To America and Back

by Mordechai Landsberg

In July 1956 began the Course for Fireteam commanders, and Humik was one of its participants. The men were training again ‘the private tasks’ and having a course for Parachuting, first by slipping down with the Omega twisted metal piece, linked to a thick rope stretching a thick pillar and a tree trunk:

  You grab that omega by both hands, push your body forward and find yourself surfing- hanging in the air. Most of the guys would say, that having done that training – they were ready for the actual parachute training, including a jump from the Dakota airtransporter’s opening to the free air …

  But Humik had a bad luck till that expected day would arrive: Three soldiers, including himself, had become sick with terrible pains in the belly. Humik was lying inside the camp’s hut, having high temperature. ‘Maybe you have received some lever malady, caused by a rotten Falafel’ said the army physician.

  ‘Or it was caused by the bad sanitary conditions in the camp’, added another doc. But after two weeks, having swallowed some pills – this sickness had passed. Humik was allowed to re-join the Course, and felt better.

  He thought that from then on he would participate again in frequent attacks training and long runnings, but he was mistaken:

  In the beginning of October, while automn light winds had just began, suddenly the army course for fireteam fighters stopped. Its participants were ordered to join the squads of the 3rd Battalion of Parachuters, commanded by Lieutenat Colonel Aaron Davidy. The soldiers were driving on trucks from the concentration point, somewhere not far from vicious Sodom, toward the Egyptian border in Sinai peninsula. Humik heard soldiers talking about tension in the air: The Egyptian President– General Abd-El-Nasser, has recently robbed the Britsh and French, owners of Suetz Canal. He was boasting that he would soon throw also Israel into the sea. For that aim the Russians bestowed him many new tanks, artillery, MIG airfighters – as well as light arms.

  The Israelis had become nervy, in a silent panic mode. Their shrewd Prime minister, Ben Gurion, held a speech in Parlament, gently telling his people: “What we only need now- is strength and piece!” – but he sent the soldiers toward the Sinai penninsula desert, to break down most of the new weapons that the Egyptians had gathered there, and also to capture teroristic Gaza, ruled by the Egypt.

  On their way toward their target, the soldiers did not discern any military preparedness, except the long caravan of trucks and semi armored vehicles, heading also in another seen path, not very far from them. On the sides were seen also some Bedwin shepherds walking with their herd. Each was holding a long stick in hand, like Moses in ancient days. That symbolized to Humik the serenity of the warm land coming in front of them, and as much as he could know- it had no end. The view has become already a boring one, though the commanders were telling, that “soon the desert will wake up, and we’ll be attacking. You’ll get details about that in due time. Don’t be sleepy”.

  Better not to think about the impending attack, he said to himself. We know how to burst into shielded positions, throw grenades and shoot and creep and run, and catch a sheltered corner when necessary. If caught in an enemy’s ambush, we should shoot back from the truck itself, and quickly jump out…

  Nice woolen sheep, beige and white colored. Like the hot sand under their paws. Your ears would just hear a soft bleat, that disturbs the desert’s silence. Untill the beaurocrates had thought how to bring us such a herd to Nehusha Seed, I and Jacque Malka already moved to this course, then to this fight.

  In Nehusha the agronomist said, that they had been hesistant to provide us sheep- because in the first week they would be stolen by Arab infiltrators, experts in raising herds. They raise sheep more than thousand years. The Jews neglected herd raising since they had been exiled from their land. They had to move every few years from one kingdom to another, only with their skin on their flesh, or with some gold that they had succeeded to hide.

  “There is one advantage to us here,” said Jacque Malka to Humik, “that we are being far from the sheep’s bad smell.”

  “You’ve forgotten: This area is open to the air. Any smell would immediately evaporate, spread around.”

  Everything was so transparent. No dust was flying in the air. Only one small cloud, similar to a human’s palm, like prophet Elija has seen in his days, was surfing above. Afterward Elijah went also to Sinai Desert, begging the Lord to kill him: he was desperate about the nation of Israel. Not like Raphaella, who was desparate only about her personal condition. Or…perhaps she had also mourned about the ‘condition humane’ at large?

  “Can you tell me,” Jacque interrupted Humik’s meditation, and he saw his winking left eye,”Where is the border? Can you really differentiate here between the Israeli Negev and the Egyptian Sinai? Both are damned same desert.”

