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Jewish Care Charity Registration No.802559
Winter Issue 2012 No.26
B i g g e s t E v e r I s s u e
Editorial A much loved and admired lady passed away on 17th
November. Penelope had such a zest for life and Kadimah won’t be the same anymore without hearing her booming laugh around the place. All the members and staff extend their condolences to her family for their loss.
We’ll never forget you Penelope – G-d Bless.
.On the Grapevine Many thanks to Philip Cohen and Ruth Dines, who
sponsored our trip to Cambridge last September. We had a fabulous day out (see front cover) and your generosity is very much appreciated. Welcome to new
member Joe Morris and it’s lovely to have Annie, our very own Queen of Scrabble, back with us again. Ann Howard took the street picture on our trip to Hastings last summer and at first glance it looks like bunting for the Olympics, but take a second look…..it’s someone’s
laundry hanging out to dry!
We had a fascinating guided-tour of
Myddleton Hall and gardens in October, where Barbara took the photo of David, Meelia, Trisha and Jeremy admiring some huge locally produced pumpkins and squash; David looks mightily relieved that he doesn’t have to peel
that little lot at the Wednesday lunch-club!
A big thank you must go to all the staff and volunteers at the Martin B. Cohen Centre for Wellbeing, who made the World Mental Health Day such a wonderful event in October. It was Manager Sharon Aboudara’s last day there and I know she’ll be sorely missed by everyone at Martin B.: Good luck for the
future Sharon.
The views expressed in Shemesh are not necessarily those of Jewish Care or its
employees. No article or photo published in Shemesh can be reproduced in part or in
full, electronically or by any other means without prior permission of Jewish Care. ©
Jewish Care 2012.
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Dave Filabon Editor/Tea-boy Suzy Cohen Advertising/Sponsorship
Ann Howard Assistant Editor Miriam Marmostein Correspondent français
Nimrod Allon Consultant Deryck Stewart Television Archivist
Peter Fischman Photographer Ann Howard Cartoonist
Pauline Shadlofsky Typing Pool Ian Ephraim IT Support & Magazine Layout
Stephen Bennett Proof Reader David Cohen Quiz Compilation
Debra Zender Michelin * Chef Chiwyeung Cheung Production
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4 - Von Strudel
6 - Face to Face
8 - Artbox
9 - How’s Your History Quiz
10 - Fish
12 - The Long Road Home
14 - Combat Training
15 - Frustrations
17 - The Cellar
18 - Shabbat Across the Mersey
19 - Nicotine-ackety-noo!
20 - Yiddisher Gangsters
22 - A Supreme Genius
23 - The Lift
24 - Kosher Elvis!
26 - Like Crusoe
27 - Funnies
28 - La Maison du Diablo
30 - Cops, Crooks & Cowboys
34 - Postbag
35 The Rio Matinee
36 - The Lighter Side
Contents
16 - Monte Cassino
Contact us
Shemesh HQ - Kadimah Centre for Wellbeing
91-93 Stamford Hill: London: N16 5TP.
Tel: 020 8809 1875
Mon-Thurs-9-5: Friday’s 9-1
What features would you like to see in Shemesh?
We welcome your suggestions/comments: please
address your emails to ‘Letters to the Editor’
and send to [email protected]
Contributions
Wanted, your articles, poems, funnies and short
stories - please send your typewritten work to
above Email or by the internal mail system.
Advertising & Sponsorship
Shemesh is distributed over the whole of the UK
to charitable organizations such as Community
Care centres in Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and
as far afield as Jerusalem. If you would like to
place an advert or sponsor the magazine please
contact Suzy at [email protected]
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Winalot Walk
Dear Baroness, My dog is not very intelligent; he only understands two words - sit and profitability. It took me ages to teach him to sit, so for a long time, he was running a small business standing up. And he always misinterprets things I say like when I tell him to ‘HEEL’ and he goes down to the local hospital and does what he can. Any tips on how I can get him to obey my commands?
