters ... We were taking turns pushing Miriam’s wheel-chair, down the sidewalks and together,we  carryed her in the wheel chair, to the fifth floor of Daniela’s apartment building, which had no elevator... The four of us would sit for hours, talking about the books we read, argued (for the sake of arguing) and were laughing out loud... We spoke about our dreams and aspirations for the future, the professions we may choos and which one   would suit is best... 

  After growing up, Daniela became a Professor Assistant at Tel Aviv University, Berkowitz accomplished his dream of becoming an Archeologist and Miriam, ended up as a Telephone Operator... I couldn’t decide between being a" Teacher, Actress,Writer, Party planner, Journalist, Theater Director and a Psychologist.  When I look back, I am astonished to realize, that eventually I would accomplish all my expectations, including of getting out of borders and boundaries, of our tiny country Israel and travel the world... I yearned to see the places which I have read about in the books: London, Paris,Verona in Italy (where Romeo and Juliet loved and died in each other's arms) I wanted to see the 'snow covered mountains' of Switzerland,where Hidi used to live and above all, I hoped  to live in America, the Vast Continent I read about in one of my favorite books: The Last of the Mahicans...

   For years, Arab terrorists would sneak in to Israel and attack settlements, along the borders we shared with our hostile neighboring Arab countries: (Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt) Buses, traveling on lonely roads,were often ambushed and the passengers murdered or in   the 'Kibbutzim' (community farms) which were set on fire, together with the kids their beds... We hated those killers, the "Mistanenim" (as they were called in Hebrew) "Isn't it enough that so many Jewish families, where wiped out by the Nazis? Why does it have to happen to the survivors, who were able to escape the horrors of the Holocaust and finally arrived to Israel, our Biblical homeland hoping to live peaceully in our promised land... "It isn't fair!" These words would be repeated time and again, when the hatred of our Arab neighbors, erupted again and news about more killings and burning people alive, reached our young ears... It was painful to ask "Why?" and get no answer... This pain was one of the few dark clouds, which abstracted the blue sky of my amzing childhood... In 1956, the Sinai War broke out! Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president, threatened to close the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean and by doing so, provid a vital travel route for the ships traveling to Europe and Asia... After Israel was attacked by the Egyptian army,' Zahal'; our small army fought its way through the Sinai Desert and reached the Suez Canal, assisted by military forces from England and France... "At least now we have the Desert to protect us! The enemy will never be able to penetrate our borders again and threaten the settlements and families, who live there!" Israel was floded  by a wave of  'Sweeping Patriotism" and was busy sending 'Care Packages' to our dear brave soldiers... The girls in school were knitting caps and socks for the solders;"Our Heroes who are willing to sacrifice their lives for our safety!" During the knitting periods, Berkowitz was sitting and knitting with the girls... The boys called him: "Curly Girly" and were teasing and making fun of him... I was the only one who stood up to them! With my hands on my hips, 'green fire' in my eyes, I insisted they should "Leave him alone, or I am going to stick you with my knitting needles!" Pointing the needles as I walked twords them  and enjoy whacing them, as they run away... During those days we did not hear or know much about 'Homosexuality'... All I knew was that my friend Berkowitz was suffering again after escaping the Nazis! His small family of three, would eventually be sent  by the British to prison in Cyprus and several months later, they arrive in Israel and settle down in Jaffa, the small vacated Arab city near Tel Aviv...

    After school, we often spent time in our 'Scouts Movement', which took us on many trips, where we  slept in open fields and cooked meals on a fire, out doors... We were owe stricken to realize that our feet were touching the same ground, on which our Biblical Forefathers walked:  Joshua and Samuel, King Soul, Debora the prophetess, King David, king Salomon and our 'Super Man Samson!  We could almost feel the vibration of their footsteps, penetrate and touching our souls...We were full of pride to belong to this country, the land of Israel, where our forefathers lived for so many years! Israel; the only home of the Jewish people... We gatherd around an open fire, roasting potatoes and singing... I don't know if there was another country which was 'Serenaded to' as much as our tiny beautiful Israel was... Love songs about the Jordan river, the sand dunes in the south, the snow caped mountains in the north our beautiful blue lake the Kineret, our beautiful lack in the Galilee and our capital Jerusalem; the Eternal City! At night after singing, we would form a circle and dance the"Hora"! Our small faces, beaming with the Joy of being Alive! We were 'In Love' with Israel, our beautiful tiny Biblical country! Eventually, my years in the Elementary School, were coming to an end... I was finally growing up, ready for the next stage of my   life; the up coming Four years of High School; 'Sokolov High' in Jaffa...

