Folktales of the Jews, Volume 1: Tales from the Sephardic Dispersion

6. A Story about My Great-Grandfather (IFA 8807)

6 A Story about My Great-Grandfather T O L D B Y Y I T Z H A K B I T O N T O TA M A R A L E X A N D E R This really happened to my great-grandfather, who lived in the Old City of Jerusalem, Rabbi Shalom Buh.but. People used to come to this Rabbi Shalom on the night of the Mimuna—that’s the night after Passover—to kiss his hand. He would bless them and give them two dates. People used to go from house to house, giving presents of dates, milk, and honey and lighting candles just like on the seventh night of Passover. He lived near the Holy Temple, next to the H.ammam al-Ayyin bathhouse .You had to climb up three flights to kiss his hand, and he gave you two dates. He never left his house. They made a synagogue where he lived. They called it the Pappo’s Synagogue and everyone came there. He never went into the city, but only from the house to the synagogue and from the synagogue back to the house. Wherever he drank water, other people tried to do the same. Once, several days before Passover, he had no matzah, no dates—in fact, he had nothing at all. Mother H. annah was embarrassed. “What will we do?” she asked him. “It will be Passover in another three or four days.” “Whatever the Holy One, Blessed Be He, has decreed, that is what will be.” Two more days passed. It was the night before Passover, when you search for the h.ametz. The next night would be Passover. She kashered* the pots and dishes, made all her preparations, and did whatever she could. Then he [Rabbi Shalom] wrote a note: “Master of the Universe, this year I have nothing with which to bless the people. Bless themYourself.” Just at that moment a gust of wind blew in and carried his note to the Western Wall. 42 *To make fit for kosher cooking. This is a true story; the shammash of the Western Wall also told it to us. The note blew down to the Western Wall, where a tourist from America who didn’t know Hebrew was praying from his prayer book. Suddenly this note fell into the open book. The tourist, who could not decipher these strange letters,* took the note and brought it to the shammash of the Western Wall, Raphael Meyuh.as. Meyuh.as read the note to the tourist [and added]: “This year the rabbi has nothing with which to bless the people and is appealing to God to help him. But you must know,” Meyuh.as told the tourist, “that this rabbi won’t accept gifts or bribes.” The tourist decided to buy food for him [Rabbi Shalom]. He came with a huge basket full of all sorts of items. He climbed up to the house; the shammash had shown him where it was. The tourist found Rabbi Shalom, bowed, kissed his hand, and put down the basket. (He had left the Arab porter outside, because Rabbi Shalom’s house was like a holy place.) “No, my dear sir,” Rabbi Shalom said to the tourist. “I won’t take it. Heaven forbid I should accept gifts from flesh and blood.” “You will take it.” The tourist showed him the letter. “Is this your writing ?” “Yes.” “The Holy One, Blessed Be He, blew this into the Book of Psalms that I was reading at the Western Wall, and H. akham Raphael Meyuh.as showed me the way to your house. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, sent this to me. Now you must take these things. They’re not from me—they’re from the Holy One, Blessed Be He.” Rabbi Shalom accepted the basket and blessed the tourist. * The tourist could read the printed Hebrew letters of the prayer book or the Book of Psalms but not the cursive script of the note. 6 / A Story about My Great-Grandfather  43  COMMENTARY FOR TALE 6 (IFA 8807) Told by Yitzhak Biton to Tamar Alexander in 1970, in Jerusalem. Cultural, Historical, and Literary Background This is a family tradition narrative. North African Jews celebrate the Mimuna on the eighth day (conclusion) of Passover. The festivity does not have a religious sanction, nor is there any mention of it in any...