Chapter 10, Trip North

 Dad made a new friend. His name was Tuvia. Tuvia came to Israel as a child from 

Yemen, he worked with Dad. He cuts the diamonds to give them a round shape. Dad 

polishes the diamonds and gives them their facets and brilliance. Tuvia was dark

 skinned like me and dad. This is why many people confused us for Yemenite.

 "How old are you, young man?" He asked me the first time we met. I liked it when people called me "young man." It made me feel important, not like Aunt Mary who called me young boy all the time.
 "Almost four," I said, "I will be four in a few weeks on Rosh Hashanah."
 "Oh, yes?" he replied, "I have a daughter who is almost your age. Her name is Anat, and she is three and a half. Would you like to meet her?"
 "Yes" I said. I was very pleased to be able to meet his daughter. You see, don't tell anybody, bI loved playing with girls. They don't fight as much as boys, and they let me play daddy when we play “house”.
 "I also have a son," he said. "He's two years old."
 "That's like my brother. What's his name?"
 "Yuval, and you will have the chance to meet them both very soon. We are going on a vacation together next weekend."
 "All right!" I replied happily and rushed to tell my brother the news.

That morning I woke up very early, even before Mom and Dad turned on the radio with the musical clock program. Every morning they would wake up at 6:00, turn on the radio, and the classical music program would wake me up. This time I couldn't sleep late. I was thinking about the trip all day at the kindergarten.  Early that afternoon right after Avi and I walked back from the kindergarten and as soon as Dad came home, Mom packed all the suitcases and sandwiches for the road.

Anat had long black hair and big brown eyes. She was, unlike her brother, very polite and gentle. Yuval, her brother, had a bad mouth and bad manners. It was very difficult to hear anything when he talked because he didn't talk. He yelled and screamed and cursed and what not.

I sat in the back seat of the big station wagon with Anat. We played games, sang songs, and had fun for most of the ride; that is, when Yuval was not interrupting. We drove north on the new shore highway. The sea was on our left and the orange orchards on out right. That time of year the orange flowers were blooming, and their strong smell cast a spell on all of us. We stopped at Caesaria and saw the old Roman ruins. We passed near the prehistoric cavemen digs and the banana fields. For dinner, we stopped at a forest park near Haifa.

It was getting dark when we started climbing the high mountain of Kibbutz Idmit.
"We will spend the night here," Tuvia announced. "They have nice accommodations, and we can eat breakfast at the kibbutz's dining room."

A kibbutz is a communal village. All the people who live in the kibbutz work in the fields, in the kibbutz's schools, in the kitchen, or as housekeepers. They don't get paid a salary, but they get a house, food, clothing, and all their needs are provided for. The income from their work is shared by all the kibbutz members - comrades. The children in this kibbutz live in the children's dorms, and their parents live in the adults' living quarters. There are no poor or rich people in the kibbutz; everyone is equal. If the kibbutz is rich, everyone in the commune is rich. If the kibbutz is poor, no one is rich in the kibbutz.

Avi and I stayed in a room next to Mom and Dad's room, and in front of Tuvia’s children's room.
"Be nice to your brother," mom said before she left for her room. Yea, like I planned to be mean to him; it was always him that started those fights.
 "Remember you're the older."
 "O.K., good night!" I replied.

The loud shot woke me up shortly after I fell asleep. The commotion outside the door intrigued my curiosity, and I opened the door.
 "Go back to your room!" someone ordered.
I hated it when some adults thought that we children should not be allowed to know anything. I closed the door and waited for the commotion to pass.
I heard someone mentioning poachers, but we were not that close to the border, and we were very high on top of one of the steepest mountains in Israel. Poachers were sneaking across the border from Syria or Jordan, to steal food or livestock. Sometimes, they got caught, and sometimes they committed murder. I heard people calling them terrorists too.

I opened the door again, slowly peeking to see if anybody saw me. The door in front of me opened slowly too and the long black hair of Anat was the first thing I saw coming out.
 "Poacher?" she asked softly.
 "No, there are no poachers in this area," I tried to calm her fear. "Let's go see."
 "Can I hold your hand?" she asked. "I'm afraid a little".
 "Of course," I said. "I'm not afraid, I'll protect you" I said, suddenly walking a little taller and straight. We walked out the door of the building into the darkness. The people were gathering at the far side of the kibbutz. We heard them talking about an Arab shepherd that lived next to the kibbutz. He had an old rifle. They were thinking maybe it was he who shot the gun. The shot was heard from his direction. 

Hiding from the adults, we slowly walked toward the crowd. Then we heard the weirdest noise. It was like a cry, like something we never heard before. Maybe a roar like at the beginning of the MGM movies.
 "Leopard, leopard," someone yelled.
 "Bring a net," someone else yelled

Someone ran back to the kibbutz's center and shortly after returned with a wide net. We heard before about people who had seen leopards, but it was very rare. Leopards are almost extinct animals in Israel, and this one could be the last leopard. That is why they wanted to catch him alive.

The crowd surrounded the wounded leopard, and someone threw the net on it. It didn't take long for the crowd to disperse, and we found ourselves alone. It was only then that we saw where we really were.
The kibbutz Idmit was located on a very high mountain. The view was of all the Galilee, the northern part of Israel.
"Look how beautiful this is," Anat said squeezing my hand gently. "What is there?"
"Haifa," I said proudly. We just learned in the kindergarten about Haifa, the port city of Israel.
"And that?"
"Nahariya I think."
We sat on a rock looking at the lights of all the towns and villages around us flickering, holding hands, and listening to the sound of the wounded leopard crying in the dark.

***

 

Potato and Chickpea Soup

 

A great vegetarian / vegan heartwarming home soup. Wonderful for cold winter evenings.

Ingredients: 
½ Chopped Onion
1 Cup Chickpeas (soaked in water over night or one can)
2 Potatoes (cut to small cubes)
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 Crushed and Chopped Cloves of Garlic
1 tsp Salt (1/2 if using canned peas)
1 tsp Crushed Fresh Ginger
¼ Cup Chopped Fresh Celery
2 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Turmeric
1 TBSP Techina
Pinch Black Pepper

Preparation: 
 Sautés Onion in oil with ¼ tsp salt until golden. Add the potatoes, garlic, and ginger and stir. Add the chickpeas. spices, techina and water to cover the ingredients. Bring to boil and lower the heat to simmer for ½ hour. Blend lightly or crush with a potato masher but leave some chunks of chickpeas. Keep simmering for another ½ hour. Serve hot.

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