My grandfather Misha Nazarov was a Russian peasant.
His nickname was Papa Bell.
His bells famous for their majestic sound
tolled in churches all over Russia.
But his dream was to hear his bell toll in Jerusalem.
For 20 years he prepared his journey.
When he was ready, the entire village joined him.
The horses did not survive the desert heat.
So the pilgrims harnessed themselves to the wagon.
Jerusalem!
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
And then Grandfather developed symptoms of Jerusalem fever,
a mysterious illness
that prevents you from leaving Jerusalem.
He was unable to walk.
So his sons carried him on a stretcher.
My legs.
It hurts...
But the greater the distance from Jerusalem,
the greater the pain in his legs.
When the pain became unbearable,
he saw the angel.
Nobody knows what the angel actually told him,
because only Grandfather could see and hear him.
That's Jerusalem fever...
Mazel tov.
You're Jew now and your name is Michael.
Michael?
You know what your name signifies in Hebrew?
Who is Godlike.
Mi-cha-el. Michael.
Michael...
Michael.
He even smiles like a 'Zhid'.
Michael.
Everything in the world is the result
of a broken chain of the cause and effect.
Sometimes a seagull's cry near Cape Cod
can sink a ship in the English Channel.
And sometimes a Russian bell in Jerusalem
results in the birth of Jewish twins.
Hello.
- What is your name? - Jessica.
Jessica?
- Thank you, Jessica. - Thank you.
- Stephanie. - Stephanie?...
Yeah.
- Loraine. - Loraine?
Yes.
- I hope you enjoyed it. - Thank you,
thanks for writing it. My husband bakes.
- Hi. - Hello.
- My name is Angie. - Angie.
Hi. I have a treat for you.
- How was it? - Not exceptional.
I used your recipe.
You shouldn't trust everything in the books.
- What is your name? - Do you bake?
No. My father was the baker.
So was my brother. I just write.
Everybody calls me a writer.
But a writer writes about people.
And all I write about is bread.
Fortunately, people like bread.
Hello?
Who is this?
Hello.
Is this a joke?
No.
Who is this?
I need you. Please. Come.
Leah, is that you?
Hello?
- Who is this? - Jacob, it's me.
What do you want?
I am...
Is everything okay at home?
Home? This is not your home.
Jacob, please. Please.
How is Abraham? Is he okay?
He's dying. Not fast enough, though.
Gonna put him in a nursing home.
Can't keep doing this on my own.
You need any help? Money?
From you? (laughs)
First time in Israel?
Excuse me?
It's your first time in Israel?
Yes. Yes.
My father never lifted anything heavier than his baker's peel.
So my mother harnessed herself to the wagon.
Like father, like daughter.
Grandfather Michael built us a bakery in a new village
to convince father to live in his beloved Jerusalem.
We've missed you so much!
You little handsome Jews!
What would you say, Evra?
Shh, shh, shh.
Shh!
Not bad, not bad.
You feel this sour smell?
It's the dough starting to rise.
Nothing can stop it now.
Now we must hurry.
Let's say the toast...
A toast! Aristophanes said:
"Don't feed with words instead of bread."
Come on, come on!
Just recently we gathered from all over the world,
and came to this land,
and here we are - we already have a bakery!
Best of luck! Long live the Levi family!
Especially Sara! The beautiful Sara!
Leheim, Sara!
Stop, Stop! Sara, Sara, stop please.
Stop it. What is this song, this goy song?
Let's sing something ours, some Jews' songs! Hmm?
Everybody!
That was the first time I heard Father call Mother a goy.
At that time I didn't understand what it meant.
Goy is different. Not Jewish.
Slowly...
Slowly... Slowly...
I stop...
Open the bathroom door...
Take my pants down...
Take it out...
Oh...
My hand!
Close the door! Don't let the heat out.
Hey...
I told you not to come.
Wasn't I clear enough on the phone?
Well, I did anyway.
Dad...
Go on with your hugging, I don't want to interrupt.
Gonna give me a heart attack, this one.
Not a moment of peace with this goddamned camera.
Hey there, uncle.
- Hey there, niece. - Nice to meet you.
You, too.
You know, Dad always said I look like you.
Guess it was his way of offending me.
Satanica?
A step...
I stop...
...to the bathroom door.
Careful, Dad. It hasn't dried yet.
Who are you?
It's a dream...
I'm wrong...
It's only a dream...