With Love and Light,
Shira

The Day I Lost God... V, (change blue into black) OO

Hello everyone,

Jaffa, Israel 1955

   My friend Miriam and I are 'Strolling along' Jerusalem Boulevard, next to our school in Jaffa...      Miriam is sitting in her 'Wheel Chair', while I sit on the Wood Bench, across from her.  It is a sunny  spring day; birds are tweeting and the old trees, proudly show their New Leaves... I sit on a faded wood bench and Miriam remains sitting in her Wheelchair... I was a New Student when the teacher pointed me    to a chair behind an old woode desk for two. Yhere were 'fading names' of previous students, carved in to the old table... Miriam showed me hers and whispered to me. to do the same, when the teacher was writing with a choke on the Blackboard. (which I didn't...) As I was checking out my new class, I suddenly saw a folded 'Wheel-Chair' at the corner of the room..."Do you have a crippled kid in the class?" I asked my  new friend. She burst into a marry laughter, pointed at her chest and said:"Yes! It's me!" Much later I will find out, that all the doctors, her parents took her to see,were unable to tell, what was the Neurological Ailment Miriam was suffering from...They eventually assumed, that her Spine and Nervous System,  might have been affected, when her mother; who was in her eighth month of pregnancy,(with Miriam)  jumped from the sixth floor, to escape the 'Gestapo' (German secret police) which were banging on the door of their apartment... Her mother was able to esacap,cbut when Miriam became a todler, she was unable to walk! After this first day in school Miriam and I became Inseparable... We found out we had      a lot in common! Both of us were ferocious readers, loved to talk and analyze, tell jokes, laugh out loud  and play "Ticks (surprises) on our friends... After school, we enjoyed strolling in 'Jerusalem Boulevard' Jaffa's main  street. Miriam was sitting in her 'Wheel Chair' and I was pushing it on the sidewalk. From    time to time we would turn her chair around, in order to confront the people who stoped waking and were staring at Miriam with looks of pity... "What are you looking at?!" I would angrily say to some of these 'On Lookers', who began to scatter like 'Frightened Chickens'! Miriam and I would burst into a Roaring Laughter, tryed to stop but laughing all over again, until our bellies were aching...

    I loved Miriam! It was so good to have a Best Friend, with whom I share my secrets and know she           will never Betray Me!... Miriam loved my stories about our large, extended family of Grand Parents  aunts Uncles and two generations of Cousins; all born in Israel... Miriam, who lost her Grandparents, Uncles, Aunt, Cousins and many other relatives, in the Concentration Camps... I was fascinated by the  fact that my Grandparents on bouth sides, were among the First 'Pioneers' who came from Russia, to  build our small country! She was particularly impressed, that my parents were Born in  Israel  which meant I was a 'Double Sabra' (Nickname for Israeli born)...  Besides her brother and baby sister.Miriam had no extended family, besides her parents, a younger brother and a baby sister... Her immediate family died in Germany's  'Concentration Camps'... She wanted to know all about my extended family; laughing with pleasure, after I told her that when I was four years old, I thought that my beloved Grandpa my father's Dad; Saba Eliyahu was God! Since his hair and beard where soft and white like Fluffy Clouds    and his clear blue eyes, were the color of the sky...