Yours Desperately
Sneers Morgan
Dear Mr. Morgan, I’m afraid I’ve no advice to give since my St. Bernard found religion. I’ve had a sheaf of complaints from my neighbours because he keeps barging into their homes saying ‘I need to talk to you about your dusty carpets’.
That’s all I need, a Jehoover’s Witness for a pet!
Yours Unhelpfully
Von Pedigree Chum
Shoreditched Dear Baroness, You know that warm tingly sensation you get when you’re in love? Well, those lead me to have two disastrous relationships with an electric fence and a cattle prod. How will I ever find my true soul-mate?
Yours Achingly Liz Tailored
Dear Liz, Didn’t you used to own a chain of men’s outfitters with your Welsh husband called Tailored by Burton? As for finding true love, don’t ask me, I’m finished with men; they’re not worth the time and effort. The male species are all radioactive and bad for your health; I don’t need a marriage guidance councillor. more a Marriage Geiger Counter. The final straw was when my soon to be ex-husband took me out to dinner last week and had the cheek to tell me that I smelt of washing powder, how very bio-degrading!
Yours Angrily Von Feminist
Tumbleweed Villas
Dear Baroness, I went to see my estate agent and told him my house is in a
decrepit state. ‘How about a lick of paint?’ he suggested. I’d rather have an ice-cream’, I replied. Then I told him the general decor was off-white. ‘How off-white?’, he asked and I said, ‘Very off-white, in fact it’s green!’
I enclose a photo of my home to give you an idea of what I’m up against. How will I ever get on the property ladder with such a dilapidated house?
Yours Worryingly
Warren Batty
Dear Warren, I really admire your sister’s acting ability, not Shirley MacLaine, but your other sister, Norah Batty from ‘Last of the Summer Wine’; what an actress and a stunner, to boot! To return to your query: the only way you’ll get on the property ladder is if you become a window cleaner. I sold a Belgravia residence for £6.5 million large ones recently. I’m so chuffed because I was only renting!
Yours Connivingly
Von Loaded
Parsons Groan
Dear Highness, I’m fascinated by the adventures of Noah in the Bible, but I can find no mention of how many bees he took on his voyage. Realising you are the font of all wisdom I’m sure you will be able to assist me.
Yours Expectantly
John Lenin
Dear John, Your surname sounds very familiar, are you by any chance the long-lost Russian Beatle? Sing-along now… ‘All we are saying is give Putin a chance!’ You ask how many bees he had on board. I suggest you check it out at the Ark -
hives. I too love the Noah legend. Ah, the memories keep flooding back!
Yours Cleverly Von Volga
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In the winter issue of Shemesh we’re interviewing
student volunteer, Aaron Rosenberg.
Can you tell our readers a little something about
yourself and your family? Well, I was born and raised in New Barnet and still live there with my family. I went to Wolfson Hillel Primary School, Hasmonean High School and then, for two years, went to Yeshiva in Israel, studying right next to the Western Wall, which was a fabulous feeling! I am now studying Psychology at Queen Mary University, in East
London, (pictured below) and about to enter my third and final year.
My family are a really friendly bunch. My Dad works in the world of energy and could save you money on your electricity bill! He also gets grants for charities. My Mum works for Middlesex University. I also have a brother and sister. My brother works for the Faith Forum for London, building bridges between the different faiths and my sister
lives in Israel with her husband and baby boy.
How did you come to be involved with Kadimah? Ah, now that’s a story. I found out about Jewish Care through a website which aims to set students up with work experience. After contacting Jewish Care and completing an application, I was then contacted by Debra Zender, the volunteer coordinator. She suggested I work for a nice and friendly service within Jewish Care. That service was Kadimah and the
rest is history!
What are your main interests? I am very interested in youth work and personal development, Jewish studies and of course, the mighty Arsenal. (Pictured right: Sol Campbell’s towering headed goal
in the 2006 Champions League final.)
