Mary Yatziv
"Achva" (Brotherhood) group
the days of the Second Aliya
In the Achva group, they decided to celebrate Rosh Hashanah together. At noon the members started taking care of the holiday arrangements. They divided the work between them - they obtained pigeons for free, obtained wine, challah bread, candles. We, the girls, arranged the room (we were living in B's orchard back then). We arranged tables of anything we could find. We had plenty of chairs - there were plenty of oil crates. We covered the tables with white tablecloths, flowers, candles, and the smell of cooking pigeons filling the room. Everything was ready. Now we need to dress up as festive as possible.
The room is empty, awaiting the members to enter. First to come was Bergman, the "Zamadnik", the "Busiac" (from the sand workers), the barefoot of the barefooted - who used to wear his torn shirt as if he had been born with it. y he is dressed in a white shirt, a blue suit and a tie. He was so odd and strange, as if it were not him. Last to come was our own Stripeler, who is always barefoot, the man for whom shoes were nothing, and whose pants were always rolled up over the knees (shorts were not yet worn in these days). Today he showed up in a black garment and a white collar - as if he had just come from Vienna.
One after the other they entered looking at each other as if they were embarrassed. There was sadness in the room. The ate the festive meal, and hurried away each man and woman to their corner.
The rumor of the holiday in the orchard spread through the colony. We could hear the singing getting closer from afar and there comes a group of friends led by D. Bader. Our members started gathering again, but not wearing holiday clothes from the suitcases. The dancing started. This was not singing, but a cry. I lay on a pile of sacks in the narrow hallway, because a fever came on me; and there I see: Bader coming out of the room, standing in the corridor making strange movements with his hands and feet. I thought: The man has gone crazy. I asked in fear: "What is with you?" - and he answered: "How is Dray Mee Ann ..." ("I am twisting myself") and then he went back into the room with renewed powers singing and dancing and encouraging the guys.