YOM HA SHOAH

Tonight marks Yom HaShoah...Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. Restaurants and coffee shops will be closed from sundown tonight until sundown tomorrow. The television will show programs dealing with the Shoah. Tomorrow when the siren goes off everyone will stop what they are doing and stand at attention. Israel remembers.

When I was a little girl, I met Sasha and his wife, Elizabeth. They were survivors. Sasha was bright and ambitious and wanted to provide a good life for his family. But as time went by Sasha lost business after business. I asked my mom what was wrong and Bubbie Channah A'H said, "He survived, he couldn't add being rich and safe. So, subconsciously he undermined every business venture he started."

When I moved to Jerusalem, I went to Ulpan where new immigrants learn Hebrew...a fascinating premise and one day I'll tell you stories. In our class was Goldie. She must have been in her thirties or early forties at the time. She was gorgeous. I'd never seen skin like hers. Svelt and elegant, we became friends. One day I invited her for lunch back at my apartment. Goldie began to talk. She talked about over there. She told me how she loved to buy clothes. And when she found something she liked, she bought it in all the colours they had in the store. But when she got home, she gave all the clothes away. She only kept as much as could fit in one suitcase!

I remember!