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Do any of your family have a claim to fame? My Grandfather is one of the violists on the Beatles ‘Eleanor Rigby’.
What movie do you never tire of seeing? I’d have to name two: ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘The Green Mile’, films that will bring tears to the toughest
of men.
Any advice to future students who volunteer at Kadimah? Kadimah is a very friendly centre, welcoming from the start. Volunteering here will provide you with genuine exposure to the world of mental health and will reveal that it is not as intimidating as you might first think. The team here are great and the service users are fantastic too so, after working here for five
weeks, I recommend that you go for it!
And your hopes and aspirations? I reckon it’s best to take things one step at a time. First get a decent degree, then maybe make ‘Aliyah’ and become a teacher. Who knows though what the future may bring?
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By Jocelyn May
Self Portrait The Cage
Mother and Child Nightfall by the Lake
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1. In 1960 which country had the first ever woman prime minister?
(Clue: Famous for their tea.)
2. Who is the Roman god of fire?
3. Which 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner (pictured right) decided to send his wife to Oslo to accept the prize because he feared he would not be
readmitted to his homeland?
4. In 1962 Britain and France signed an agreement which led to co-operation in
building what feat of engineering?
5. All of the following belonged to which mythical hero? Ron, Goosewhite, Pridwen and Llamrei. Clue: his legendary court
was, supposedly in Cornwall.
6. In Greek mythology who fired the
arrow that struck Achilles in his heel?
7. As well as being the first woman mayor and magistrate in England, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first
woman to qualify in which profession?
8. From a list of historical Empires at their greatest extent, the British Empire
was by far the largest, covering an area of 33.7 million sq km back in 1923. What other historical empires feature in the top
five?
9. What were the names of Henry VIII’s three legitimate children?
10. Who has had the longest reign, Queen Victoria, George III or
Elizabeth II?
Answers: Page 35
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By Azer Zeligson, as remembered word for word by his
grandson Alan.
Before you read the poem, written by my grandfather, Azer, I would like
to tell you about his beginning, journey to South Africa and his life.
Azer was born, in a small shtettle called Dusiat in Lithuania, in 1901. Following his father Isaac and his father Maisha going back five generations; he joined the family fishing
business.
As his twenties approached, he decided like many young men of his age, to leave the shtettle and seek a new life in South Africa. (Pictured left: A family photo outside the Zeligson Tobacco Store, above which was the dressmakers and next door was the bakers and then the fish mongers; all owned by our family.)
A year later in 1922, he, his brother-in-law Hessle Silver and a cousin Bunny Chait embarked on the long journey.
To get to South Africa was no mean feat.
They travelled by train from Vilna in Lithuania, via Poland, (Pictured below, refugees at the Polish-German border, circa 1923).and then on to Germany and arriving in the port of Hamburg had to wait for a place on a ship going direct to South Africa.
Finally, three weeks later, they boarded the SS Ponerania, which sailed on a regular route between Hamburg and Cape Town.
Having a little money, they booked second rather than third class
tickets, because the girls in second class were decidedly better looking!
One moonlit night; Azer sat down at the back of
the ship and wrote the following poem.
“My Family come from a long line of Fishermen.
The first meal I remember as a child was eating my booba’s pickled herring. (FISH)
My father caught FISH and my zaida sold FISH.
At school, we would eat a meal of FISH.
And returning home what I get to eat? FISH
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My whole childhood, I grew up with FISH.
Before I left home I had a party and joked that I knew everything about fish. The head, tail, fins’ and entrails. And I made a vow that from the day I left my village, I would never again see, smell or feel a fish.
We board this ship. Us Jews don’t eat traif. Bacon and eggs, roast pork with apple sauce. So what can we eat?
For breakfast:Fish, salted
Lunch: Fish boiled
Dinner: Fish salted.’’
What is it? I know a Jew is different. But why did G-d in his wisdom give us a bl--dy fish.
Well, his grandson Alan became a chef and guess what? I LOVE FISH!
