Chapter 54, Chanukah Blessings
“Hey, Haim!” I heard Ne h amah Lerner as I was lifting my chair to place it on top of the table before leaving for home. “The new music teacher is looking for you.” “Me? Doesn’t he know what happened with Pnina, the old teacher? She practically had her heart broken.” Last year after winning the choral festival I stopped coming to rehearsals, every time finding another excuse. Until Pnina caught me playing “hands up” on her way home. “Your Mom is sick?” she asked. “Ahh …” “I don’t want to see you again!” She said disappointed. I was banned from the choral for the rest of the year. “Yes,” Said Ne h amah Lerner, “but she is no longer here.” The new music teacher, I think, was a long lost relative of mine. His name was Yitzchak Tov. Tov is the root of the word “good” in Hebrew. And so is my last name – at that time they pronounced it “Tubi” because of a clerical mistake who extended the letter Yod to a Vav and there for changed the sound of la...