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
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"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" |
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| 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...
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| 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
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