I'm wrong...
It's just a dream...
Slowly...
Just follow the white line...
Now be careful when you dreaming that.
You might start flying.
Jacob!
Idiots.
Dad...
I'm not hungry.
Okay. We understand you have a horrible headache,
so can you please stop it. Thank you.
Hope you are hungry.
I don't know what to do with this postema.
All day long she sneaks behind people,
surprises them.
They say it's some kind of exhibition, photography and all.
I've a name for it.
Shot in the back.
- Funny, no? - Yeah, well...
She's an artist, you know.
Yeah, she is an artist. Like you?
Doesn't like the work. Likes the easy life.
- Like the eggs? - Mm-hmm.
Enjoying them like three little piggies!
- That's so funny. - Help me.
Okay...
Can we have one breakfast
without this thing on your head?
Ah, Dad?
You can eat over there.
You know what? From now on you're his problem.
Meet your father. Dad, this is your son,
he's gonna take care of you from now on.
I'm done. Doctor's appointment is today.
- What the boy... - Dad...
What have I done?
I brought some present for you, too.
Sealskin.
- Really? - Yeah.
I plunged the harpoon himself.
I hope the seal is not cold.
Oh, son...
So it wasn't a dream. You are really here.
So. So where's Leah?
Ahh...
Slowly I walk in my new sealskin shoes.
You know, that sound makes me wanna swim.
Like a seal.
Where's Leah?
Resting.
I have something for her, too.
- What's that? - A present for Leah.
- I'll take it. - I'll give it to her later.
It's okay. I'm not gonna open it.
I know. I just want to give it to her myself.
Abraham. Put the thread on your firstborn.
- Where is the firstborn? - Him.
No. This was the firstborn.
Don't tell me. He was the first one.
- No, this one is... - The firstborn.
- No, I was there. - I was there, too.
Silence!
This... This little Jew will be the firstborn.
Put the thread with his name.
That was me.
That was how our grandfather Michael chose me
as the firstborn.
At the beginning the world was beautiful and gentle.
The explanation was simple.
We were blind as bats.
Eight?
Six. Nine, three, four, six! Mommy, I can see!
Yes.
Mrs Levi, your boys are twins indeed.
They need identical lenses.
Can I keep them just a bit longer?
Thank you. Make them good glasses, please.
Abraham. What is that?
They forgot the second pair.
I know. They didn't forget anything.
- I ordered one pair. - Why?
Why? Too expensive. They can share.
- What do you see? - You wouldn't believe
what Mrs Frenkel wears today!
- A pink dress? - Worse.
A red blouse and a yellow skirt.
She looks like a parrot.
What can you see now?
I think it's a new girl from the house down the hill.
She's so beautiful! Like a fairytale!
Her eyes - I've never seen eyes like this.
What her lips look like?
- Give me the glasses. - You know it's my day.
I'll give you anything you want.
- Anything? - Yes.
- I want to be the firstborn. - What? Are you crazy?
Is that yes or no? Do you want to see her?
Yes, yes. Give me the glasses.
Take off the thread.
Now you must call always me your eldest brother, got it?
- Nice, I got it. It's a deal. - Deal.
You looked at her, that's enough.
Just a little more.
No. Give them back.
That was the last time we shared glasses.
From then one each one has his own pair.
We stopped walking hand in hand.
And started living separate lives.
First, this is...
...flash in my leg right there.
Seems like nothing. Like flesh of a small lamp.
But I know what this muck is all about,
this slow creeping muck.
How exactly does your pain creep up, Mr. Levi?
It creeps up slowly. Slowly. Very slowly up the thigh.
Then tiny steps, baby steps...
It reaches my insides and then expands.
As if I'm the one inside it.
And then right after that it's this...
Like a... disgraceful feeling in my whole body.
And inside the chest...
Toi...
Like a... rotten lemon.
Like a rotten lemon? That's very interesting.
- Can you understand, Doctor? - Sure. Like a rotten lemon.
You are an excellent doctor. You really understand me.
Thank you. Mr. Levi, pain is relative.
Each one feels it differently.
You know... Some women are... Some women...
...scream during childbirth, others moan...
I used to know one that screamed during conception.
Shut up!
Forgive my son, Doctor. He thinks he is funny.
Move away, move away!
Stay out of this. Give me the camera.
What's so funny?
What's so funny to you?
I mean taking naked photos of your father -
that's funny to you?