However, one black cloud on the horizon was the fact that not all who
made the arduous journey from Europe to Africa were allowed in.
On average three out of ten usually made it. The other seventy percent, not having family to meet them at the dock or being able to assure the authorities that they were decent hardworking individuals and, with no
one to vouch for them, they were not allowed even to disembark.
Many who jumped overboard drowned in the ice-cold Atlantic and, if they did survive and make it ashore, they would have to wait as stateless individuals until an amnesty was finally granted in 1936.
Those who accepted their fate had the following two choices. Return to Hamburg with the ship or disembark and stay with a Rabbi or Jewish shelter until a ticket could be bought to sail on a ship bound for South America or Australia.
Many of these Jews would try country after country. Sometimes arriving by ship in eighteen different ports and being rejected by each country.
There was one nation, however, that if one had tried and failed twelve times to gain entry in different countries then they would accept you and that nation was Brazil. Out of these refugees, many went on to do exceptionally well in business medicine law and politics. Out of the ten people in the photo on board ship, only three made it on entry to Cape Town and my grandfather, (pictured right) was one of the three fortunate ones. The rest went to Rio, Brazil a month later.
Alan Zeligson
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I know in my bones I've been here before
The ground feels the same though the land's been torn
I've a long way to go the stars tell me so
On this road that will take me home
They say there's a place where dreams have all gone
They never said where but I think I know
It’s miles through the night just over the dawn
On the road that will take me home
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And when I pass by don’t lead me astray
Don't try to stop me don't stand in my way
I'm bound for the hills where cool waters flow
On this road that will take me home.
Love waits for me round the bend, leads me endlessly on
Surely sorrows shall find their end and all our troubles will be gone
And I'll know what we’ve lost and all that we’ve won
When the road finally takes me home
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Are the Kadimah
members that
dangerous?
Only at the
Bar-B-Q when
we’ve run out
of Schnitzels!
15
Read any good
books lately? I’ve just finished
‘My Life’
by Bill Clinton
Very unnerving, because can
you tell me how he knows
anything about my life!?
How was it?
It seems to me it’s all down to my mum My initiative was stifled before it even begun
I was born with a disability, got ‘wrapped in cotton wool’
Then when the time came for me to fend for myself I looked like a fool
Expectations unfulfilled, for my mum and then for me
She had passed on her own lack of self-esteem to me, you see!
In many aspects of life I haven’t a clue
My indecision often makes me feel blue!
All around me people are saying
‘Stand up for yourself! Be assertive.’ While praying
I’ll practise my assertion on others, not them!
Why can’t they stop causing me a problem?
Melia Chester
AH
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In the middle of the cemetery there is a tall white
monument where Penelope once
visited to pay her respects.
There are fifteen tall granite
slabs located on both sides of
the monument. On the slabs are
the names of 855 Canadian
soldiers who died in Italy and
Sicily.
The armed forces were from all over the globe, Americans
and British, French, North African, Indians and Ghurkhas,
New Zealanders and Poles, so many allied troops were slain on
those hills, including Penelope’s Canadian father, whom she
was too young to remember, (because she was born in 1942
and he was killed in action two years later), yet she was so
proud of, lays at peace in a beautiful spot surrounded by his
comrades.
Another very moving statue is
situated at Ortona. It shows a
Canadian soldier keeping low,
but coming to the aid of a
stricken friend. The Italian
locals keep fresh flowers on the monument and many people
take the fallen soldier’s hand in theirs. The monument is
entitled, “The Price of Peace’.
David Filabon
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Leading to lower depths Stone steps, narrow in width And close to one another, So that movement is restricted With hardly a distance covered, Just a small journey, under the lintel At slow motion.
Going from one level to the next The stone walls on each side Pass with movement.
There’s a bulb set in the wall Providing dim light, Revealing cracks and cornices, As sharply turning You come to one bend And then another.
Then seemingly time never ends As you descend And you are moving downwards forever Until you reach the wine cellar.