Saba's miniatures

Miriam and me

    I have written before  about my beloved Grandpa, who was an  Archeological Sculpture (Childhood Memories in Black and white)    Curving 'Small models" of the 'Holy Places', in and around Israel  Mostly in Jerusalem. On the right are three duplicates, of famous Biblical Burial Places, made by my grandfather, who used the  'White Stones' he picked at the hills, which surrounded Jerusalem  Sometimes, it would take him almost a year, of curving by hand    each one (with special Tiny Knives and Hammers) to finish one of these Miniature Structures... Through the tiny windows one is able to see, a copy of the X Tumb Stones, which covered the graves... I remember asking my Saba, how was he able to go inside, in order to do so and he would whisper in my ear, with a whimsical smile:"I have a Tiny Helper, smaller then your little finger... I give him a small hammer and this little man, goes through the window and does a great job!" When I asked if I could watch this little man at work, my beloved Saba, would say that this 'Little Man' comes very late at night, long after 'Sunset' when all children are already sleeping...

  Like most of the refugees, who escaped Europe during the Nazi Regime; Miriam's family came from  Poland... They lived in a small abandoned and dilapidated house, in Jaffa, which was previously an Arab Neighborhood... The three Jewish Families, who were now living in this small house, were Jewish refuges from Poland and Romania... They shared one small Kitchen, one Toilette and a tiny Bath Room... Even though they did not understand each other's language, they  Communicating in broken Hebrew, or asking their kids to translate for them...  Since Miriam and I were always together, I became a part of these three families and was often invited to dine with them.  However, even though the food smelled delicious, I worefused to do so, if there was any meat...

  Miriam adored my "Arabic Palace"... Unlike her crowded home in the 'Asphalt Jungle' of Jaffa; our house had huge rooms and a garden with fruit trees and flowers... There was an empty field near by, where sheep were feeding on the wild grass. They were watched by an Arab boy about my age ,whose family was among the few, who chose to stay in their homes, rather then ran away, when Israel was declared by the United Nations, to be a "Jewish State!" I wanted to ask this boy if he knew the Sultan's many wives and kids, who lived in our present home, before they ran away, but I didn't speak Arabic... I realized that this boy didn't like me, because if   I  smiled at him, he didn't smile back, but turned his head and walked away with his sheep, which kind of hurt my feelings because I just wanted to be his friend...

   Miriam and I became Best Friends! She loved my parents and I believe she had a crash on Rami, my sixteen years old brother... I personally did not like my brother, not at all! I suffered from his "Dismissive and Superior attitude", which (some) older siblings, may treat their younger brothers and sisters... Rami who was five years older, was condescending to me and my girlfriends! I was very hurt and embarrassed by the way he acted towards us! When I brought Miriam home for the first time, I was terrified that Rami would hurt her feelings, but to my great surprise, he was very nice to her... He even set by her chair and talked to her!... It helped the rage I felt towards him, to subside a bit, realizing that my brother has  been hiding a sensitive part, which I haven't seen him expresses,... Miriam loved to look at the small miniature building of my grandfather... She touched them gingerly and looked with wonderment, through the tiny windows at the Tomb stones inside... I told her that my Saba made his living, by selling his Art  to the Tourists as well as the Turkish government officials, who ruled our small country... Years later he would be selling it his miniatures, to the the 'British Rulers', who came after them... When Al and I got married    my parents gave us as our wedding gift, these three little sculptures, made by my beloved Saba, who passed away when I was nine years old... These Tiny Buildings are the most precious and valuable items which I will grab first, in case of an Earthquake or a Land Slide; 'God Forbid'...

   It took me almost one hour, to push Miriam's wheelchair, from her home to mine; since a Large part     of the road was Sandy in the summer and Muddy in the winter; which made the pushing more difficult since the wheels got stuck in sand and the mud... I never complained or even thought, that I was doing anything Unusual; by pushing Miriam's wheel chair and was surprised when people complemented me by saying how nice I was to do so... "What's so nice about pushing my Best Fiend's wheel chair? She would be doing the same for me!" I wondered...When the two of us, finally arrived to my "Arabic Palace" as she named our place, Miriam would bang, the bronze fist, on the heavy door and yell: "Open sesame!"  Later we would sit in the shade of the Mulberry trees and talk... Mostly about the books we read: The Flying Carpet and the Gene, who broke free from a bottle he was in, for many years... The one who helped him out, was  a boy, whom he was showing  his gratitude, by granting him three wishes...  "What would You wish for?" Miriam and I asked each other... I wished to be better in Math, but when I heard Miriam's wish to be able to walk, my heart field up with Sadness and decided to give up my wish and replace it by one which would help Miriam to be able to walk!   