Give me the camera. Please, give me...
Dad, I'm sorry.
This is confiscated.
No, I'm sorry, I won't do it again.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I swear.
Next time I'll smash it. Go to your room.
Dad, you gonna thank me for those pictures one day.
Yes, yes, go to your room.
Did you see that?
- Satanica. - Papa, Jacob, give her a break.
She should've been your daughter.
I'll call it "my father and his long-lost twin".
What do you think?
I think you're a little talented squerell,
and I'm an old blind mole.
Yes, I found this full film with some interesting stuff.
Look how happy we look here.
Benjamin was so handsome.
All the girls were crazy in love with him.
I was a bit jealous.
It's his last photo.
He got killed three days after we took it.
- Can I have it? - Maybe, if you behave.
Do you see this empty space?
That's your place.
Leah...
Leah, you locked the door again.
Leah. You open the door please.
Mama Leah... Mama Leah, open the door.
Come on.
What?
Show is over.
Go.
Two years passed.
By then we knew that the girl with the bicycle
was called Leah.
But we were still too shy to approach her.
For you.
Until one day Jacob decided: the time has come.
Yes? What are we celebrating today?
- It's not Pesakh. - Did you forget?
It's their birthday, Abraham. Our sons are men.
They have to look like men.
Mazel tov.
Wait! Come on!
- Do you know where she lives? - Of course. Come on!
- What? - I need to see Leah.
Leah. You've got company.
- What's that? - It's a gift.
- A gift from whom? - From me to you.
Can I eat it? Is it good?
It's pasharikos. My family has been doing it for 20 years.
And you?
- Me? - Mm-hmm.
Did you bring something as well?
What? No, I didn't.
I'm his brother.
There are three different quotations
about Rabelais' last words.
The first is: "Might be I am on the path of greatness?"
The second is a whisper.
"I grease the boots for my last journey".
But the third is the best.
"Draw the curtains. The comedy is over!"
Leah!
I didn't see you coming. Hi.
Hi.
I thought you're in the bakery with your brother.
Only during the night.
- What are you reading? - Franz Kafka.
Have you read it?
Yes.
He read all the books in the library.
- He can recommend you one. - Can you?
Yes. Yes!
I walked her home. We joked and laughed.
I was happy.
Although I knew I betrayed my brother.
From that day on, happiness and treachery were one.
Fingers don't hurt yet?
You see I'm working here?
Yes, sure of course.
Making up stories about bread for housewives?
It's impressive.
So, you've read my books?
No, I don't read.
Don't have the time or patience.
So, going to the cemetery visit Mama and Benjamin.
Will you join?
- I have some stuff to do. - Of course, of course.
Work.
Stories are more important than this.
Sorry for interrupting.
I'll call it 'My uncle spying on my crazy mother'.
How long has she been in this room?
Since Benjamin died. It used to be his room.
She came in, she hasn't come out since.
She doesn't let anyone in?
Maybe she'll let you in?
You used to be friends, weren't you?
Yes, we were.
She called me. Leah. She called me.
Oh, really? What did she say?
Where did you get so many puzzles?
Father sends them to me.
Each time - from a different country. Look.
An idiot made this.
All the colors are particular the same.
- Maybe he was color blind? - Maybe.
Mom doesn't think I'll assemble this one.
But I will.
- I can do it for you. - No, you can't.
- What? - It's hard. You can't.
- Why not? Of course I can. - No, you can't.
- I can. - No.
- Yes. - No.
Okay.
Let's pretend that I'm a bear,
and you're a Saami girl.
What?
Ahh!
- Hello, Saami girl. - Hello, bear...
No, no.
I need your help. I'm writing a letter to Leah.
I really want to impress her
with some fancy saying about love, you know.
Something from one of those books.
Well...
- I don't know. I gotta think. - Come on.
You know the entire volumes by heart. Give me something.
Your body is like a gentle poet's song.
Here you swim in the sea of air and light.
...Air and light.
This is good.
I never told him about the dead pasharikos
that he kept bringing Leah.
My brother continued to write his love letters every day.
Filling them with my quotes.
I will take the 6-4 now, put it on the right.
No, I better put 2-2 on the left.
No one is going to expect it.
Dad, I can hear you.
So what?
The point of the game is for me not to know
which stones you have.
Ahh, ahh.
I'll put down 1-5,
but then there may be a block with 1-2...
No, this is very risky...
