“SARA! HEY, SARA!”
Cousin Amy was flapping the window shade, letting morning light flood across the bed. “Are you getting up or what? Breakfast’s cooking!”
Sara smelled the rich golden scent of melted butter and frying batter wafting through the door.
“We’re having pancakes—hurry up!”
She unwound herself from the tangle of sheets and knuckled her eyes. She felt soft cloth rubbing them. It was a silk handkerchief, still clutched in her fist. Tante Miriam’s handkerchief.
She stuffed it in the pocket of her pajamas and went down to join the family.
* * *
After breakfast, when the dishes were all washed and everyone was dressed, the kids were allowed into the living room to play with the presents they seemed to have opened the night before. Everyone agreed that Tante Miriam’s were the best (everyone except the people who were going to have to listen to Cousin Jonathan hammering on his new frame drum for months to come, or Max shouting, “Aye, aye, me hearties!” all day and whining about why he couldn’t have a parrot). Then Amy and Jason got into a tussle over her telescope, because Amy wanted to look up the chimney with it, but Jason wanted to spy on the neighbors across the street.
“Whoaaaa!” Uncle Izzy lifted it right out of their hands. “Careful where you point that thing! You nearly cracked the television.”
There was the huge screen, in perfect shape, good as new.
Well, if you could bind demons to rock without even touching them, Sara thought, I guess you would be able to fix a busted TV, too.
She looked under a few chairs for her golden dreidel, but she didn’t think she’d find it.
“Get packed, kids,” their mother told them. “We’ve got to get home this afternoon. Don’t forget your toothbrush again, Sara—oh, and don’t forget to pack your fan!”
“Fan?” Sara asked.
“Your present Tante Miriam gave you, darling—the peacock feather fan. I don’t know why she thought you needed one, but that’s just the way she is. I guess you can hang it on the wall or something….”
“Oh, right,” said Sara, laughing, “that present!”
Of course the Golden Dreidel was nowhere to be found. And neither was Tante Miriam.
Nobody had seen her leave. “She’s just like that,” said Sara’s mother later in the car going home. “She never stays anywhere for long. She never calls, and she never writes. She just turns up when she feels like it.”
“Cool,” said Seth. “Hey, Sara, do you have any chocolate left?”
“Yep,” she said. “And, no, you can’t have any. It’s not my fault you ate all yours. Move over. You’re taking all the room.”
“I need more, I’m bigger than you.”
“Tough luck.”
“You can each have exactly half the backseat,” their mother said firmly. “Those are the rules, and the rules don’t change.”
Sara smiled.
“Hey, Seth,” she said. “What looks like a box, smells like a lox, and flies?”
“Is that a riddle?” said Seth. He’d loved riddles ever since he’d read The Hobbit. “Give me a minute.”
But he never got it, and she made him wait a long time before she’d tell him the answer.
PHRASES IN LANGUAGES SPOKEN BY JEWS AROUND THE WORLD
Buen moed (Ladino): Good (happy) holiday
Gut yomtov (Yiddish): Good (happy) holiday
Hag sameach (Hebrew): Happy holiday
Hanuka alegre (Ladino): Happy Chanukah
Tante (Yiddish): Aunt
TERMS RELATING TO JEWISH LIFE AND CULTURE
Chanukah (Hebrew): A Jewish holiday that celebrates the victory of the heroic Maccabees against the wicked Syrian king who was trying to make the Jews give up their religion and be just like everyone else in his empire. Also known as the “Festival of Lights,” Chanukah is celebrated for eight days in December. It can also be spelled Hanukkah.
Dreidel (Yiddish): A four-sided top that people play with during Chanukah. It can also be spelled dreidel, dreidl, or even draydel.
Kiddush cup (Hebrew/English): A special fancy cup for wine that is used on holidays and on Shabbat when a blessing (called “kiddush”) is said over the wine.
Ladino: A language spoken by Sephardic Jews, a mix of Hebrew and medieval Spanish. Its roots are in the language spoken by the Jews of Spain who were expelled from the country in 1492. They fled throughout the Mediterranean area, settling in Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries, as well as in the Balkans, Italy, and southern France.
Latkes (Yiddish): Fried potato pancakes, a special Chanukah treat.
Menorah (Hebrew): A candelabra, or holder for candles, that has seven branches for seven candles. The special one used for Chanukah is also called a chanukiah. It has eight branches for eight candles, one for each of the eight days of Chanukah, plus a ninth holder for the “servant” candle that lights all the others.
Rabbi (Hebrew): The religious leader of the congregation of a synagogue or temple, who leads the service on the Sabbath and on holidays. The rabbi is also a teacher who studies and interprets Jewish law.
Sandy Koufax: A great Jewish baseball player known as “the man with the golden arm.” Now in the Baseball Hall of Fame, he broke records pitching for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When the 1965 World Series fell on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, he chose not to play rather than break the sanctity of the day.
Shabbat (Hebrew): Saturday, the seventh day of the Jewish week, when God rested after creating the world. Jewish people are supposed to rest on this day, and many go to religious services.
Torah (Hebrew): A parchment scroll on which are handwritten the first five books of the Bible. Torahs are kept in a special place in the synagogue, called the ark, and are dressed in beautifully decorated coverings. During Shabbat services the Torah is taken out and paraded around the synagogue, and a different section is read aloud each week.
Tummler (Yiddish): An entertainer who keeps things lively and makes sure everyone is involved in the joy and silliness of a party.
Yiddish: A language spoken by Ashkenazic Jews, a mix of Hebrew and (mostly medieval) German. Many American Jews have grandparents and great-grandparents who spoke only Yiddish when they came to this country from Russia and Eastern Europe, and many Yiddish words have entered the English language.
Yinglish: A mixture of Yiddish and English marked by borrowings from both languages.
WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN it took me more than six months to write all the thank-you notes for my bat mitzvah presents, and I have the awful feeling there is still someone I missed. I’m trying never again to miss thanking someone who gave me something nice, so here goes.
Thank you to:
The guys of Shirim, a wonderful klezmer band in Boston, who inspired me with their recording, Klezmer Nutcracker…band leader Glenn Dickson and keyboard wizard Michael McLaughlin, who helped me create a story to go with their klezmer music…my friends at WGBH and PRI radio stations, who were with me all the way, especially Jon Solins, Helen Barrington, Jeffrey Nelson, and Gary Mott—then along came Judy O’Malley, an editor worth waiting for. To her and all the good people of Charlesbridge, and especially the illustrator, Kevin Keele, my sincere thanks for making this the book you hold in your hands.
I got extra help from the Shahan Bromberg family, especially Liran and Aliza. Delia Sherman, Holly Black, Cassandra Claire, and Deborah Manning turned a little of their wisdom my way.
Most of all, I want to thank all of the kids who have come to my stage performances with Shirim of The Golden Dreidel, who have laughed, clapped, riddled, and danced. You make the magic live. Keep spinning!
Did I leave anyone out? Tell you what: I’ll write you a personal note. And this time my mom won’t have to remind me. (Oh, hi, Mom. Thanks for all of your help with the glossary. Phew!)
bsp;
Ellen Kushner, The Golden Dreidel
The Golden Dreidel Page 6