ISRAEL
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The Extraordinary Luck
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CARL ALPERT
Special to The Jewish News
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56
FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1991
aifa — Of all the tales
to come out of Israel
in recent weeks, the
most extraordinary is that of
the Sagorsky family.
Shimon and Rachel Sagor-
sky were an average low-
income Israeli couple. He was
a mechanic, but wound up as
a truck driver, spending long,
weary hours on the road. She
worked in an office and in a
kindergarten for a while, but
finally devoted all her time to
raising their four children.
With the help of their
parents they were able to ac-
quire a small, three-room flat
in a neighborhood housing
project. Life was difficult;
they were able to make both
ends meet, but little more.
Often they dreamed of a bet-
ter future.
Shimon was a soccer fan,
and his one weakness was the
purchase of weekly tickets for
the football pool, in which
participants try to guess the
winners of the league games.
There were big prizes. One
could dream, couldn't one?
Shimon turned on his radio
one Saturday night and heard
the results of the games. He
had guessed them all correct-
ly. The top prize that week
was the highest in the history
of the football pool — 7.2
million shekels. Since he had
to share the prize with
another winner, his share was
3.6 million shekels ($1.8
million).
When the shock wore off
they began to plan. They
bought a new car, took a trip
abroad, made a contribution
to their synagogue, helped
their children, who were now
being married off one by one,
invested a major portion for
their future. But the main
goal was at long last to have
a fine home of their own.
The Sagorskys saw many
lovely villas in Ramat Gan,
but most were too pretentious
for their more modest tastes.
They finally chose an old
house, built by a German cou-
ple, and now in run-down
condition.
When the couple died they
had bequeathed the house to
the Soldiers' Welfare Associa-
tion, which now offered it for
sale. It would need con-
siderable refurbishing, but it
was a solid, well-constructed
building.
Shimon had to submit a bid
for it. He wanted the house,
but did not want to offer too
much. And so he resorted to
his penchant for luck. He
chose the first three numbers
of his car license, 316, added
three zeros, and bid $316,000.
His was the highest bid. The
next was $312,000.
The renovations began
amid a flurry of contractors,
choice of materials, colors,
tiles and interior decorations.
This was to be their dream
home, and they threw them-
selves into the task with
enthusiasm.
The workmen installing
new plumbing, and ex-
cavating near the founda-
tions, came across a small
chest of foreign currency and
a gold bar — a total value of
about $100,000.
The workmen, the Soldiers'
Welfare Association and the
Sagorsky family claimed the
treasure. The matter went to
court, and in January the
Sagorskys won the case.
They completed the renova-
tions, handed their old flat
They struck it rich
twice, and then .. .
over to their youngest
daughter, now getting mar-
ried, and moved in. They
planned a house-warming.
Everything was ready, just as
they had dreamed, though
the pictures had not yet been
hung. There were sparkling
ceramics and marble, picture
windows, wall-to-wall
carpeting, house plants, a
gleaming kitchen.
The old house even had a
solidly built concrete shelter.
It was late Friday after-
noon. Rachel lit her Sabbath
candles. Evening came on,
and then the wailing of the
air raid sirens sent them scur-
rying to the solid concrete
shelter. They heard a boom,
but felt nothing in their solid
refuge. When their radio
brought them news of the all-
clear, after what seemed like
an interminable wait, they
emerged to discover that the
Iraqi Scud missile had land-
ed next door, and the concus-
sion had blown their house in-
side out.
The old solid walls had re-
mained, but doors and win-
dow casements were all gone,
and the insides were a
shambles. What the bomb did
not do, the pouring rain
completed.
For the time being, they
have moved in with one of
their children, and are now
laboriously beginning the
painful process of starting all
over again. ❑