  “No, Not me,” said Humik. “Maybe there is some bordersotne or fence on the border, but it may have been stolen by Bedwin. The desert has no borders, it exists here just as God had created it. He had wanted it for bestowing the Torah to the people of Israel, that afterward became the Jews.”

  “The fact is,” said Jacque, “that the last sentence is your invention. Or is it written somewhere, in one of the thousand sacred books?”

  “Look, a donkey and a camel,” said another soldier to his friend. They were the other two speakers – out of the twenty, that had shared the truck’s load with Humik and Jacque.

  They haven’t discerned these animals till now, because their colors were mingled with the sand. If you look now far away behind them, you’ll see in the horizon high mountains, red and grey-blue. What a pleasure, everything passes by like in a film. “Have you paid attention, guys,” asked somebody, “that we are on the way – already more than three hours?”

  “What a question? I have just seen four jeeps and a command car in the distance, entering a ravine wadi. Of course, they are from our Intelligence forces.”

  “ Now you can see them climbing a hill, trying to be hidden. Pay attention: We’re on a flat road, I wonder… Humik, wake up !”

  Suddenly all the vehicles stopped. A shout was heard from down the road. Men began to jump out of the truck, holding their guns. Shooting was heard from beyond a low hill. On the top of it you could discern some shooting positions, surrounded by sacks filled with sand. They were in a distance of two hundred meters, and beside them were also two or three low constructions, like sheds of guards- made of asbestos sheets, to protect soldiers from the heat; but not from our lethal shootings.

  Dust had begun to rise, while explosions of mortars and hand grenades roared in the air, and there was also buzz of light, semi automatic Uzi guns and heavier shooting of Chechoslovak or FN rifles. At last the noises were heard as coming from far, like somebody would crack walnuts. Then it came closer again – but all of a sudden everything has become quiet.

  Only a sound of some moans of dying or heavy injured enemy’s soldiers filled the air, and Humik and his comrades were running toward the silenced positions. They were counting how many dead the Egyptians were having, and saw some enemy’s soldiers who had been taken prisoners- by another unit. The surrendering enemy’s soldiers were walking with hands over, and soon they were set with covered faces on a command car, having two Military Policemen on it.

  The day had already ended and the sun disappeared.

  Quite darkness has been falling, and Humik and his comrades jumped back on the trucks and were driving on an old path, from time to time having a piece of road on it, and then the sand dominated again. So, the armoured vehicles and jeeps were leading the re-newed column of vehicles, between sands and some rocks that were beginning to appear. The way was slopping up and then down, and in between- again were heard some shots from far away. Humik’s truck commander remembered now to give a Drink Order, as “the warmness and dryness of the place may hurt your kidneys. Didn’t you know? Today is not Yom Kippur’s fast, it had passed already.”

  During the short fight Humik was feeling well. He was creeping toward the enemy’s positions and firing wit
h his FN semi auotomatic rifle; he knew that our mortar and artillery had already broken the enemy’s line and his soldiers raised their hands and hanged white cloths on their positions. Now, again on the truck, he had time to reflect something about his mother. He cheated her twice, writing to her that he was still in the ‘village Seed’. Very well that she’s illusioned, because the fight has only begun. More attacks would take place – deep in Sinai desert, and we are already in a war. The first war since the States’ Independence. As a small boy, Humik had heard about a ‘second cycle’ of war that would break with the Arabs. Now it has become real: The war that everybody had delayed in his mind…

  The short vehicles’ column passed another enemy’s position on the left: It had been captured by another unit. The trucks were like slipping to a narrow path that has been shelled, and one truck of another Squad had been damaged, its back wheel hanging over a crevice. Humik’s truck should take a dangerous bypass, and therefore the soldiers were jumping from behind and pusing it forward, then climbing it again. ‘Soon we will become acrobats with diploma’ said Jacque Malka, ‘don’t worry.’

  Then the second world war armored half trucks(it was one the army’s cheapest acquirement till that time) were seen, riding in parallel to the light trucks’ path.

  “We and the others are leading to a Bedwin village,” said Humik’s truck commander, “it is a strategic point. They call it: Aa–Temed. There will be waiting for us a heavier task than before.”

  Suddenly Humik felt that his body was trembling like a leaf, and his ears were blown by an unexpected artillery shelling.

  He jumped from the truck, like his comrades, crept three steps and lied on the cool sand. He gazed back to the truck and saw that most of his comrades were under it, creeping to the margins of the bad road, like he had just done. Their Team Commander was bending to the ground, waving his hands, indicating them to follow him, crawl and shortly run – and crawl again.