Ralph Savoy
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A night when all members of the Liverpool Jewish Community came together to have a Shabbat meal in memory of teenager Tilly Rosenblatt,
who passed away from cancer last summer. It was her wish for a united
community.
Her parents, Cheryl and Paul Rosenblatt, together with Rabbi Mani and Yaffa Pollak, organised ‘Shabbat across the Mersey’ with a group of volunteers as well as Rabbi Wollenberg and his wife from Childwall Shul. It took place in Childwall Shul Hall, Allerton Shul Hall and at Stapely Residential Home with Merseyside Jewish Community Care’s Meals on Wheels for those who could not
get to the other venues.
It was a very moving, warm atmosphere with plenty of singing, good food and a
memorable experience in memory of Tilly.
Malcolm Freedman
CHARADES
Study the pictures below to solve. Clues: 6 words: fifth word - 2 syllables.
Solution: Page 35
19
Nicotine-ackety-noo Smoking's what you mustn't do Your lungs get betarred Your arteries hard
Your days will be needlessly few
Nicotine-ackety-nit It really is time that you quit You'll save lots of cash To continue is rash
Your last fag's the last one you lit!
Jay Marcham
What are we
supposed to
be looking at? I’ve no
idea
Works every time,
you just have to
look skywards and
they all follow suit!
20
The Yiddish Black Hand or the Jewish Black Hand Association was a criminal organization that operated on New York’s Lower East Side
during the early 20th century, led by Jacob “Johnny” Levinsky. Around 1906, Levinsky, with the quaintly named “Charley the Cripple” and Joseph Toplinsky began an extortion ring from their hangout at a Suffolk Street saloon, delivering anonymous letters signed as the “Yiddish Black Hand” threatening to steal or poison the horses of local
pushcart vendors and other businessmen.
Within three years, the ice cream manufacturers' association created a commercial fund from which they would annually pay off Levinsky and
his henchmen.
A significant Jewish underworld already existed in New York at the start of the 20th century; with
Jewish mobsters conversing in a jargon with Yiddish origins.
A pimp was known as a “simcha,” a detective as a “shamus” and a
loafer as a “trombenik.” Jewish-American organised crime arose among slum kids who in pre-puberty stole from pushcarts, who as
adolescents, extorted money from store owners, who as young adults
practiced schlamming (wielding an iron pipe wrapped in newspaper
against striking workers) - until as adults they joined well organized
gangs involved in a wide variety of criminal enterprises boosted by
Prohibition.
By the end of 1913, having gained a virtual monopoly in their criminal activities, the three had reorganised their criminal organisation with Levinsky concentrating on extortion in the ice cream trade, Vitoffsky focusing on job offers between rival dealers and manufacturers of seltzer and soda, while Toplinsky cornered the produce market, truckmen and livery stables. Although the three often worked independently from each other, they did work together when hired out for specific jobs such as
assault, theft, and murder for hire.
A member who had turned informant provided a description of their
rates:
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• Shooting, fatal - $500 • Shooting, not fatal - $100 • Poisoning a team of horses - $50 • Poisoning one horse - $35
•Stealing a horse and a rig - $25
Jewish gangsters played a definitive role in
organized crime in the 1920s and 30s. The
government's attempts to regulate morality
during this period, most notably Prohibition,
created an active underground trade in alcohol,
narcotics, prostitution and gambling. The
Depression made the economic promise of illegal
activity especially appealing. These circumstances provided motive and
opportunity that proved irresistible to some young Jewish men, typically
second generation Americans, who were struggling to find their way out of
the ghettoes of the Lower East Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Brownsville and Boyle
Heights.
Yiddisher gangsters also helped establish Israel after the war. One
famous example is a meeting between Bugsy Siegel and Reuven Dafne,
a Haganah emissary, in 1945. Dafne was seeking funds and guns to
help liberate Palestine from British rule. A mutual friend arranged for
the two men to meet.
“You mean to tell me Jews are fighting?” Siegel asked.
