Ilan Stavaru
(Mexico/United States, 1 9 6 1 )
SHEIGETZ You're nervous . . . How couldn't you be? Tomorrow is the day. For long months you've been memorizing the p ortions of the Torah and Haftorah . Ay, the pronunciation isn't easy. Would it have been bet ter had you attended the final years of religious Sunday school ? Your parents couldn't make up their minds, though. " Simón doesn't need cat echism, " Mamá says . "Por fa po/', it isn't catechism ! " Papá replies, and adds : " It's made to be fun. Discussions, movies, picnics. The kind of instruction that ought to last a lifetime . " But Mamá isn't persuaded. " Who needd Fiddfe/' 011 the Roof? " she asserts . It goes on back and forth: yes, no, yes, no . . . Does every 1 3 year old go through the same? Is it only the children of divorced couples ? You have n o idea what the Hebrew means, yet must get it right. The entire Backal clan wil be around. They're so finicky. " Simón, don't let the fight between your parents deter you, " one of your relatives argues. ''Their liaison wasn't made in heaven ! " another believes. "However, you're a bright medtizo kid. Come on, show us the zest you carry inside . . . " Rabbi Sapotnik has been gentle. He has invited you to his office sev eral times . " Shimele Mendieta, you're a lucky fellow. You know that, don't you ? " he asks . He doesn't call you by your Mexican name: Simón. Instead, he uses the Yiddish equivalent, which everyone in school also adheres to: Shimele. You don't like it but what are you supposed to do - contradict the rabbi? He's a nice guy, fresh out of the seminary. Why give him a hard time ? He has to deal with a rowdy congregation . Plus, there must be other B ar Mitzvah kids in need of attention, maybe even a couple of other "halfies " like you. "Your Torah passage couldn't have been more suitable, " Rabbi Sapotnik continues . "In the Boolc of Exodud , the Jews wander through the deserto How long? Forty years, that's how long . . . You're almost thirteen, Shimele. Imagine living your whole life amid sand. No TV, no fast food, no soccer. " "Forty years is a long time, rabbi, " you reply. But Rabbi Sapotnik looks incredulous . " Of course, forty isn't an actual number. It should simply be understoo d as a long time. It's hard to know with the Bible. We measure time in hours, min utes, seconds. Moses and the Israelites had other methods . Maybe they spent a hundred years in the deserto Can you imagine? Moses wanted his people to ready themselves for a new beginning before they entered
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