The Last Rain (11 page)

The book doesn’t have a lot of pictures but it’s full of stories about Tarzan King of the Apes. Daddy’s going to read me the stories. I love Tarzan so much.

Tarzan in the Middle East

Eleven Tarzan books were translated into Hebrew in the 1930s;

Tarzan became a national obsession in the 1950s;

by 1961, ten Tarzan series were being published without copyright in Israel;

a total of over 900 issues were printed;

in some stories Tarzan helped illegal Jewish immigration to Mandated Palestine, for which he was imprisoned by the British;

in others he singlehandedly broke the Egyptian blockade at Suez, killing many Egyptian soldiers along the way;

in one series Tarzan is dead but an Israeli named Dan-Tarzan crashes in the jungle and is reared by a descendent of Kala the ape;

Dan-Tarzan becomes a Mossad agent;

captures former Nazis;

finds lost city of ancient Hebrew warriors.

In parallel developments in Syria and Lebanon, Tarzan successfully battled Jews.

Dori

Today is Gilead’s birthday. He’s turning six. I don’t know if Gilead has any parents here on Eldar. He wasn’t born here but he calls someone here
Mummy
and someone else
Daddy
so I don’t know what the story is.

For his birthday there’s a movie in one of the Rooms. The wall is the screen. It’s so crowded there’s hardly any room to sit. A lot of children from different Groups want to see the movie. It’s
Hansel and Gretel
.

I’m a bit scared when the witch puts Hansel in a cage. Gilead holds my hand. It’s the first time I’m holding a child’s hand to be less scared. That means something but I’m not sure what.

Our First Year

5 February 1949.
Another day without bread. Some time in the future, when we have a chance to relax, and these days are no more than fond, rugged memories, perhaps someone will sit down and write the story of what we will call the Saga of Bread. Our bread comes from Safed, something like 27 kilometres away, which means, since we have no transportation, that a team of our boys has to set out every other day or so, by hitch-hiking or by walking, to pick it up.

Sometimes they get a ride, sometimes they don’t. To tramp up and down these hills with a heavy sack of bread on one’s shoulders, in rain or hail or snow, is no joke, and since I’ve never done it myself, being a mere woman, I’m not competent to describe the intensity of the experience.

This week, Amos came home so weatherbeaten and exhausted from the trip that he couldn’t drag the bread up the hill the last 500 metres, and he was in bed for two days after the trek.

Dori

Shoshana is in a bad mood again. Lulu and Elan have to soak their tushies in a pail of water because they have itchy spots. They’re not allowed to scratch because scratching makes it worse. But it’s like when you have a mosquito bite—you just can’t help scratching.

But it seems Shoshana caught Elan scratching.

She grabs two rags from the rag-bag and then she grabs Elan and throws him on a bed. Gilead’s bed. She makes us all come with her. She ties Elan’s wrists to the metal part of the bed so he won’t scratch. We all have to stand next to the bed and watch and laugh. We’re not laughing but Shoshana pretends we are.

Elan has the scared smile. His wrists are skinny and he shivers. Shoshana screams
you see what I have to do you see what you make me do!

I’m going to tell Daddy. He’ll have to believe me this time.
³⁶

Theories of Education
³⁷

We all understood from the start that educating our children properly was the single most important facet of the kibbutz project. In order to create a society dedicated to principles of justice, equality and humanity, we had to ensure that our children received the best possible education.

In pursuit of this goal, I began my work in 1911. At that time I became acquainted with two books: in Hebrew,
Psychological Discussions for Teachers,
and in German,
Aus der Praxis der Arbeitsschule
by Pabst. Two volumes of
The Free School,
in Russian, also came into my hands. One article, ‘Independent work and the joy of creativity’ captivated me, opening up before me new philosophical vistas. Two years later I went to study in Germany and Switzerland. For a whole year I waited in Leipzig for the summer course in methodology of activity orientation. I read everything I could find on general psychology and progressive teaching for ten to twelve hours a day—Gaudig, Ley and others. One book that impressed me was Dewey’s
The School and Society,
although not all his methods attracted me. In 1921, two extremely impressive studies reached me. One was the work of S. Schatzky,
Brand New Life,
and the other was by Bernfeld, on Baumgarten’s experience.

After reading Bernfeld, and more importantly, after living with young children at the school in Tel Aviv, I underwent a revolution. I gave up experimental psychology and threw myself into the study of psychoanalysis. Much later on I came into possession of the studies of A.S. Neill. I read them all with the utmost enjoyment.

Dori

I dreamed God was a giant who could skip over mountains with a single step. My brother David was holding his left hand and I was holding his right hand and we leaped over the mountains with him.

Finally we reached some ruins in Yehupitz. That was where God lived. There was a round floor made of smooth white stone and old stone columns all around. Some of the columns were broken because they were so old.
³⁸
I had to go to the toilet but there wasn’t any toilet paper so God gave me two rocks instead. Rocks! How can I wipe with rocks? But I didn’t say anything because that’s all God had.

Yehupitz isn’t a real place. It’s just something you say when you don’t have an answer. Like when I ask Daddy where Mummy is he says
Yehupitz
and laughs.

In my dream God looked a little like the Friendly Giant from television. I loved that show. Especially the beginning with the beautiful tune and the little chairs in the castle. You could choose the little chair or a rocking chair or a chair for two to curl up in.

I don’t know which chair I would choose. I think the chair for two to curl up in. Maybe on different days I could sit in different chairs.

The reason we don’t have television here is the same reason we don’t have makeup or made-up hair. Pioneers don’t get fooled so easily.

One time in Canada Mummy took me to a department store and all of a sudden she said
can you keep a secret Dori
? And I said
yes
. And she said
you have to promise never ever ever to tell anyone.
I said
I promise
. Usually I’m not good at keeping secrets but I decided to keep this one no matter what. She said
I’m going to try on that makeup
. There were two women dressed like nurses putting makeup on for free. Mummy said
I want to see what it feels like to be a real woman
. Even I knew that was a silly thing to say.

Mummy sat in a chair and the two women put makeup on her face. I sat next to one of the mannequins and looked at the perfume bottles. Some were blue but most were plain glass. I love little bottles.

When the two women finished Mummy said
thank you
and we went to the bathroom. She tried to wash everything off but it wasn’t easy. Some of the makeup was stuck on. Mummy said
they put on way too much—I look like I’m wearing a mask
.

I never told anyone our secret and I never will as long as I live.

Thy Neck with Chains of Gold
 

ELI
knocks on
RITA
’s door and enters without waiting for a reply. He is preoccupied. He carries a radio and his work assignment board.