“You mean fighting as in killing?” Dafne answered in
the affirmative.
Siegel replied, “I’m with you.”
And then for weeks afterwards Dafne received suitcases filled with $5 and $10 bills - $50,000 in all - from
Siegel.
And so by the time the 1950s rolled around virtually all of the Jewish gangsters like Bugsy Siegel, Lepke, (Louis Buchalter) Dutch Shultz and Mickey Cohen had either been executed and incarcerated by the authorities or been killed by the Sicilian Mafia clans, who would now hold
sway over the crime industry for many decades to come.
Crime Reporter
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The man was totally deaf, yet managed to compose some of the world’s most beautiful and sublime music. How did he manage that? The answer to that question is that he was a composing genius and a rare kind at that.
Some of his pieces are so wonderfully powerful that one could be forgiven for speculating how a mere mortal could think up and compose such greatness.
To prove my point a census was once taken on the most popular piece of music played on ‘Desert Island Discs’ and the piece which beat all the others was Beethoven’s Choral Symphony No.9.
Some of his compositions tear at the heartstrings; it is so exquisite that it can move the listener to tears, which of course, is another mark of his greatness.
For me, the most exciting part of his works is the finale where the whole orchestra comes crashing down in a crescendo of glorious sound: ah, what supreme genius! You should try listening to some of his music; I guarantee you will find it truly exhilarating.
David J. Cohen
23
For those who cannot get up the stairs
Jewish Cares
For them a lift they’ve got
And I for one appreciate it a lot
But sadly some days it’s working
And some days not
It causes confusion, worries and upset
Constant questions
Is the lift working?
Not yet, not yet.
Pauline Shadlofsky
Don’t look so
nervous Mr. Bond,
it’s only a
winter flu jab.
The fiend; now I
know Goldfinger’s
got the needle
with me!
24
YOU SAW ME CRYING IN GRODZINSKI’S
COS THE BAGELS WERE TOO OLD
SO I ASKED THE LOVELY POLISH GIRL
COULD I HAVE A CHEESE ROLL!
You can do anything,
but lay off my
BLUE SUEDE SHULS!
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Oh, I wish I was
In the land of Lokshen,
Old time fressen
Not forgotten,
Look away, look oy-vey,
Look away, Dixie Latkes!
I am alone physically
Lonely internally, wanting to
communicate
Lacking the self-confidence to light
a beacon of distress
Everyday brings an endless stream
of solitary meals
My radio brings sound to me
Like me, how many people are there who want to talk in this neon city?
The clock ticks on impassively
Could I be different
Going out to meet people
My lack of self-confidence stops me
Is this an excuse for not trying?
Must I remain a castaway?
Do I have an affinity with Robinson Crusoe?
Unlike Crusoe my desert island is behind my front door.
THE LONER
26
27
Someone complimented me on
my driving today. They left
10 notes on the windscreen
saying ‘Parking Fine’.
What a nice touch!
ARMEGEDDON BUTTER
Best before end...
You’re looking very
relaxed Mr. Hendrix
Right on, foxy lady.
I’m always chilled out
when I’m reading my
favourite magazine.
It’s real cool sister!
SHEMESH 27…..OUT THIS MARCH
I was born in a little town in the French Alps. It was very rural; we
went to the farm every morning to watch the milking and to bring home fresh milk for the family. In the summer, we used an old pram to cart it home. In the winter, the milk was carried on a sledge. For some years, I went with my older sister Rachel and our two friends Zilpo and Guitel.
It was a regular expedition. We got up very early. It was still dark outside. The pram made a lot a noise, up and down the steep hill, but no one ever told us off. The farmer was quiet and taciturn, his wife very strict, sometimes in a good mood and sometimes angry and tense, especially if we came late on Sundays, when she went to church or on Wednesdays, which were market days. As for the farmer’s son, we didn’t like him at all. They had a dog called Sultan with whom I hate a love/hate relationship!
