Keeping The Memory

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eagerly up the ramp into the plane
and settled down between two rows
of seats. Dr. Haruvi fastened her
safety belt and attached an intercom
set to her collar through which he
would speak to her after she
jumped.
The plane soon reached the
search area and began to circle.
The paratroopers could be seen on
the ground below.
"Arik speaking," the pilot spoke
into the intercom. "Azit is here. Do
you have a jump area? Over."
"Rami speaking," came the
answer from below. "We found
tracks. The drop path should be
west to east. We'll put down a red
smoke marker. Over."
"Good," the pilot replied. "We'll
make the drop in five minutes. Over
and out."
The jump-officer released Azit's
safety belt. He attached the

She began to run in great
circles sniffing the ground and
seeking the smell she knew from
Hayyim's and Ruthie's clothing.
The paratroopers watched Azit
eagerly. The circles grew, but Azit
had not yet found the trail.
Suddenly she stopped and
began to sniff around one place.
She moved away and then came
back. Then, with small steps, Azit
began to move along the path that
Hayyim and Ruthie had taken.
In less than an hour Azit
reached the well. She jumped onto
the well platform, ran across it, and
found Hayyim and Ruthie lying in
the hollow on the other side.
Azit barked loudly. But the
children seemed to be asleep.
Dr. Haruvi heard Azit barking
through the intercom. "She found
them," he cried. "I'm sure of it. Go
find them, Azit," he called to her.
"Good dog!"
licked Hayyim's face and
She began to run in great eyes. Azit
Hayyim opened his eyes and
circles, sniffing the
cried out in terror, "What's this?"
ground and seeking the
"It's an animal!" Ruthie cried,
sitting up. Azit didn't move. She
smell she knew from
kept licking and making friendly
Hayyim's and Ruthie's
little growling noises.
clothing. The
Suddenly Hayyim saw the
paratroopers watched
name "Azit, paratroop dog" on the
Azit eagerly.
bag that hung from her neck.
"This is our Azit," he cried
happily.
"Azit the paratrooper."
parachute's strap to the bar which
And immediately the voice of
ran the length of the plane. Azit
Dr. Haruvi crackled out of the
understood that it was time to jump.
intercom,
"Hayyim and Ruthie,
Her body tensed; her legs braced,
shalom!
In
the package you'll find
and she yawned a deep, long yawn.
medicine and water. Do you hear?"
Dr. Haruvi kissed Azit on the
"Yes, we hear. We're okay. Only
nose. "Azit, you're a good dog," he
Hayyim's leg is broken," Ruthie
whispered in her ear and hugged
called.
her.
"Rami and the other
A red light blinked over the
paratroopers will reach you in a little
door.
while," Dr. Haruvi told them.
"Get ready!" called the jump-
"Thank you," Ruthie and
officer. He moved Azit to the
Hayyim cried happily.
doorway. Above the door the light
"Say thank you to Azit,"
suddenly turned green. "Jump!"
laughed
Dr. Haruvi. "She's the one
roared the jump-officer and tried to
who found you. We'll drop you
push Azit out. But Azit was already
some food. Be sure to give her
gone. She had leaped far out into
some
of it. She's entitled." ❑
the open air.

A strong wind hit Azit and
rocked her from side to side. The
parachute cords tightened, and the
parachute opened wide. Azit
wiggled her legs until the parachute
steadied itself. Then she began to
float slowly down. Her legs soon
touched the ground. The parachute
was automatically released, and Azit
was ready for action.
"Azit," called Dr. Haruvi through
the intercom, "go and search."

By MARY KORETZ

I feel az memorials are oft a
vain, but compelling, psychological
attempt, to deny the recognition of
the finality of death.
In schule, we were told, the
geshichte of Herod and his froy
Mariamme, who was the tocheter of
Alexander. He was passionately
farlibt with her. After a lange time,
his mother and sister were able to
convince him that Mariamme was
conspiring with an officer in his
armay. The objective of the
conspiracy iz geven the toyt of
Herod and the usurping of his
macht. To avert his aygine death, he
reluctantly ordered hers. He found
that her death hot gebracht him
unbearable pain. To ease that
vaytik, he ordered the badiner to
call her name, as they performed
their daily arbet. The orzach for this
activity was to create the illusion
that she was still lebedik. As a
young teen-ager I found this story
very romantish.
As a dervaksener, I attempted
to verify my recollection of that
story. I found a somewhat andersh
version, in the book, The Jewish
War, by Josephus Ben Matthias. His
story dertsaylt of Herod having put
Mariamme to death because he hot
geglaybt her to have been unfaithful
to him. According to this version,
his passionate love for her caused
him to redn to her, afile after her
death.
While the two stories zein
anderesh in some regards they are
similar in one significant aspect.
They bayde describe Herod's
unwillingness to onnemen
Mariamme's death as a complete
finality to life. I believe that while
the form was unusual, the gefil was
not. We may act out, by oyfshteln a
scholarship, endowing the wing of a
shpitol, farflantsn a tree or lighting a
elent candle to commemorate the
death of a mishpoche member. For
a long or short period of tseit we
make illusional contact with the
farshtorbene. We feel them not
altogether dead; we haltn them in
our embrace for a while.

Vocabulary

az
oft
shule
geshichte
froy
tocheter
farlibt
lange
armay

that
often
school
story
wife
daughter
in love
long
army

iz geven
toyt
macht
aygine
hot gebracht
vaytik
badiner
arbet
orzach
lebedik
romantish
dervaksener
andersh
dertsaylt
hot geglaybt
redn
afile •
zein andersh
bayde
onnemen
gefil
oyfshteln
shpitol
farflantsn
elent
moshpoche
tseit
farshtorbene
haltn

was
death
powers
own
brought
pain
servants
tasks
reason
alive
romantic
adult
different
tells
believed
talk
even
differ
both
accept
feeling
establishing
hospital
planting
lonely
family
time
deceased
hold

Mary Koretz of Oak Park has taught
both children's and adult classes in
Yiddish at the Workmen's Circle.

Impressions Of Israel

"My most memorable
impression of Israel!! I was in
Israel four years ago. It must
have been one of the greatest
times of my life. There are so
many places that impressed me.
Such as Masada, the Wall, the
city of Tel Aviv and also just
Jerusalem on its own. But the
one thing that happened to
impress me and be very different
was seeing soldiers on the street
and feeling safe.

"I was walking down the
streets of Jerusalem and seeing
the soldiers walking with guns.
Basically seeing that almost
anywhere I went. No one seemed
to care or even bothered them,
so I decided it should not bother
me either. I can honestly say that
walking in the streets of Tel Aviv
or Jerusalem and seeing the
soldiers I felt safer than if I were
walking down any street in West
Bloomfield. That is my most
memorable impression of Israel."
— Marina Geller
Community Jewish High School

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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