Chapter 5, Moving North

1958

“We need to go to the doctor”, Mom told me when I woke up on a cold winter day. I had a terrible night, wheezing and coughing for hours. They had to call the doctor at the middle of the night, and he gave me a shot to help me breath. It wasn’t fun.

Mom helped me dress, put Avi in the carriage and we walked to the doctor’s office. It was very cold outside, but it didn’t rain. You see, it is very dry in Be’er Sheva – Israel's Desert’s Capital. It gets very cold, but it hardly rains. Instead, we have wind, very strong wind. It picks up the dusty earth and blows it around, forming little tornado like swirls and sandstorms.

“Your Son is allergic to the dust here,” said the doctor. “As I told you before, you must move to the north if you don’t want your son to develop asthma.”
Yes, I know,” mom answered, “my husband is in Netanya looking for a place to move. He already found a job. He is a diamond polisher, apparently they have many shops where they polish diamonds in Netanya.”
“Good!” said the Doctor. “Meanwhile, give him this twice a day.” He gave mom a reaccept of medication to get from the pharmacist. (Many years later I discovered that all my problem was allergy to milk. It messed up my breathing as well as my stomach.)

Not long after we were ready to move. I had to say goodbye to my little dog Lassie. We gave it to Uncle David. The new place dad rented didn’t have room for pets. Dad and Uncle Simon (remember him? from the trip to Tel Aviv) loaded the small truck with our belonging and off we went. Dad went on the truck with Uncle Simon. Mom Avi and I went by taxi. I slept all the way, dreaming that Mom was walking away from me and no matter how loud I would try to yell for her, she didn’t hear me. My voice simply wouldn’t come out. It was like a silent cry – it was awful, I felt helpless and when I woke up all sweaty from fear we were in Netanya.

Netanya was a small new town over the sandy beach of the Mediterranean Sea. The clear blue water was even nicer than the beach in Ashkelon. It stretched for miles and miles, all calm and soothing. Our new home was a small wooden shack. Dad rented it from the department of newcomers. One large room with a kitchen corner, with a small sink and a small stone counter where mom had her “Primus” a kerosene burner. The bathroom was outside and so was the shower with its own kerosene water heater.
“We won’t stay here for long,” dad promised, “the department of newcomers promised me a two-bedroom unit as soon as one becomes available.”

We were very lucky; life wasn’t easy in Israel. The war in Sinai was just over and it was very difficult to find a job. Dad lucked up finding the job he did, polishing diamonds was the closest to his jeweler profession. The food raisons were skimpy, Mom had a privilege – she was nursing a baby, so she got a bit more than most people. We were allowed to buy two eggs per day, half a chicken per week and a quart of milk each day. There were no limitations on fruit and vegetables, but they were expensive. Avi and I had to share an apple for dessert. I helped dad planting vegetables and watermelons in our back yard so we could have some more to eat in the summer.

This was the best summer yet. I got to go to the beach every day with mom and Avi. We would play in the sand and in the shallow water until dad came and we would eat tuna sandwiches for dinner at the beach while sitting in the warm water looking at the sun setting in the west.

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Tuna Salad

 

  One of the most popular salads in any delicatessen restaurant. When I grew up mom was just spreading a little bit of canned tuna on slice of bread with a slice of hard-boiled egg and a slice of tomato. I have my own version of tuna salad with a little spicier twist.

Ingredients:

1 Canned Tuna

¼ Small Onion

1 Celery Stalk

2 Pickles

1 Apple

A Small Bunch Parsley

1 tsp Ginger

½ tsp Mustard

½ tsp Salt

3 TBSP Mayonnaise

1 TBSP Olive Oil

Directions:

Chop the apple, celery, pickles, parsley, ginger, and onion.

Fry the onion with ginger until soft and let it cool. Mix all serve in a bowl or on sandwiches with lettuces and tomato. 

 

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