Page 78 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - Winter 20
P. 78
HAGGADAH FOR PESACH promptly fell asleep. Almost right away, I
began to feel drowsy, so, to keep myself
AN EXTRACT FROM THE awake, I began a merry rendering of Pesach
"OVERFLOW" CHAPTER FROM MY songs.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY - "A LITTLE FISHY" Each time, however, my song was cut off by
THE EPISODE BEGINS, AND ENDS, my actually falling asleep. Somehow,
ON THE SAUL HABER HACHSHARA however, we progressed safely until we
FARM, IN KENT. neared Maidstone on the main London-
Folkestone road. The bike's single headlamp
ARYEH (LEON) EPSTEIN lit up the road as it twisted and turned ahead.
Would we make it before sleep completely
overcame me? A few hundred yards ahead, I
could make out a cottage on a sharp curve in
the road… I woke up a split second before
hitting the fence on the bend. Too late to
swerve. Braking sharply was all I could do.
S With a rending crunch we smashed into the
hortly before Pesach, Simon and I
fence, right by the cottage. The side-car
began to prepare a special Haggadah,
with the idea of holding a Seder night
right out into the road, while I was catapulted
down on the Farm. Simon worked hard ripped open and a sleeping Simon was flung
illustrating it with vivid line-sketches, while over the handlebars and high over the fence
I selected the readings, and one of the girls into the cottage garden, landing on my
typed it all onto Gestetner stencils shoulder with a bump. Nothing much seemed
(Remember them?) ready for duplication. to have happened to me and I groped around
in the darkness, dragging myself to my feet,
Photocopying was still a dream. We had no
access to a duplicating machine, and still dazed. All was silent. I forced myself
anywhere in Maidstone would have cost a awake and called out:
small fortune, so we decided to take my "Hey, Simon, you alright?"
motor-bike up to Bnei-Dror's London office, "Maurie, you alright, mate? What 'appened?"
which would just cost us time and a bit of He sounded drunk.
petrol, roll them off there and staple them
back on the Farm. We'd both done a full "Yeah, I think I'm okay. What's with you?" I
eleven-hour day's work, when we rushed began to feel a pain in my shoulder.
straight up to London. It was after midnight "Nuffin' much, mate. My 'and's a bit torn, I
when we set off on the return journey, with fink, but I can't see a fing. Fer Christ’s sake
hundreds of loose pages stacked neatly in the what 'appened?"
sidecar, ready for collating. Ahead of us were "I fell asleep. We crashed into the fence. Saw
fifty miles of suburban London, and Kent it too late to stop… Hey, how did you get
countryside. Simon made himself as there? Get off the road quick, there's a car
comfortable as he could in the side car and
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