   Let's go back to the beginning of this post, where two twelve years old girls, are sitting on a bench       in  Jerusalem Boulevard, engaged in a 'Deep Conversation' about life, God and miracles... It is warm      just a few days before the Holiday of Passover... In our Bible class, we have been learning, how Moses liberated our forefathers, who were forced to be Jewish Slaves in Egypt and how he lead them to their  new home in Canaan; our present country Israel! Miriam and I talk about God, the Miracle Maker, who created Heaven and Earth and Split the water of the Red Sea, in order to help the Hebrew slaves escape   from the Egyptian army... We also talked about our Almighty God, who freed our Forefathers from Slavery, by  helping the Jewish slaves cross the Desert and settle in the promised land: "Our beloved  country Israel! "Miriam!" I can see my 'Young Self,' begins the awakening process of Doubts :“If God   can do such Miracles, why doesn't he make you walk?!” Miriam's safe world of unshakable Belief in     the 'Almighty', begins to crumble... For a moment, we sit in silence. "I don't know why?" She finally said... "Maybe because we Never Asked Him?! God is very busy you know, maybe if we ask him to make  A Miracle you could get out of this wheelchair and walk!" We look at each other again, this time with eagerness, excitement and New Hope... We hold hands, lift our eyes to the sky and I say loudly: “God please make Miriam Stand Up and Walk!" 

   For a moment everything around us is frozen in time... Then once again buses and cars begin to move back and fourth on both sides of Jerusalem Boulevard, where an old man and woman, sit on a bench warming themselves in the sun... Two mothers feeding their babies; chasing away the flies with a thin Cloth Diaper... Miriam and I are staring at her legs and hold our breath; waiting for a miracle; but nothing  is happening... "Do you feel Anything Miriam? Try to move one leg at a time, I think I saw A movement!”  I refuse to give up... She slowly moves her head from side to side and her soft gray eyes behind the lenses of her glasses, seem to be sad and tired... Miriam looks at me Apologetically, sorry to disappoint me and I feel like crying... "Wait!” I say with a renewed hope, “Maybe God didn't understand or realize that we are asking him to make this Miracle Right Now! not in the future!”  The Two of us  are holding our hands again and I say with renewed determination: “God! Please make Miriam get out of the wheelchair and walk, Right Now!" It should be very easy for God to do so, after all, didn't he create such a Big world      in  six days only?! I can see how the 'Hope' is fading away from Miriam's eyes and I feel like crying... 

   The intensity of my hope was turning into devastating, disappointment and then into a Rage! I look up   to the sky and point my finger, at a small white cloud, sailing peacefully by..."Well, you know what God?  I I don't believe in you any more!” I yell looking up... “I don't even believe that you created the world!      If you did, it would be so Easy for you to make Miriam walk! Why don't you? Why?!" begin to bang my Fist on the bench, slowly losing hope...  Though I am still waiting: Maybe God is busy now, maybe he'll realize how unfair it is, to torture Miriam and her family, who already suffered enough, by the hands of  the Nazis...X"Please make Miriam walk God, It should be so easy  for you! After all,you are God All Mighty!" Miriam and I hold our hands waiting... We are waiting, waiting and waiting, but nothing is happening, Nothing!  This was how, at the age of Twelve, sitting on a Faded Green Bench in a small    park in Jaffa, I lost  my belief in God... It would take a Broken Heart before I find God again... 

With Love and Light,
Shira

Moving Again . V, OO

Hello everyone, 

Israel, 1953

abandoned
house, turned art gallery

   After searching long and hard for a new place to live, my parents found and purchased an abandoned Arabic house, on the border of Tel Aviv and Jaffa... There were over four buildings on the property, which probably belonged to a wealthy Arab with many wives, before the war...  My parents said that whoever lived there, must have escaped during the 'war of independence', to one of the neighboring Arab countries... The property was surrounded by a tall and thick stone wall, with gigantic wood door, decorated with a bronze "Hand", which announced the arrival of visitors...This"Arabic Palace", was located between Jaffa and Tel Aviv... Years later, these old exotic stone houses, would become very much in demand... Many artists remodeled some of these run down dwellings and turned them into beautiful Homes, Art Galleries, Night Clubs and Boutiques... However, when we left our 'home on the sand dunes' and moved into the present residence, it was almost unheard of, that an Israeli family of  'Sabras' (born in Israel) would live in one of those old, neglected"Villas".... 