  Humik heard the wireman was telling a message to a far section commander, and then they were all attacking a yellow-beige vehicle in front of them. A smell of burnt gasoline was on the air now, as it suddenly exploded with a red fire. Two coaled men were trying to jump out of it, screaming and terrified, but fell on the sand – their life ending with the smoke, which was stinking the air dreadfully.

  The lucky attckers had not approached that disastrous hell, so they avoided being hurt from the gasolin’s container’s explosion.

  Humik looked at his commander, who signaled his men that they can return to their truck; but in fact- its tires had been shot by the enmy’s fire. So, after a while Humik and his comrades had to join soldiers from another truck. The place on its load became dense, but they continued driving in the dark night, the dumb stars looking at them and winking cruelly. They hoped that the enemy won’t shoot them from beyond a hill on the right. Or is it only a shadow of a hill? A soldier holding an M.G. was shooting back. He opened fire from the truck, without getting any order for that. Then he was rebuked by the commander.

  While still moving in the darkness, some wanted to sleep, but their commander was illuminating their faces with a small electric torch (the truck’s sides were covered by khaki rough canvas )- and while he would discern sleepy eyes, he would be shaking the tiresome ones with shouts.

  “It’s the road climbing from A-Temed to a place called E-Nahel. All of us should be on alert, d’you hear me?… ”

  Suddenly there was a terrible noise in the air. Humik looked at the sky and saw two MIG Egyptian airfigthers rising in a roar from the western horizon, flying low and in a horrible speed; they were already above the vehicles, deadly shooting everything from their murderous machine guns 20mm. Then they were lifting their heavy bodies in a roar to the sky. Somebody had tried to shoot at their direction, but they were like disregarding it.

  “Jump, jump to the sand!” shouted the truck commander, and Humik and his frightened comrades had done as ordered.

  The monster metal birds were making a circle on the air, and soon returning to attack: Their green yellow wings were like those of horrible vultures. Bombs blastS and fire and smoke were deafening the ears and blinding the eyes and erasing the memory. The terrible airfighters had already gone; while some rescued soldier was heard to be calling somebody on the communication network, there had been three or four guys lying on their back or side and moaning.

  Humik’s heart was now only trembling within itself, and his mind was almost out of its place. He had no possibility to listen or describe or mention or dream or meditate or calculate. If before he still had heard his body striking the sandy road, while he threw himself from the truck- now he was a heap of dust in the desert. But he soon was surrounded by his comrades, who saw the red liquid on his chest. That blood, normally pouring life into the limbs was now flowing out….

  They saw also his steel helmet, that was still on his head- but turned aside, and his rifle that was beside him.

  The blood was covering his chest, staining his shirt, and the stain was still growing. One of the soldiers was tearing the blooded shirt, saying: “it’s Nahumik,” and soon found the wound’s hole. He put his personal bandage on the bleeding place, and was pressuring on it. He saw the place is still bleeding, so he wrapped also his friend’s bandage on it. He found a lighter injury on his leg, and wrapprd it also. Soon Humik was loaded on a stretcher, and a ‘Command-car’ vehicle, that had been ready for gathering our injured soldiers, had taken him and two other wounded to Eilat. From there they were taken by flight to Tel Hashomer hospital, near Tel Aviv. Humik did not know that the war must continue, nor that some of his comrades, having been luckily rescued the airbombs attack, continued to move on toward the Mitleh Passage in Sinai. There – a terrible fight had taken place. Jacque Malka was bleeding there to death, and two other comrades of Humik also lost their lives. A friend of us, that had been there too, had told us how they were fighting, picking out the Egyptian defenders of the strategic passage, who were hiding in their caves deep in the hills. ‘We stabbed some by our rifles’ bayonets- like mice in their holes’. But the teller himself, woe to us, had drawned in the sea, seven years later. It was near the beach of Tel Aviv, while going to swim in a summer night with two guys and three of their girl friends.

  Humik was more lucky. In the first a week he felt a terrible weakness, though he was injected one or two portions of blood. When he was awakened from his unconsciousness, he was condoled by a young physician, whose name was Menahem:

  ( the name Nahumik, means ‘the Condoled one’, the name Menahem means ‘the Condoling one’!)- he showed Nahumik the bomb’s particle, that had been ejected from his chest:

  “Its location was critical,” he told Humik, “had it hit one more centimetre closer to your vein, you would have lost your life.”

