I ask if there’s anything that connects us, the new immigrants. ‘We didn’t fit in at home?’ says Megan, in that way that makes statements sound like questions.
Tag: aliya
My first day at the ulpan
It is my first day at the ulpan, and the first time I spend with people in a common cause since I arrived in November, three months earlier, unless you count queuing at the Ministry of the Interior, that is. There are around thirty students, and room for twenty to be comfortable. I am almost… Continue reading My first day at the ulpan
Woman with moustache
Jenni, I don't know how old she is, in her sixties, maybe, with a stately figure, likes bright colours. She's wearing a persimmon-coloured top, her nails, done this afternoon, are neon green. I tell her how much I like them. She drums them on the table and says, They’re fun, aren't they. They are. It's… Continue reading Woman with moustache
Rabbinical detective work
London. I have an appointment at the Chief Rabbi’s Office in North Finchley, to pick up a letter confirming that I’m Jewish. There was some rabbinical detective work and the names on my birth certificate were matched to the names on my parents’ ketubah, their marriage contract. A rabbi printed out the letter and signed… Continue reading Rabbinical detective work
My new sort-of passport
Dan shook my hand and smiled and said, ‘Welcome home,’ and I felt emotional again.