Come on, just a little...
Your brother is washing his wife.
Caught her unguarded and washes her now.
Get out.
- She needs to see a doctor. - What?
She needs to be examined by doctor.
She needs to be examined by doctor, that's what you think.
Oh, that's nice. Just a second.
Listen up, writer.
You don't know shit about our life. Okay?
You have no goddamned idea
what our lives have been in the last 30 years.
So, get out of my dead son's room
and mind your own fucking business.
- You got it? - I got it.
Relax, Dad, relax.
Sit down.
Working hard, eh?
Working hard in America?
You know how he died?
- Yes, you... - No, no you don't know a shit!
An Israeli bullet...
He was shot by an Israeli bullet.
It was a night-time operation...
Idiot officer mixed up the routes, and that idiot
panicked and started shooting
without asking him for a password.
That's how he died.
They tried to hide it from me.
But I investigated.
And now I know everything.
How the bullet entered his jaw from the left...
Came out just below the temple.
How he...
collapsed...
How he screamed...
And screamed and screamed...
...until he ran out of blood...
Yeah...
First of all you need to wash this hair of yours.
What are you, Ethiopian king? You are not Ethiopian king.
You are a young Jewish man.
Chezz nous à Paris men have hairs
that is smooth and soft like fingers of a piano player.
Red. Like rouge.
All bakers have red eyes. We work the night shifts.
No. No, my darling.
This one, it's a sign of le grand amour!
You don't blink, right?
Mn-Mn.
You are afraid that she will walk right past you
when you blink and you will miss her?
I know. I know.
I'm ready, I'm ready. Ah! Okay!
- What are you doing here? - We need your help.
- What? - Unloading the truck.
- See you tomorrow? - See you tomorrow.
Turn around.
He's joining forces with her.
And the two of us are against them. Hmm?
I'm not against anyone, Dad.
Turn.
You think the world is made of stories from Brinker's books?
We need to decide who gets the bakery.
It's your bakery.
Do you wanna get what's rightfully yours?
Or you wanna stay hungry like that cat
which lives in the widow's trash can?
Indeed, Mother was on Jacob's side.
She knew so well the pain of unrequited love.
Am I bothering you?
Actually, yes.
Can you please go and sleep over there.
She understood it was impossible to revive something
that had died. But couldn't help herself.
Desperate, she would do anything
to get Father's attention.
Chez nous à Paris with a formidable
like that, with that majestic face of yours,
that hair and shoulders, you could be beauty.
- You've been in Paris? - No.
No? A woman like you must go there.
Chez nous à Paris love is the only reason to live.
People kiss in the streets.
Say "Bonjour".
Bonjour...
You sure you're in the right place?
This is a bakery here, not a goy bordello.
Fully dressed-up for, bags of flour?
For you, idiot.
Che nous a Paris your wife will be a queen.
And you can't even understand that, you moron.
Che nous for what?
When have you ever been to Paris?
Pretending that she knows French.
Pardon?
Pardon, baguette, macaron, garcon!
How dare you? You, pig!
Don't cry, my beauty. You're queen.
You know, your bread is salted with your wife's tears.
Merci. Bye-bye. Arevoir!
- Dad. - What?
What the hell is this? You gonna go to a brothel?
Actually it's the opening of my exhibition. About you.
You coming?
I will not.
Don't you make a fool out of me. Understand?
You will not make a fool out of me...
You aren't going anywhere.
- You don't understand anything. - No, I don't.
I don't! I'm sorry, I'm not an artist!
I'm just a primitive baker!
You know, ehh!
My brain was burnt the oven, I don't understand anything!
Why should I get it?
You aren't going anywhere.
Hey.
Romi!
Hey. You aren't gonna go with her, right?
She asked me to.
Okay. Now I'm asking you. Don't go.
- Jacob... - What?
- It's an important day for her. - Important?
My own daughter humiliates me, that's important.
She hates me.
Can't you see that she does everything to spite me?
All that...
Did you see this?
She was wearing Mama's favorite dress.
With this prostitute's wig.
And you gonna cooperate with this, come on.
Actually I like the dress.
And the wig.
- Look... - You gonna hit me?
- Hey... - Congrats!
- This looks amazing. - Thank you for coming.
Welcome. Who's that?
- That's my uncle. - You've a cute uncle.
Thank you. You can ask him out maybe.
Not tonight, tonight he's busy.