  “Thanks for telling me,” whispered Humik. His mind returned to its meditations, and he said to himself: ‘blessed be God or whoever there’. He thought that maybe the Gate’s Guard that had been standing there beside him- was Rabbi Aaron Hittin, who struggled with the Angel ‘Knife Holder’, and won.

  Or it maybe that he, Humik himself, was the wrestler with the bad angel: in his lust for life he succeeded to move the knife a little, to a distance of more than a fingers’ width from the vein – and so prevent the ‘Owner of the Bad Thing’ from hitting him finally.

  Humik did not know how Semadar had discovered where he was hospitalized. She arrived one morning, followed by Naitty, to visit him. She simply said, that she had heard about soldiers of Parachuters from the Pioneering Youth, who had been injured. Before that she had not received any Army annoucement about Humik, though her name was mentioned in his military file, as one who should be contacted in case of emergency. She had begun to phone to hospitals and inquire about a wounded soldier having a surname Kaplansky. Very soon she came to know where Humik was lying wounded.

  Naitty was viewing Humik in a dumb worship and pitiful look, like Semadar herself. Humik was not talking a lot, as he
was still weak. Semadar’s visit was not greeted by him. He only asked in a whisper – if she had talked to his Mom, God forbid. He himself, while being mobilized, gave only Semadar’s address as ‘close relatives’ address’. Semadar answered that Ramona had called through Ruth Café, and was told that Humik was all right and ‘nothing to worry about, that’s all’. Humik burst in a very short weep, and told himsel: ‘for weeping you have to have power, which I lack now.’ So he calmed down.

  ‘All my life’, he was thinking then, ‘I wanted to be with the warriors – if there happens a second war with our enemies. I have prepared myself to defend my people, and have taken part in the fight. I know: I will return to service, I must do that…

  If Mom hears about my injury, she would justify her’s and Solomon’s attitude to my adventure of joinig the army, which they had so antagonized. But I will not surrender to hand myself to them. I won’t go back to America… Yes, I’m still lying here, getting painkillers analgetics, but no more in life danger. I have survived, I shall live. I am young and strong.’

  Semadar handed Humik a present. It was a Sweet Bitter chocolate pack.

  “It symbolizes you, Humik,” smiled Semadar, “You and your life. Really – Naitty is the owner of the idea that we’ll bring it. He has received the sole right of distributing around the country -all Chocolates and sweets of CE DE factory of Ramat Gan. It is a well known chocolate. Try a piece, you can taste it.”

  Humik tasted it and gave them also some pieces, and all said it was good. He gazed at Nathan with sympathy, but when the couple has lsft he rebuked himself about how easy he could also be flattered.

  ‘Let me remember,’ said Humik to himself, ‘what vision I have seen in my imagination. It was still while I had been lying in weak consciousness, on the first days after the injury shock: There were mad dark horses running out and bolting, followed by brown hounds. They were searching for a yellow horned monster, on which its forhead the letter H was written. Was it a symbol for Humik or for Heaven or for Hope? Then came people that I don’t know and never have seen, joining Elkao. He was walking in a long corridors of unaccomplished building, its stairs still missing, and having only slope cement passages without a balustrade, leading from the ground floor to the upper ones. I was slipping on that unfinished staircase, like surfing there, but suddely were the airfighters haunting from above, arriving in couples, and I was already in a sandstorm, that sawed my cheeks and shut my ears and blinded my eyes, and they were shooting at me a heavy rain of rifleballs. I was running away from them, falling and rising and jolting and creeping, and at last fell prostrate on the sandy open field, that had no plant on it.’

  ‘I am satisfied that I’m alive’, he waked himself up. ‘I am sure that I would not forget all that for years and years to come. Raphaella had fallen, but not in such a war. I should have had some pen to write all these meditations and ‘illustratory visions’.