   My fifteen years old brother hated it!  "Why did you bring me here?!" He was yelling, his face red     with rage: “My friends are going to laugh at me,when they find out that I live in an Arabic House! I  would rather go back to that 'Sahara Desert' which you dragged us, after that stupid Vegetarian Moshav! And now to This Thing!" I was stunned to see my older brother bursting in to tears! I have never seen him cry before .."I wanted to stay in Jerusalem! Why did you take me away from my friends?First you drag  me to that stupid vegetarian Moshav, then to the house you found in the "Shara Desert" and now This    old Arab house!" Romi yelled at my parents and ran out, slamming the door behind him..."Poor Rami!" Ima started to cry, "I told you we shouldn't move here!" Xshe said to, my dadX "But you insisted, just because it is within a walking distance from your new job! You always think only about yourself! Why    did I ever listen to you?!"  X Ima answered crying and left the room...X

   Unlike my brother, I fell 'madly in love' with this deserted 'Arabic Palace', the moment I saw the tall stone wall which surrounding it...There was a massive old wooden door in the middle of that wall,which  was decorated with a 'Bronze Fist' and 'Metal Plate' underneath; when visitors came, they would bang the 'Fist' on the plate to announce their arrival... Around the house was a neglected garden, with dry flower beds and two gigantic Mulberry Trees which needed water badly! I couldn't wait for my parents to buy this house so I can come to there aid...

Scheherazade

   I became an obsessive reader... One of my favorite books, was x"A Thousand     and One Nights". It had stories about a beautiful woman named; "Shchrerazad" who was "A Weaver of Wards" (Story Teller...) My favorite story was Ali Baba    and the Forty Thieves... I was looking around, trying to visualize an Arab king    who was probably the previous owner of this "Palace"... On the right was a very large and long room, with arched windows; which I decided must have been the 'Harem", where the women lived... I was visualizing them wearing the flimsy colorful pants ("Pantaloons") and Transparent Vales, covering their faces; like        in the movie 'Ali Baba and his forty thieves'... In my imagination I could see 'Belly Dancers' dancing      for their master and feeding him grapes and other sweets, the way I have seen it done in the movies...

Ali Baba and the
forty thieves

   There were two old big (actually Huge) Mulberry tree; growing in the Yard     I decided that these trees, were previously “Good Giants", turned into Trees by an Evil Sorcerer and was determined to learn the right 'Magic words' which will "Break the Spell and Free them!" When these liberated trees would ask me if they can be my Servants, I would say No! Telling them how the Jewish People are against slavery, because our Forefathers were slaves and worked hard in the hot sun of Egypt! However, I would be very happy if these beautiful trees would agree to become my 'Giant Pets', protecting me and my family from enemies  like Hitler; who put the Jews in Concentration Camps and killed them in Gas chambers... I would also ask them to protect my family and friends, from enemies like the Arab Countries who 'Wish to drown all the Jews in the Mediterranean Sea and take away from us the 'New State of Israel" which God gave the Jewish people as a gift...

Mulberry trees

  After we finally moved to our new home, I used to climb on the these trees, which I believed were "Bewitched Gentle Giants"... I would comfortably snuggled on some of  the stronger branches, read my book and eat the sweet fruit... One of the two trees was covered with black berries and the other, with light green (bouth delicious and sweet) My parents shared the 'Palace', with two other families from Bulgaria..At the summer  some of the neighbors would come to the yard and sit in the shade to enjoy the fresh breeze... (No Air Conditions yet)  Even though our 'New Comer' Neighbors, did not speak Hebrew, we got along by using 'Pantomime', in order to understand each other which I found to be lot's of fun....  