I have many other memories of when I was a child. We lived in the large semi-wild grounds of the Yeshiva (College) for Jewish Boys. We were very lucky. It was like constantly being able to explore a forest. There were so many places to play and hide in.
Aix-Les-Bains is wedged between Italy and Switzerland. The Jewish community is mainly composed of 100 orthodox families. There are also some shopkeepers and retired people who are more secular. Two colleges have been established there, the famous Yeshiva where young men learn Torah and also do their general studies, ending with the “Bacalaureat”, the equivalent of A-level.
This Yeshiva was the first of the Colleges. It was established in South-East France after World War 2 (pictured right).
The Yeshiva was dubbed “La Maison du Diable” (The Devil’s House) by the local non-Jewish population because it suddenly could be clearly seen when some of the trees were cut down and the previously well-hidden mansion seemed to have miraculously sprouted up inside the dense forest by the Devil’s hand! It actually dates from Queen Victoria’s time when her servants holidayed there.
The other college, a seminary, Beis Yaakov, caters to the girls. Both schools are
perched on opposite hills. My mother has been teaching in the Seminary for many years. She is also the Headmistress and Founder of the Jewish School. My father used to teach in the Sem. But for the last 3 decades, he gave lessons of Talmud in the Yeshiva. He stopped 2 years ago but is still regularly seeing people to whom he gives advice to families on how to get on with their spouses and to bring up their offspring.
There are many children in Aix now, but when I was a kid, the orthodox community was composed of fifteen families. Throughout my school years, I was usually the only one in my class and had to double up with the next class, whose teacher would help me with my correspondence lessons and homework. Most of the children learnt by correspondence at the time.
Local housewives and Seminary girls helped us in our work. From the age of 12 to 16 years, I learnt completely alone. I received my lessons in the post, studied the corresponding parts in my text books and
then sent my homework to the Correspondence school and they sent it back to me corrected. I was a keen student and worked very hard, even though I was under no supervision. At the same time, I helped a lot at home, especially with my younger siblings, as my mother worked all day.
My best friend Guitel was one-and-half years older than me; Shlomo was my age and Mordecai, Guitel’s brother, a year younger. My parents told us every night a chapter of a book and the next day, I related it to my friends while we munched on apples. The driver, Mr Berdah, would gently poke fun at my less-than-perfect French and untried style of story-telling. The four of us went to Mme Djian (G-d bless her soul) for French and Maths and to Angela Crossley (at the Sem) for English. I don’t remember who else taught us, except for the sewing which Myriam-Claire helped me with. The morning was devoted to the Hebrew subjects.
For this, boys and girls were separated. The boys went to the “Rebbe”, traditional boys’ teacher while Guitel and I were taught by yet another housewife, Mme Wreschner who familiarized us with the Chumash (Bible) and the commentary of Rashi. She also taught us the meaning of prayers - “Tefilla”. I remember the fun we had with her baby Yocheved, who spent most of our lessons under the table. The latter eventually married my youngest brother, Yossef Yitzchak!
Myriam Marmorstein
One of my favourite actors of yesteryear was Gene Barry, a big name in the 50s and 60s who starred in the classic sci-fi
movie ‘The War of the Worlds’ and
‘Burke’s Law’ on television.
There were many episodes of Burke’s Law, a whopping 81 of them from 1963-66; sad to say I missed quite a few of them. Gene was also in the pilot episode of ‘Columbo’
entitled ‘Prescription Murder’ (1967) as a Dr. Ray Flemming, (pictured right). For collectors, this must be well and truly up their street. Bert Freed played the original Columbo in a live 1960 episode on the ‘Chevy Mystery
Theatre’. Seven years later Peter Falk took up the cudgels of the bumbling detective. Bert Freed was such a versatile character
actor, who played in many TV series, for example: ‘Gunsmoke’, which was originally called Gunlaw, ‘Get Smart’, ‘Bonanza’, ‘The Lucy Show’, ‘Perry
Mason’ and ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’.
