A Wall of Light - Edeet Ravel [2]
I have to decide. If I pretend to fall asleep Daddy will carry me but if we walk I can walk very slowly.
Daddy takes my hand and we leave the Room. In the evening the plants and bushes have a marvellous smell. The darker it gets the more marvellous the smell gets. The sun is starting to set but it’s not dark yet. Soon the Last Rain will fall. We won’t know for sure it’s the Last Rain until it doesn’t rain again. If it doesn’t rain again we’ll look back and say that was the Last Rain.
Unless the Last Rain comes very late. If it comes after a long time without rain then we’ll know for sure that it’s the Last Rain.
Rooms5
Dori
People say the mountains are beautiful but I don’t know why. The mountains are never an interesting colour. They’re always dark brown or dark grey or dark green. There’s nothing beautiful about them.
Everyone is excited because you can see Mount Hermon from Eldar. I’m the only one who can’t see it. I can’t see it and I don’t know why it’s exciting but I’m also excited.
Behind the mountains lies the Enemy. Unfortunately the Enemy wants to destroy us. The Enemy keeps trying and we keep fighting back. It isn’t easy but so far we’re succeeding.
My brother David says the country behind the mountains is Syria but his friend Noam says it’s Lebanon. David says Syria hates us more than Lebanon but Noam says they both hate us the same.
Our First Year
13 January 1949. The process of settlement took place so suddenly that most of us haven’t had enough time to digest its significance.
We were told to expect settlement within a short time.
We were told to consider Eldar, an Arab village none of us had ever heard of before, in the high and windy hills of Galilee.
We were told to prepare to leave our interim kibbutz in five days. We packed our stuff into three trucks, rode to the North, unloaded, and started on the life-long process of building a new community in the Palestinian wilderness.
From Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other points, to Eldar. Indescribably exciting and almost unbelievable.
Dori
Well here we are. Here we are. We’re late but Shoshana doesn’t mind. That’s because of Daddy. Shoshana knows that if she does anything to me I’ll tell Daddy and he’ll get angry. That’s why I’m safe. Jonathan and Skye are safe too.
Daddy is laughing with Shoshana. She shows him the red spots on her long feet. She pretends to be a nice ordinary person. She takes off her sandal and puts her long foot on a chair and shows him the spots and he nods. She has a hoarse voice that hides who she really is. Daddy is smart so how come she can fool him?
Between the Motion and the Act
Nat stood close to the kibbutz nurse in order to absorb the ebbing current that emanated from her body. After she was gone, he turned to Rubin, tanned and smiling under his Pioneer hat, and asked, “Why do we do it?”
“Do what?”
“Run after women.”
“Biological urge, I think.”
“If our wives did the same thing we wouldn’t like it.”
“That’s true.”
“You know what I think, Rubin? I think that if I knew Avra
would always be loyal I’d make a commitment to be monogamous.”
“You’re joking! Judging by the six lookers I know about, you’re no slouch.”
“But …”
“No buts. I know you. Why did they give you fur-lined underpants on Purim? You know, Nat, I discovered that women are at their most vulnerable after the first child. Wait two months and you’ll be able to get them all.” 6
Dori
Daddy leaves. It’s not so bad though because either Daddy or Mummy will come back later to kiss me goodnight.
I’m the only one who’s allowed a goodnight kiss. That’s because in Canada we all slept in the same house and when we came back to Eldar I cried and screamed when Mummy tried to leave me in the Children’s House. Even though the Minder7 was Doreet. Doreet was my Minder before we left Eldar and for a short time when we came back.
Doreet was nice but I didn’t want Mummy to leave. I held her shirt and wouldn’t let