Shlomit (right)
and me

   My school in Jaffa was about a half hour walk... Most of the students, were kids who arrived to Israel, from different countries in Europe when  their parent escaped from the Nazis... I was fascinated by their stories! In my class room, were kids from Poland, Hungary, Germany, France and Romania... Others  came from Italy, Spain, Greece,Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and other European Countries Several years later, Israel would embrace the New Comers, who escaped the Arab Countries Egypt Syria, Lebanon,Yemen, X Moroco and Tunisia...In my new class  was only one more student besides me, who was born in Israel... We were named "Sabras" (Sweet, wild x Cactus frute) Since bouth of my parents were born in Israel      I recived 'Double Admiration”...

My 6th grade class
Jaffa, 1955

  My school was located in Jaffa and the students spoke many languages             The Principal and Teachers were telling us, how important it always was       for  the Jewish people to be united; especially since we have just lost six millions members in the Gas Chambers of Nazi Germany! It would take      some time, to unify the separate groups of kids, who came from difrent countries, but eventualy it took place! When I was about twelve our Principal and teachers helped us create a 'Student Government', modeled after the Israeli government... Daniela, was born in Poland became our 'Student bodey' Ministar of Educatiion". Abraham Berkowitz who arrived from romenia with his parents    was the Ministar of Finens and I, who's parents were born in Israel, was given the title of the" Minister   of Social Affairs" in our School's Governmaent and asked my mother to excplain what it means... 

    One of my most cherished memories, is the day I came to our School Principal’s office and told him       that I noticed how some of the kids, come to school wearing 'Torn and Ragged clothes'.(After all I was  the Minister of Social Affairs) It was a very cold winter and I suggested that the students donate some     of their old clothes, which no longer fit them to the needy children in our school... Mr Shribman, my handsome principal (with whom I was secretly 'in love') thought it was a Great Idea! He complemented me for thinking about it (and even stroked my hair!) The next morning, I was standing by the principle's side, in the school yard, in front of all the classes (where we always stood before going in to our 'Class rooms') The principal put his arm around my shoulders and said: "Shira Cohen, who is the Social Affairs   Minister of your Students Government; would like to talk to you about something important"XHe  gave me the microphone and I explained to the students, that some of our 'school friends' parents, are unable to find jobs, therefor they can not buy new cloths for their growing children and asked  them to donate some of their old clothes, which are still in good shape, but were too small, to share with the needy students...

   The following morning, the nurse and I were under an 'Avalanche' of Donations... The small room     was full with clothes, almost up to the ceiling... After I 'dressed up' some of the most needy students      the teachers and our principle, sent messages to other schools in Jaffa, to send their needy students to   pick up the rest of the clothes... It was a very cold, freezing and rainy winter day, six students from different schools, were waiting to collect the left over clothes, when I noticed one of them ,who was       was a couple of years younger then me... His lips were blue and chapped from the cold weather, he      was wearing a thin faded, torn sweater and pants full of holes. I noticed that he had no socks on, and     was wearing open sandels with out socks, in this freezing day! Hoadver, what shook me the most was   the expression I saw in his eyes: It was a mixture of Shame and Resignation; a look which I had never       seen before in a child's eyes..... I felt a sharp pain in my heart and began to search among the pile, for cloths in his siz, finding a pair of winter pants, long sleeve shirts and  a beautiful Imitation of an old leather Jacket...“This is for You! Go to the Boys Bathroom and put them on!" When I came back home        was unable to stop thinking of this cold and shivering little boy,  in his torn cloths and reaped sandals shivering in the cold winter day and began to cry... I read before about poverty, but this was my first     time I come in touch with a real one...

   I was beginning to understand the meaning of  'Social injustice'... Realizing that beside my safe home there was another world of Pain and Hopelessness... It was on that cold and rainy winter day,when I was  able to understand for the first time, the full meaning of the words 'Poverty and Compassion'... The new emotion was "A kind of 'Love which Hurts'...  From that moment on, the person I called “Me”, began to change... I was growing up!  Years later I found a Chinese Proverb which said; “Doing good, is the only pleasure which Never wears off...” Later, when I would be asked what is my favorite Hobby, I answered "It is to make people happy!"

With Love and Light,
Shira