Okay. Why that horrible dress?
What? Shut up.
Tell me the truth.
Is this wig horrible?
Yes, it is.
- Now... Is it better? - Much better.
Let's pretend
that you are a fresh lettuce and I am a rabbit.
Okay, okay, let's pretend that you're drunk,
and I'm deaf. Come on, I think it's time to go home.
I'm going to the beach.
I don't think it's a good idea.
Come on, don't be heavy.
Romi...
Ahh!
Come on!.. The water is great!
You coward...
I'm fucking freezing...
Okay... You okay.
Okay, I think it's time to go home now.
- I'm freezing, can't you see? - Come on.
I think that's enough.
Okay, Romi. Enough.
- Come on. Get me warm. - No. Okay, that's enough,
that's enough. Sorry.
I'm sorry!
I'm sorry I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to...
- You still love her... - Who?
Leah.
- You still love her? - What are you talking about?
I'm the one who called you.
I'm the one who called you in America, it was me.
- What? - "Please, come, I need you."
That was me.
Why did you do that? Why?
Because I was lonely.
Because I have no one to talk to.
You know, I was afraid I'm gonna die
like everyone in this fucking family.
They are either dead or they are dying.
And I wanted you to save me!
I wanted you to save me!
'cause I thought you were different,
but you are not different, you are shit!
You stupid girl, you're just a stupid little...
I'm sorry!
I'm sorry, okay?
I love you...
Open my blouse.
Write something on my back.
- What are you writing? - Guess.
You really think I'm beautiful?
Yes.
But really beautiful?
Most beautiful girl I know.
Who do you know?
How about the play?...
Let's pretend that I'm lost in the woods,
and you're showing me where the berries grow
under the snow...
I gotta go to the bakery.
Why?
Dad is gonna be mad.
A hope for pleasure is almost as enjoyable
as the pleasure itself.
Close it.
Shakespeare.
I know.
Go.
Good evening.
Mother asked if we could use your oven.
We have guests coming tomorrow
and there's not enough space in ours.
There is no space in our oven for other people's dough.
But it's just strudels, and Mom would really appreciate it.
Tell your mother I'm sorry.
Hey.
What do you think you're doing?
Calm down.
- Take it out immediately. - No.
Come back for your strudels in half an hour.
Thank you, Mister Levi.
Thank you, Jacob.
Thank you.
My hand!
- Oh, my son! - Oh, my finger!
No use.
That's done. You aren't a baker anymore.
We'll see.
Your dough will resemble
that stuff an old whore has between her legs.
We'll see.
I will not allow a cripple into my bakery.
It's not just yours.
So, I'll tell you one story.
No one wants to hear your palabras right now.
I do wanna hear them.
Her palabras.
Your grandfather's grandfather,
the father of your father of your father's father,
bless his memory, Reuben Yakir Pressijaduccio Levi
had seven goose feathers.
One feather for? Poetry.
Second feather for remarks.
Third feather for...
...tickling Sultan's ass.
Scoundrel. How dare you talk to your father like that!
Tell me then.
How did it end with you and your father
being simple workers in this bakery.
My father, peace be upon him,
studied Tora, and we, the children,
didn't have enough food.
Your father didn't study Tora.
He starved to death. And all he left you was debt.
Why don't you ask her, your mommy?
About her family?
How her goy father and her goy brothers
would get so wasted
they'd go out to the streets armed with sticks.
Screaming 'Kill the Jews!'
Not goyim. Not goyim.
If you are so noble, then
why did you marry her, huh?
I was just passing by and saw her there.
Lost. Alone.
I did her a favor.
That is not true. You lie.
You said you love me.
Come. Listen:
'Amor es una palabra'. Love is just a word.
Children I gave you.
Bags with flour I carried,
I pressed the dough for you
with these hands my whole life.
You pressed the dough for me. Okay, let's stop working
so your precious goy mother could keep telling us
the goy stories!
You will stop calling her goy.
If she's a goy, then we are goyim.
Hey, I'm sick of it.
Get it? Sick of it.
- We are all sick of you. - Jacob, please, stop.
A mad dog,
that's who you are.
My head...
Please, let's go, please... Let's go...
Tonight we bake alone.
Me and you.
What happened?
I saw my future.
I saw my future with Jacob...
We can go far away from this place.
If you want.
It's too late.
It's just too late.
Hi.
Leah?
You're freezing. I'll get you some dry clothes.
