Serializing a new novel.
Chapter 10: Esther, Jerusalem July 2000 — Part
2
Esther is a recent Seminary graduate in Jerusalem who is
working at the switchboard of Ezrat Horeinu, a chesed
organization. Everyone is away for the day when a woman calls
and asks if she can bring over a group of tourists later that
day.
A group of thirty English-speaking women would be arriving
within two hours and there would be no one but herself to see
to them.
Esther went to the kitchen. She had just two hours to prepare
for the visit and she had not the slightest idea how she was
going to cope. The first thing that she saw as she entered
was a row of cakes laid out on the worktops. "Why so many
cakes?" she asked.
"Oh, I thought I would make a change from fruit," was the
cook's answer.
Slowly Esther's thoughts gathered momentum. "Do you have
fruit in stock? Can you serve that to the old people as you
usually do and let me have the cakes for some American
visitors coming this afternoon?"
The cook peered into the fridge, and then closed the door and
nodded her assent. Now the problem of what to serve was
solved. The next one was how to entertain the visitors, how
to tell them about the work done at the center. Esther took
the cakes to the visitor's room.
She walked down the corridor and up the stairs to the
switchboard. As she walked past the room where a group of
elderly ladies met each day to sit and embroider garments for
sale to tourist shops, she became aware of a soft humming
sound. Esther went into the room and stood listening. When
they became aware of her presence the women stopped and
looked up at her. They were elderly immigrants to Israel from
North Africa. "We were singing the songs we used to sing our
children to sleep, when they were small," one woman said.
"It brings back such memories," said another.
"When we came to Israel everything was, `Only Hebrew, only
speak Hebrew.' When we sing these songs we remember our
families and the land of our birth. It was a beautiful place.
How could we have realized that one day we would be forced to
leave?"
"These songs bring back happy memories for us," said
another.
Esther thought to herself. "I don't know how to work the
video machine. I can do nothing except offer cake and drink
and some leaflets. I am going to lose my job because of my
foolish invitation for this afternoon. Maybe if I could
provide some sort of entertainment it would help things
along."
She looked at the old ladies, their plain clothes, their
wrinkled faces, and thought, "What have I got to
lose?" and she said out loud, "Some very nice American
ladies are coming to visit us this afternoon. Would you stay
a little longer than usual and sing these songs to them?"
There was a, long silence, then a round of quiet laughter,
and then the surprising answer. "Yes, why not?"
At two o'clock sharp a large coach squeezed itself through
the narrow alley way and came to a stop in front of the
bright green door of Ezrat Horeinu. Thirty well-dressed
chattering American Jewish ladies entered the open doorway.
They were led into a room where cakes, cool drinks, and
popcorn had been set out.
Esther stood at the door and welcomed the women, pointing to
the refreshments. Then, once they seated themselves at the
rows of chairs, she said, "Instead of showing you a video of
the work we do here, I have asked some of our ladies to
entertain you with their songs."
Four women walked in. They carried themselves proudly, in
spite of their simple clothing and their tired bodies. The
stood demurely before the women and began to sing.
In one corner of the room an American lady began to sob
softly. As the singing came to an end Esther went straight to
her, wondering what she had done wrong to cause the woman
such distress.
"Why are you crying? What have I done wrong?" Esther
asked.
"Forgive me, but those songs . . . My mother used to sing
them to me. She came to America long ago, but she remembered
the Ladino songs from her childhood and sang them to me. She
used to talk to me, her oldest daughter, in Ladino, though
the younger children only heard her speak English. Oh! These
songs bring back such memories, such stories."
With that, the American woman got up and headed straight for
the singers. Esther watched her go and as she did she
realized that her planning had been faulty. Consuming the
refreshments had taken all of fifteen minutes. The songs had
taken another ten minutes. What was she to do with these
women now?
An imperious American voice rang through the room. "Ladies,
sit down. I want to tell you some interesting stories. Though
my Hebrew is only passable, my Ladino is fine. The singers
and I understand each other perfectly. Sit down and listen as
we are told some wonderful tales from long ago. I will act as
translator."
The afternoon ended with yet more songs. As the Americans
trooped back into their bus Esther handed Ezrat Horeinu
leaflets to the departing guests. As each woman took a
leaflet she made a remark.
"What a wonderful afternoon," said one.
"So different from all the other tours, we really got to know
the people here," said another.
"My dear, I can never thank you enough for what you did for
me today," said the woman who had commandeered the
proceedings.
The next day at work, Esther reported on the events of the
previous day. She had no option but to explain that the
mistake had occurred because she had forgotten what she had
been told, that all the senior staff would be out all that
day.
The reaction was a shrug and then, after some moments, "Well
I am sure you did your best. What happened to the phone calls
while you attended to the Americans?"
Now Esther feared for her job. However, she said boldly, "I
switched it over to the message option. When the visitors
left I called everyone who had called."
So, for the moment, the unexpected visit and her role in it
was brushed aside and Esther returned, chastened, to her
duties.
However the checks that slowly arrived during the following
month told their own story. The upshot of it all was that
Esther was given a new title, "Public Relations Officer," and
her own office, and someone else was hired to help on the
switchboard.
