Chapter 20, Nono Victor’s Disappointment

It wasn't easy to get Meme Julie to tell us stories. She was always busy preparing food or cleaning the house. But when she came to visit, which was very rare, we were able to get her to tell us some. We were always curious about our history, where Meme came from. What did they do in Tunisia and all kind of stuff.

“Israel has been and still is a wonderful country. It is the only real democracy in the middle east. It has people from around the world and everyone is equal. But some people equal more.” Meme July started her story. “I never wanted to come to Israel. We had a good life in Tunis. Your grandfather was a very respected man, at the synagogue where he attended every morning and at the town where he was a successful accountant. Nono was the town mayor's accountant. Even your uncle Albert had a nice job, he owned a locksmith shop. It was nice until the Nazis showed up.

    Everything had changed. Nono had to go to work at the loading dock for the German army and Albert was sent to another camp. I had to dress Robert with shorts, so they will think he was still a child. Lucky for us the war ended before we were sent to be exterminated. But we did have to start over again.

And then then the emissary from the 'Sochnut' - the Israeli agency - came to Nono's office and promised him a good position if he leaves everything and move to Israel. ‘We will give you a respectful job a place to live and your kids will have a nice school to go to’. He promised. 

Nono was an active Zionist, he believed that we all should move to Israel the land of the Jewish people. Nono took a big part in the Jewish Federation and was very involved. But we still had a problem. Tunis had a law that prevented the Jews from living the country. Jews who wanted to emigrate will have to leave all their belongings in the country. They will lose everything. They were permitted to take only what they can carry in their suitcase. I am still not sure how I agreed to move. Even after the Nazis left we managed to pick up and start a normal life. Tunis was under the French protection and the new Arab government wasn't full in force yet. So, we packed as much as we could all nine of us and we boarded a ship to Marseille, France.

Problems have started as soon as we arrived there. We were not permitted to continue to Israel for a whole year. We were put in a quarantine camp in cramped barracks – until they were sure that no one has some African disease the invented or thought we might have. All the kids got the flue and we had to send Albert to the hospital. Once we finally arrived at Israel, (your mom was very seasick the whole way there) they put us in, yet another camp. This one was in a Moshav in the south of Israel. Each family received a tent. The water supply was in the center of the camp. The girls had to carry a few times a day so we could wash up and prepare food.

'Until we build your housings' they promised. When Nono went to acquire about the promises he received in Tunis he got nowhere. He needed a letter of recommendation from an official who knows his work, ethics, and experience. Unfortunately, all the officials were from eastern Europe. Of course, they didn't know him. They would rather give the jobs to people they knew in Poland, Romania, Russia, Germany or Hungary, people with much less experience or credentials. “Protexia” we called it and it followed us for many years.

Nono had to take a job away from us, paving the roads south to Eilat. In the heat with hard labor, he wasn't used to. He came home (to the tent) only on Friday’s afternoon for Shabat and left early morning every Sunday. Until one day he got a mild stroke. He was sent to the hospital and lost most of his site in one eye. We were offered a small apartment in Beer-Sheva and Nono was hired by the town to be the town's gardener. You see? That public playground in the middle of our neighborhood, where you and your cousins play every time, you come to visit was built by Nono. 

 

 

***

 

Egyptian Fava Beans

 

Fava beans are very good source of protein and fiber and are very healthy. They are an ingredient of many dishes in the North African cuisine. This one is a favorite of mine. It uses the smaller size fava beans and is packed with flavors.

 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Dry Fava Beans (an option to use caned fava beans will save preparation time)

1 Large Onion

4 Cloves Garlic

3 TBSP Olive Oil 

1 tsp Salt

½ tsp Garlic Powder

1 TBSP Cumin

Preparation:

 Soak the beans overnight and cook them until soft. (If you use canned beans, skip that part.) Sauté the Onion, garlic, and ginger until lightly caramelized and add the beans with a little water. Top with Garlic powder and a lot of cumin. Simmer until all liquid dries and serve with even more cumin.

-----