In ‘Gunsmoke’, James Arness played the
part of Marshall Matt Dillon and his Deputy
was Chester. who had a bad leg, played by
the late Dennis Weaver, who went on to have
his own popular cop series, ‘McCloud’. This
is really going back a bit, for in fact, ‘Gunsmoke’ is the longest continuous running US TV series ever, which ran for twenty
consecutive years from 1955-75.
Peter Falk was originally Detective Columbo, after a few episodes he was promoted to Lieutenant Columbo. Also, he starred in other films too, one in particular worth watching was,
‘The Californian Dolls’. The plot was that he was a manager of a tag team duo in a wrestling match and they were going all out to win a title or a cup of some sort. Peter Falk died in 2011 at the ripe old age of 83. Lots of ‘Columbo’ films are still being shown regularly on ITV,
because they are still very popular.
‘Burke’s Law’, for some misguided reason, in my opinion, is never repeated anymore on TV, but they always show old episodes of ‘Ironside’, ‘Perry Mason’ and the excruciating ‘Murder She Wrote’. (Pass me a machine gun, I’ll finish off
Jessica Fletcher myself!)
I wonder who makes the decision on ITV3 as to what cop series they’ll repeat over the years? I wish I was the programme controller at ITV as I would then dedicate a whole weekend to showing ‘Burke’s
Law’.
Deryck ‘TV Files’ Stewart
32
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Bethnal Green
E2
Dear Sir, I really enjoyed the ‘Escape from the Tower’ story in the summer Shemesh. Did you know the infamous Kray twins were once locked up there when they were doing their national service? While absent without leave, the twins assaulted a police officer who had
spotted them and was trying to arrest them. They were initially held at the Tower of London and were among the very last prisoners ever kept there, before being sent to Shepton Mallet Military Prison in Somerset and jailed for a
month awaiting court martial.
Their behaviour at Shepton was so bad that in the end they were given dishonourable discharges from the service. They threw tantrums, upended their latrine bucket over a
sergeant, similarly dumped a dixie (a large camp kettle) full of hot tea on a guard, handcuffed another guard to the prison bars with a pair of stolen cuffs, and burned their bedding. Eventually they were discharged, but not before escaping from the guardhouse and
being recaptured by the army one last time.
The escape was executed when they were moved from a one man cell to a communal cell and they assaulted their guard with a china vase. Still, once recaptured and while awaiting transfer to civilian authority for crimes committed during their most recent period at large, they spent their last night in the nick drinking cider, eating crisps, and smoking cigarillos
courtesy of the young national servicemen who were acting as their guards!
Best Wishes
Pete Silverman
Dear Pete,
I read that the twins were only 5ft 7’ tall, so that old expression ‘good things come in small packages’ obviously doesn’t always apply!
Ed
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Quiz Answers 1. (Ceylon) Sri Lanka (Sirimavo Bandaranaike)
2. Vulcan
3. Lech Walesa
4. Concorde
5. King Arthur: Ron was his lance, Goosewhite was his helmet, Pridwen was his shield and Llamrei was his horse
6. Paris
7. In medicine: she became a physician and surgeon
8. The top five empires at their greatest extent were: the British Empire - 33.7 million sq km (1923) the Mongol Empire - 24 million sq km (1270 or 1309) the Russian Empire - 23.7 million sq km (1866) the Spanish Empire - 20 million sq km (c 1740-1790) the Qing Empire (China) - 14.7 million sq km (1790)
9. Mary, Elizabeth and Edward
10. Victoria ruled for 63 years (1837-1901); George III (1760-1820) and Queen Elizabeth II (1952- ) are currently level with 60 years on the throne
Charades Solution Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
New on Broadway
Brings South America to Life!!!!
Ryvita Peron sings
‘Don’t Cry For Me Ovaltina’ ~
Weep when Ryvita leaves Che Guava for Juan Peron ~
Discover the previously unknown Liaison with the oily Fidel Castrol ~
Be thrilled by the colourful Argentine Tango!!!! &
