Page 8 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - January 19
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and their daughter likewise, and with both having Later, I did PR for the Jewish Agency, welcoming
nowhere else to live, both girls went home to their VIPs from the States and, under another name, my
mothers. I moved in with Mike (Meir) Ronen, the fourth, writing an advertising column for The
J’lm Post artist, cartoonist and art critic while Jerusalem Post and for Ha’aretz. I soon found
awaiting my visa to the U.S. and he took the myself running my own advertising agency full
opportunity to paint my portrait. It is a remarkable time, while also serving in the army reserves.
likeness and still hangs in our living room, as do Then came an invitation to join, as a partner,
two of his other fine works. Mike died aged 83, in Gordon Levinsohn Ayalon, the largest ad agency
August 2009. in Israel at that time. So we moved to Ramat
Hasharon on the fringes of Tel Aviv. Dassah, who
In New York I got a job with Abe Harman, who had been working as an editor on scientific
was then in charge at the Israel Consulate in New material translated into English from Russian,
York, and from there he “sold” me to State of now edited the various WIZO publications and
Israel Bonds, where I ended up as manager in St also met with new immigrants explaining banking
Louis. Wherever I was for Bonds, I always to them on behalf of Bank Hapoalim. She still
insisted on cash payments. No pledges. No other doesn’t understand banking.
manager had that record. Golda Meir came to a
dinner in St. Louis and drew a packed house of Then came the Six-Day War. I was back on full
Bond buyers who purchased more than a million time service, facing the Jordanians with our anti-
dollars. Abe Molasky, the city’s best known tank unit ready to fire if they as much as sneezed.
publisher of pornography, gave her a check for But, almost before we knew it, the war was over.
$100,000. That was a lot in those days. When I The Old City of Jerusalem was ours, and Teddy
picked her up at her hotel at six o’clock the next Kollek, who was Jerusalem mayor, asked us to
morning, to take her to the airport, she already come back to Jerusalem to live in the Rova, the
knew his background thanks to some party pooper Jewish Quarter, so that it would have a strong
who could not resist telling her. Golda gave me presence that would not be all religious. We
hell and ordered me to return the check to him. agreed, gave up our Ramat Hasharon residence,
Fortunately, I had already forwarded it to New and became part of the 40 per cent seculars. (Now
York. And Abe continued to be a good Israel down to five per cent). Our new home in the Rova
Bond buyer. had been built in 1545. It needed a bit of fixing-
up, but not that much. Workers had almost
Dassah and I decided enough was enough and completed work on the underfloor piping,
came home to Israel. Life normalized itself (if including a hole in the bathroom floor, which they
that’s possible In Israel). Dassah’s parents had hadn’t yet bothered to close, when a cheeky rat
already moved to Ashkelon from Terre Haute, stuck its head up. This was the night before I was
Indiana, which offered us temporary to leave for South Africa for a fortnight’s guest
accommodation until we found work, which I did, tour and meetings of South African Airways
doing public relations for Rafah Pharmaceuticals worldwide advertising agencies. Dassah
in Jerusalem. We moved into an apartment in the screamed, I hollered and blocked the hole, and
Touring Club building in Talbieh and sent our two next morning quickly left for South Africa.
children to school at Beit Hayeled, opposite the
Old City walls, on top of which Jordanian soldiers We lived in the Rova for almost 20 years. Dassah
stood, occasionally taking potshots at the kids on continued with editorial work and I commuted
their way to school. They missed. daily to Tel Aviv, winning eight national and
international advertising awards for the agency
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