Transitions by Richard Isralowitz Jonathan Friedlander

Author:Richard Isralowitz, Jonathan Friedlander [Richard Isralowitz, Jonathan Friedlander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138703070
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2019-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

David’s Meeting with the Young Couples in the Caravan

The second meeting was held some two weeks later. About ten immigrants, aged twenty to forty, were present at the meeting. It was held in the caravan of one of the participating couples. There were also two babies present.

David had been invited to the meeting by Fanny (the director) to try to explain why the immigrants had not received their subsistence money. The immigrants wanted to discuss their situation with David, hoping to get his help as an official in The Jewish Agency.

When I entered the caravan with David and Fanny, men and women were already sitting there on two beds in the “living room.” Shlomo, a 25-year-old immigrant, was sitting next to two young women. One of the women held Shlomo’s baby, Eitan. Fanny approached her and took Eitan into her arms and then sat next to Shlomo. David invited me to sit next to him. When Shlomo’s wife, Zehava, entered the caravan, I invited her to sit next to me and David. David remarked that Ethiopian women are used to sitting apart. Then he got up, went over to Zehava and kissed her as the Ethiopians do, a few times on each cheek. He was talking and sharing jokes with the people in Amharic. Fanny was murmuring affectionate words to Eitan, who fell asleep in her arms.

David opened the conversation in Amharic and then switched to Hebrew. He said, “I hear from Fanny that there are problems with money.” Shlomo explained that there had been serious problems with the subsistence aid since responsibility for the payments was transferred from the secretary to the social worker.

During the discussion, David interrupted Shlomo’s explanations many times aggressively and impolitely. He defended the social worker and accused the immigrants of being rude to her.

On his way out, David was surrounded by the men and women. They were all very anxious to hear about their relatives who had arrived that night. He answered them patiently and warmly.

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