Written December 13, 2010
To my dearest kinderlach, grandchildren, family, friends, neighbor, shalom !
How are you? I am fine. Just
nursing a cold I brought with me from Morocco. As it turn out, a drastic
weather change in Israel, rain storms & low temperatures,make it
more difficult to recuperate. But, on Thursday, I will be leaving for
Eilat, (the city on the tip of the Red-sea, most southern city in
Israel, where the temp. today read 23C or 74F ) to bask in the
sun...... Tel-Aviv temp.today, was at 14C = 57F at high and 8C =36F low.
No matter what I will write
or tell about Morocco, I will not be close to the actual experience. The
visible conflict of old & new, rich & poor, color &
plainness, rainy city of Fez & dry golden Sahara, mountains &
valleys, are all mixed with the noise of the markets & the smell of
food & spices. The important part of the tour, was our guide,
Micki, who was born in Morocco, speaks the language, well versed in the
Geography, History & culture of the land. At the time of the Jewish
expulsion from Spain in the 15 century, many found refuge in north
Africa especially in Morocco. However, after the establishment of the
state Of Israel in 1948, the majority of the Jewish population had to
escape Muslim Morocco. Though, king Mohammad the 5th, the reigning king
of the time, was kind to the Jews, the hotile atmosphere at the time was
bad for the Jews. In the most beautiful
city of Marrakesh, from a population of 35,000 Jews, only 126 persons
are left, most are old.
A wonderful event of the trip was, getting up at 4:30 am, one
morning day, driving in Jeeps to the edge of the sand dunes of the
Sahara, climbing on camel's back, and riding a camel convoy, ( like
post cards) into the desert. The last high sand dune we did on foot.
(even the camels could not make it....) I must stop here and confess : I
was helped & pushed from behind by my camel owner... so I could
reach a peak. Once there, we sat Until we saw the first sunrise. And
what a magnificent site this was. Sahara was GOLDEN.
Because it was a "kosher
Tour", we traveled with two (2) cooks. Three meals we ate in Jewish
communities (Fez & Casablanca) and on Shabbat we were invited to eat
at the home of Isak Ohayon. And what a Shabbat it was, and what meals
we ate ??? In the tradition of the Morocco cuisine & hospitality.
We celebrated Chanuka in Morocco, so I failed to wish you a happy
Chanuka. However, Last Saturday night, I went with my friends the
Hammers, from Nahalal to Haifa. We drove through the Christian-Arab
section of the city, and we could tell that X-mas was in the air.
To all of you celebrating the holiday season I wish you:
Merry Christmas & a Happy New year. Season greetings to you all ! ! !