  I have to search a descerning and wise person. like Biblical Joseph, who knew to decode the dreams. Why had they appeared to me all that? If I see a psychiatrist, like my father -in- law

  would visit from time to time, I’ll dismiss him. Solomon’s psycho consultant could not diconnect him from his lust for producing his movie. He is still devoting his time to it, having left Mom alone in the photo store – most of the time. She works very hard, while Solomon is deadly mad, so she had told me in our last meeting. Now she is surely sending letters still to Nehusha. Who knows – the guys there may return the mail to the sender, what will make her more anxious about me. So, I’ll soon discover to her that I had left the Seed. I’ll write to her, that she has to send everything only to Semadar’s address. Not to any army’s Box Office …

  His recovery was ‘going fine’, so told him the doctors. They soon sent him to a Recovery Hostel, in which he was staying for about ten days. He was told by the physicians, that his Health Clause now was limiting his movenents.

  So, Humik was not fit any more for the Parachuters’ troops. But in the High Command in Tel Aviv there was found a job for him: as one who was talking and writing well in American English.

  Semadar visited him again in the Recovery Hostel. In that second visit – Naitty didn’t join her.

  What Humik had told her then, had caused her a headache. The fellow has sacrificed himself for the defence of his nation, so his honest and direct words should be considered thoroughly.

  He told her his opinion, that she had to discontact from Nathan. Her hesitations show she was not thinking deeply enough about their common future. Naitty cannot and will not ever understand her deep cultural attraction to music. His love is enthusiastic, but it is like a hunter who enjoys the trap he had digged to his victim… These words exactly were used by Humik.

  She was very angry to hear that, but had felt she must not cause him to stop their friendship. Even without Humik’s words, she had paid attention to what her friends and her boss Erga told her about the American guy. A difference of ten years – and now, that she is only twenty one, seemed to be a risk. Or- she wants to try, and do like others, that after a short marriage period of one or two years – get into a divorce process; They won’t make a big deal about that.. ‘But I guess, that you will behave like the average woman, who marries’, so told her a well known male singer, ’you’ll have children very soon, and they’ll make you forget all other matters.’

  Semadar knew that Naitty was a man demanding attention and obedience to whatever he would be saying. He had some strange, ambigious, religious- mysterious uterrances. But he had agreed that she would continue singing. ‘He will stand on guard, that no young guy will approach me,’ so she told herself, ‘even to ask for an autograph… But I know, that Naitty worships my singing, and that’s very important; he looks at it as a gift from God. So he isn’t just an extreme religious fanatic – this I must say in his favor, beside other good things. First of all- he would have a real care for his family, if he marries me… and I – Semadar, know what misery is. In my childhood we were frequently hungry, myself and my sisters. Yes, we have remained without a mother, and our father had decided to emigrate to Israel with most of the Jews from Tunis. I remember that as a teenager I had felt bad about my talent, as well as about my whole personality, especially as an artist. Till my nice singing was recognized as very well by Erga, who had been then in the Army Center Command’s Band. She liked two of my Sabath songs and took me under her shelter… But now Erga is telling me bad things about Nathan, as she fears he would get me out of the music, out of the stage… But on the other hand- Erga herself told me: ‘nowadays the difference in ages is not critical’. She knows young male artists with older sweathearts (as Erga herself is) and also opposite kinds of relationships… My sister Hedwa is lucky- not having such trouble of meditating and facing quite unsolveable problems. She will marry Effy, and that’s final.

  ‘I should do like her,’ Semadar decided at that moment. A moan emerged from her throat, because it was hard for her to bear in her heart the complex situation. ‘But I believe in the God of Israel, don’t I? Hedwa wrote me a note of a prayer, that I will say every day or by night, before going to sleep:

  “Hear O’Israel, Our God is our Lord, Our God is the One. I am the small, the sinful, the humiliated. I, your maidservant, turn to you- the unending, the unmistakeable, the plentyful, the terrible, the superior of all, the creator of tones and songs and all kinds of musics, harmonies and disharmonies- please show me my way.

  Please direct me and guide me and let me have a heart – that will live in peace with my mind!” Naitty has an advantage over any youth that I’ll meet, being a stable and matured man. When I’ve told him that a guy like Humik started to study something about advrtisement and artists management – he was mocking at young people like him. ‘Yes, in America they teach management and promotion and everything you like. But being educated is nothing if you don’t have a character. But though I know that America is full of adulterers and criminals and Brothel managers and millions of
people that entertainment is almost the second thing they love –after sex making, instead loving God and his religion… Though I could have succeeded in that huge country of ‘midgets in towers’ as one of our prophets had said – I’ve thrown America behind my back! I came here, to God’s –and to our- Holy land. You can appreciate me as well as you appreciate Humik, who had volunteered to the army, and so on. Am not I right? ‘

  CHAPTER 46