Chapter 27, Wilde Josh

“Nanou”, Mom called me. “We will be having guests this weekend, so I want you to clean up your room with your brother and clear up the mess in the back yard. Do your homework early so you will have time to play with Yehoshua”.

    “Yehoshua HaParu'aa?” I asked. There is a children song and an illustrated book called “Yehoshua HaParu'aa”it is a translation of a book by Book by German Children writer Heinrich Hoffmann “Struwwelpeter”. It tells about a boy who didn't like to wash, groom himself or even cut his hair and nails. His hair grew long and his nails where so long he couldn't hold anything. His teeth were black and so on.

“No, silly!” He is the son of Dodah Dolly’s - your uncle Albert's wife's sister. (Are you confused yet? Well, I was.) Do you remember, my mother oldest brother Albert? He married a beautiful, tall blond who came from a famous Rabbi’s family. Her father was a descendant from a long family of Rabbis in Tunisia. By the time they moved to Israel, Dolly has lost most of her blond color of her hair and it turned darker from the hot sun in the Israeli “Negev”.    

Uncle Albert and his wife Dolly had 2 kids, Yehudit who was 2 years older than me and her brother Haim who was a year younger than me. They just moved into a new apartment provided by “Ami-Dar” a governmental co-op that leases dwellings to new immigrants and young couples. It was a two-floors building with an entrance in the front to a staircase that led to the second floor where my uncle’s unit was with another unit in front of his. Each unit had a small yard. The top floor had the yards in the back and the bottom floor had the front yard. Each had a fence and a gate. Uncle Albert had a few tomato plants, some hot pepper and “Na’na” a Mediterranean mint. We Loved to spend time there because besides the plants, they had a lot of toys for children to play with. Even some swings, a slide, and a small sand box. That summer we came to stay with my uncle’s family for a few days.

Haim wasn’t an agreeable child, he did not like to share his toys and whenever one of us would play on one of the setups, whether it was the slide or the swing he would cry and demand for his turn to play. Unlike Haim, his sister was much friendlier. She did not mind sharing, in fact she loved playing with younger children. She was the “teacher”.

“Come kids, sit in front of me, yes, you too Haim”.

“I don’t want to play with you.” Said Haim.

“If you sit with us, I will let you play with my favorite doll.”

Haim sat and was quite for now.

“Repeat after me,” said Yehudit. “Yismehu HaShamayim” (that means the sky will rejoice).

“Yismehu HaShamayim”, we would repeat the song again and again. “Yiramaya, Yiramaya, Yiramaya aaa Umlo’oh.” Or at least that’s what I thought we were supposed to sing. Being so confused with all the languages I spoke, many times, whenever I didn’t understand a word, in songs or stories I heard, I would assume that it is something I will learn sooner or later. “Everyone knew more than I did,” and there for I took it as is. “Maybe when I grow up, I will learn”. 

It took years before I learned that the song, we were singing was a verse from the book of psalms from the bible. A song we sing every Friday evening. Whatever I thought was “Yiramaya” was really “Yir’am HaYam” – the sea will roar. The skies are happy, and the sea and all its inhabitants will roar with praise to God. 

As much as I liked the praise, I received for speaking 3 languages I never felt as part of any group I joined. There was always a feeling of an outsider. Some words I didn’t understand especially in Hebrew. 

Anyway, Dodah Dolly has a sister who lives in Jerusalem, and she was coming to visit us for the weekend. They have never seen the beach. Mom invited her to come and stay with us for a few days and go to the seashore. Everybody loves to stay with us when they want to go to the beach. Mom is a good host; she cooks and makes sure everyone has a comfortable place to sleep even if we all have to share the same room.

“You will have to share your bed with your brother” she said. “Yehoshua will be sleeping on Avi's bed with his Mother. So, go and start cleaning up your room.”

You have to understand, when Mom says “your room “, she really means Avi's room. Avi had his own room with all the toys. I slept at the entrance to the house on a folding army cot. We played in Avi's room or outside when the weather is nice. 

“We will be going to visit them too.” Mom promised, “when your brother is old enough and you will get to see Jerusalem.”

The next day both Avi and I were waiting eagerly to meet our new “cousin” and get to show him all the toys we made and play with him. Well, our “Wild Yehoshua” was a clean boy and nicely dressed. But the moment we showed him to Avi's room he jumped on all the toys and within less than five minutes he managed to mess up the room, ran to the back yard and messed it up too. All the work we put was for nothing. The toys were all over the place half of them broken, and when we went to the beach, he almost drowned because he didn't stop running around, his mom chasing him all over until he ran into the water and a big wave knocking him down. My dad had to jump in and pull him out.

 Maybe he wasn't as dirty as “Yehoshua HaParu'aa” but he was just as messy and wild. It took Avi and me a week to fix the toys and the mess he made.

 

***

 

Harvest Soup

 

  An excellent dish for the fall or the beginning of winter. It is thick and smooth with full of layered flavors. 

 

Ingredients:

1 Onion

3 Garlic Cloves

1 Sweet Potato

1 Butternut Squash

1 Big Carrot

2 Medium Potatoes

2 Cup Orange Juice

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Fresh Crushed Ginger

3 Cup Water

¼ Cup Oil

Preparation:

  Wash and cut up all dry ingredients and simmer in a deep pot until all is soft. 

Add liquids and bring to boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Blend all and serve.

 

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