On the following Friday, after the Sabbath evening meal, the boys asked
their father to read them another letter from his cousin in Jerusalem.
He was pleased at their eagerness, and, while Upstairs getting the
letter, some of the boys' friends came in and settled comfortably down,
for all were eager to hear the letter read.
Mr Jacob said: "This time I will read a letter from your Cousin Dora to
my sister which will certainly interest you, my dear," turning to his
daughter, "but at the same time, I think it will interest you all."
"My dear Milly,--Isaac must have written to Jacob all about our arrival,
so I will begin by giving you some idea of our life here and my
impressions. The people, who so kindly asked us to stay with them till
Father finds a dwelling, have a few rooms in a house, which has a marble
paved courtyard. Six other families also have two or three rooms each.
All the work is done in the courtyard, even the cooking; for each family
uses tiny stoves, made of mud, into which they put a little lighted
charcoal and cook just outside or near their own doors; for there are no
kitchens or fireplaces in any of the rooms, and thus we see what each
family cooks. The Sephardim (Jews who have lived here for years) eat
their meals in the courtyard. They lay a mat on the marble tiles, on
which they place a small low table, and they sit on the mat and eat. Two
Sephardim families have rooms in the house and they speak Arabic and
Spanish, and their ways of living are more like those of the Turks, just
as the Jews in England live more like the English.
"Everyone seems most interested in us. Many people have come to visit
us, to see the new arrivals!
"The evening of the day on which we arrived was Friday; there was a
clear moonlight such as you would not often see in England, and it was
very warm, too; so we and our visitors sat in the courtyard. All eagerly
asked us many questions, till quite late; and thus the evening passed
very quickly and pleasantly.
"After prayers on Sabbath some people sent a bottle of wine and a most
delicious pudding, which is made nowhere but in Jerusalem. It tastes
like milk and honey, with other tasty things mixed up in it. Others sent
a lovely sponge cake, coated with different-coloured sugar-icing: many
other good things were also given to us; and they lasted us for nearly a
month.
"Later in the day the people who sent the eatables paid us visits, and
ate some of the good things. It is rather a nice custom, I think, for
new arrivals to have no bother to prepare food for their visitors, as it
gives them time to enjoy their company. What a lot of talking there was!
The men discussed several things with Father, while the women wanted to
know many things about England which Mother could tell them. The boys
and girls could not take their eyes off our clothes, so much did they
admire them! It was quite amusing, the funny questions they asked us
about them. They all promised to help us look for a dwelling; and they
kept their promise. I can tell you it was a great help and comfort to us
that they did, for I don't know what would have become of us out here,
away from our old friends, where the ways of living are so different
from what we have been used to. Whether it will always be so or not, of
course I can't say--time alone will show.
"Very soon afterwards they found us a vacant dwelling, which Father was
very thankful to get, and in my next letter I will tell you something of
our life after we had moved in; but I must tell you more of what
happened when we were staying with our kind host. The first afternoon,
one of our visitors insisted on our I going to her home; so, when I and
our youngsters arrived, we were taken to a room, and in it was a table
covered with lovely apricots, and delicious-looking pastries and jams;
also wine which only cost 3d. a bottle, so it is very nearly as cheap as
buying water. When they handed us some of the good things we naturally
took them and ate them.
"Suddenly I saw our host's children move away from us saying: 'She is a
Shiksa,' and 'He is a Shakitz,' and they kept on whispering and pointing
to us. I could not think what we had done to make them act in such a
way, and so asked their mother. She answered: 'They are surprised to see
you eating without making a Brocha (a blessing), for our children unless
they first make a Brocha never taste anything.'
"You know, dear Milly, that, though we too were taught to do as they
here, yet the hurry and scurry of going to school and the busy life in
London have made us forget to practise these religious laws. We,
however, felt very uncomfortable and ashamed of ourselves, and made up
our minds to get into the habit of doing it--that is to remember to
thank our Creator for every blessing we receive, including food--so that
it should become a matter-of-course.
"Now I must tell you about our water-supply, for the scarcity of water
struck us, very much, coming from London; for here every drop is
precious and is used for several things, as every drop has to be
bought, and money amongst our Jerusalem brethren is very scarce. In
fact, it often costs more than the wine of the country.
"A water-carrier brings us up every morning a skin bag of water (it is
made of skins sewn together, with a small outlet at the top); for it we
pay twopence, which is equal to more than a shilling in London. The
water that he brings he pours into a large earthern jar, which keeps it
cool, and to it is attached over the mouth of the jar a sieve which is
made of thick unbleached calico: if this were not done, hundreds of
little red worms would get into the jar, because the water in Palestine
is full of them. A law was made by the Jews that to drink water that had
not been passed through a sieve was a sin; and, as little children are
taught not to commit any sin, they do not drink any water that has not
been passed through a sieve; owing to this, many illnesses are prevented
among the Jews that are rampant among the Arabs and others.
"The Jews are also very careful about their water for ordinary use, yet
they really employ it more plentifully than we do in London when used in
connection with laws of health as laid down in the Shulchan Aruch (a
book of laws). For example, as soon as you step out of your bed, you
pour water over your hands, wash your face, gargle your throat, and rub
your teeth with a clean finger and rinse your mouth. No one would think
of moving out of the room without doing this. I know among the very
orthodox Jews in London they do the same thing, but the average Jew does
not do it, and here it is done by everyone--even a baby is taught to do
it the same way.
"Later in the day, or when the men go to Synagogue, and we have finished
with our household duties, we have the regular soap-and-water wash. Then
again, everytime we have a meal we have to wash our hands and repeat a
blessing; and, as this is done at various other times in a large family,
it takes a good deal of water, but as it is used for cleaning purposes
we need not stint ourselves. This law is especially valuable here, for
it is very hot, and, if we were not very clean and especially careful
about cleansing our eyes and mouths and throat, we should run the risk
of catching a great many diseases which are quite common in the Holy
Land at present.
"I remarked to some women that it surprised me how much water was used
for personal washing considering how scarce it was, but they told me
that they were as careful with every drop of water as they were with
food; none was wasted. Where the religious laws commanded the use of
water for personal washing and cleansing they did not grudge it; for
was not the body of man the temple where the Holy Spirit of God dwelt?
God's spirit is in each one of us, and, therefore, we must do our best
to keep our bodies clean for the presence of our Heavenly King, just as
carefully as we should keep a house or palace clean in which our earthly
king dwelt--more carefully indeed. What would courtiers around an
earthly king say if they saw us take our food in the presence of the
king, and praise him, with dirty hands?
"They save water in many ways that are rather amusing to a stranger
until he gets to know the reason for it. For instance, they do not, at
meals, use different plates on the Sabbath, when they have a few
courses: they eat the fish on one side of the plate, and then they wipe
it and turn the plate over, and have soup and meat on the deeper
side--thus saving the washing of many plates.
"In my next letter I will write you all my tribulations and struggles in
getting used to the new life when we moved into our own house. My great
comfort is that we have got to know an American family, and they have
been so kind to us and so cheery that it has made us feel a bit
brighter, and Mother says that in time we shall get used to our new
life. But I doubt it after living in London."
When Mr Jacob had finished reading the letter the young folks began
talking, the older ones listening and giving a smile now and then.