Give me a blanket. Hurry.
Go.
She wants to change.
I asked you to go.
I beg you.
Don't do this.
For me.
For all of us.
If you go, everything...
Everything...
will fall apart.
You can all go to hell.
You will never have a family.
You will never have a wife.
You will never have a child.
You will never have land.
She was already sick by then.
But no one noticed.
And when they did, it was too late.
And I was already gone.
It was already dark when we buried her.
What?
I was begging them to wait. I was convinced
that you gonna show up.
So we just stood here,
starting noon and waited until it grew really dark.
And then I finally realized that you are not going to come.
Why are you telling me this?
Tell me, why didn't you come?
Why don't you come closer and I'll tell you.
I can hear you perfectly well up here.
You are scared?
Of what?
To approach the grave.
You think she'll kidnap you?
She'll drive you with her to the land of the dead?
She's gone, Dad.
- She's been gone a long time. - Yeah. I know.
But she can still hug me and break my rib,
and the rib will poke my lung and my spleen.
There is nothing she can do to you.
Oh, yes. Yes, she can.
She can. She could smother me with her kisses, that cow,
don't let her near me. Don't.
Don't.
Dad...
You okay? Dad... Hey...
Dad...
What do you have in America?
I've got... my house by the ocean...
My books, my friends...
You've got nothing...
Empty house...
Empty soul...
No.
Son...
This is your land.
Your home.
Stay.
And everything will be yours.
Leah.
Bakery.
Promise me.
Promise...
You need some rest, Dad.
Abraham...
Look at me.
Oh, 'Abraham, Abraham...'
Let me sleep, you Albanian beauty.
Look at me...
Abraham...
I miss you...
My Sarika...
So sad...
What became of my little boy...
My little boy...
Blessed are You, Lord, God of all Creation...
Tear it.
Okay.
Tear it.
Okay. Now you go to the front...
Hey, Dad!
- Give this to me... - What are you doing...
Give this...
- No! - Jacob!
Calm down!
What are you doing, you idiot?
Go away.
Go away, you hear me? Go away!
- Don't wanna see you again. Go! - Leave me alone! Monster!
Would you calm down? What is the matter with you?
- She's your only daughter. - Oh, she is, yes, she is!
She's my daughter, I'm her father, you're nobody!
You're not a father, you're not a husband.
You are even not a Jew?
The Jews don't abandon their land or family!
What family? What family, huh?
You don't have any family.
Father is gone, Benjamin is dead,
- Shut up. - Leah is locked in a room...
Romi is going mad... You don't have any family.
Shut the fuck up! She is not going mad!
She's always been like this - like you!
Exactly like you!
Users, that's what you do, takers.
You just want to take and take and take and take
without giving anything back!
You want to enjoy life,
you want to have fun.
God forbid you'll feel something, no.
No, for that you'll use me. You'll use my pain
and my blood and my feelings,
you in your books, her in her camera.
You'll take it and you'll use it,
and then you'll sell it.
A couple of rats, that's what you are.
- Did you touch my work? - No.
- Romi, did you touch my work? - No.
Lies...
Lies, vicious...
Lies...
You don't know what love is.
You have no idea what feeling is.
You write about love?
Leah...
She never loved you.
Never.
Get out.
Shit...
Shit! Ahh!
Dad...
Call an ambulance.
I'll take you to the hospital.
No, don't come near me!
- Dad... - He broke my arm!
He broke my arm!
God...
Will you come back?
- What is it? - Buy yourself a ticket.
And some real pants.
You can stay at my place. The house is empty.
There is enough space.
You can even build yourself a darkroom if you'd like.
I can't just take off.
The dough is rising.
Close the door. Jacob, where have you been?
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
Everything in the world is a result
of a broken chain of cause and effect.
Sometimes the cry of a seagull at the Cape Cod
sinks a ship in the English Channel.
And sometimes a starving Jewish deserter
from the Turkish army
finds a fat goose somewhere in the cactus plants.
Shalom aleichem.
Hey. Hey.
I'm a friend!
I'm Jew! Don't be afraid.
What's your name?
My father will kill me.
I'm Abraham.
What is your name?
Sarah.
Sarika.
Where do you live, Sarika?
I heard this story when Jacob and I were about five.
We asked mother how we came into this world,
she replied: "There was love, and you came."
And Father suddenly smiled and murmured:
"There was. There was..."