מאגר סיפורי מורשת

Telling a story through Picture

We chose to discuss this picture because it is beautiful and colorful. In the picture appears my grandfather with my grandmother. His name is Rahamim Amit and her name is Sara Monavarfakar and today her last name is Amit.

They smile at each other and enjoy talking together.  After that they drank coffee in their house. Sara and Rahamim wore short clothes and he holds her in his hand. This was on Rachamim's birthday. He celebrated turning 40 years old and that’s why he is wearing a flower bouquet.

Saba Rachamim and safta Sara

My Grandfather’s Favorite Dish

My grandfather’s favorite dish is Persian rice. My grandmother makes this dish every Friday and my grandfather eats it with our family, we like this dish.

Persian rice is yellow rice with carrot, beans and potato at the bottom of the pot. First ,my grandmother fries potatoes, puts them in the pot, and adds the rest of the vegetables. After that she puts the pot on the stove for an hour and then moves it into the oven.

The taste of the dish is salty from the rice, somehow sweet from the boiled vegetables, and the smell is like a vegetable soup with the smell of rice.

This dish represents the childhood of my grandparents. My grandmother makes the Persian dishes that her mother made in the past, and my grandfather ate Persian rice in his childhood in Persia (Iran). Persian dishes (especially Persian rice) remind to  my grandfather his family and home.

These dishes excite our family every Friday dinner and bring us together!

My Grandpa’s Childhood

My grandpa grew up in Persia, in his childhood, he tells me, there were no toys. For every child was a “store” at the corner of the house, there they “sold” toys to each other and competed to see who was more successful. That’s how they spent time together. There were no places of entertainment to hang out with friends and the “friends” were the siblings, so they played at home.

My grandpa used to have five brothers, one of them was terribly sick and died in Persia because the medicine was not as developed as it is today. After a few years, my grandfather’s mother gave birth to another girl and named her “Yaffa”, she was called that after the name of Yaffa who died in Persia

Rahamim’s childhood was very different from today, because they were a big family, and he didn’t always get attention or treatment, as children today accept. In his house the whole family spoke Persian. In persia his name was Nikpur and when he immigrated to Israel he changed his name to Rahamim.

Rahamim’s family lived with other neighbors in the same structure, for them such residences were normal because they didn’t know anything else. They and the rest of the Jewish community would go to the synagogue to celebrate Jewish holidays together, and that was what my grandpa loved most, these were the moments he still remembers: the prayers, kiddushim and the celebrations with the community on the holidays.

 My Grandfather's School Years

My grandfather's school was in Hatzor Haglilit and the name of the school is Galilee, it was after moving into Israel from Persia at 13 years old directly to 8th grade.

The students were studying all the subjects that we learn today, only without a computer class. There was at school Technical Club (robotics class) where they would build machines, accessories, robots and more.

The teachers and especially the headmaster took care and support the students. The headmaster was a kibbutznik from Yesod Hamaala in the Galilee. She was my grandfather's favorite educator because of her amazing personality.

Lunch at school was purchased and those who could not pay waited outside, those who ate left my grandpa leftovers.

The school day started at 8 in the morning and ended at 2 in the afternoon. The school students had a uniform: long black sweatshirt and a short shirt with the school emblem. There were almost no penalties and if there were – they were not severe, because they were new immigrants, and the staff was sensitive to them.

Once a year there was an exhibition in which the students who participated in the robotics program presented models that they would work on during the year.

In the past there were no air conditioners. It was very hot in the classrooms. The lesson was delivered on a chalkboard without a projector and computer. The teachers tougher and the students were more polite and responsible. They studies subjects and basic subjects such as: Mathematics, English, Hebrew and more.

My grandfather liked especially the annual trips, the experiences with his friends at recess and the shared meals in the dining room.

הזוית האישית

אורי ואחינועם: מאד נהנינו לעבוד יחד ולגלות סיפורים מהעבר של סבא רחמים עליהם לא ידענו ולשמוע חוויות מעניינות, מאתגרות, מהנות וחלקן קצת קשות… שעבר סבא בילדותו. אנחנו, אורי ואחינועם, מאחלות לסבא רחמים שימשיך לחוות חוויות מעניינות אותן יספר לכל השבט שהקים יחד עם סבתי, שרה.