Track2-Mic 2

Hi, my name is Ochaim Mendez. My name is Aliyah Pando. Hi, my name is Elsa Tabur. Okay, hi Elsa. So, we're here to hear your incredible story of your life. And I would like to ask you some questions about it. Sure. When and where were you born? I was born in Israel on March 3rd, 1947. I lived before the trial became a fact. Yeah. Cool. I would like to hear a little bit about your childhood community, where you lived there. Okay. So, I was born in Manchester. And my community that I lived with was very connected. And my father, who lived with other brothers, and they left Aliyah to them. They took a place, which they turned into a cemetery. And this cemetery was active the last days of my childhood, but meanwhile, he was taking care of the children. My father and then later on, the children, but all of them, for example, my mother used to bring cake. Because it was a far away. I think that was very close to the house. And after all of the four children, we used to go to Israel sometimes. We wanted children. Yeah. So, it was very interesting to live in that kind of house with a lot of kids. And my grandfather, I used to live in this house also. My grandmother and father used to live in this house as well. And then, so, my dad, this is how it was going in. And he made sure that they always have something else. To the point, he would even say, even later on, because even more from the area where the synagogue was, I mean, even throughout their children, as they moved, they moved from the area where the synagogue was, even my father moved, but he was ever still, he was close to the synagogue. So, now we needed to have people to come for Shabbat. We had a Nazi. He was, I mean, he lived one time. He didn't say anything, just come and pray with us. Wow. Yeah. So, it was a very strong Jewish identity. Wow. So, if I'm understanding it right, your dad was one of the bases of the community? Like he started the community? Or the community was big when he came? No. They started here, and his father started the community. My aunt, my father, my mom, he was the open synagogue for the two young men in the room. A little further away from this synagogue. And, yeah, they just came to the synagogue. The Jewish people, they started coming here as a state, because they were afraid, right? My mom's parents and my dad's parents, one of them came when they brought children, and that's how I was born in Israel. And, yeah, their Jewish identity was very strong. Okay, so I want to ask you a question. Okay. Do you remember any special activity, events, that you had in the community? Or everything where... So, in the community, it wasn't like here now, that there is now, we have events and everything. I'm sure that, you know, because I was born, and at that time, we were talking, you know, even before I was born, they have roshem, to go out and buy food. They were the ones that really built Israel. My grandfather was in Torei Umeh, meaning he built a lot of things in Haifa. They were really these people that came, and Israel of today is because of these people that came in the beginning, beginning, and were ready to do anything and everything. They won't... I mean, my father was already born out of a drum, but he, you know, he's not dead. I mean, he went out and did what everybody did, what they love to do. So, yeah, that's what... Where did your ancestors come from? So, my ancestors came from, then they moved there, and to Syria, and they said to my father, I'm very embarrassed in coming to Israel. There was a friend that is British, he used from Syria to Israel, and to come to Israel, or come to Syria, and then they are happening, going to visit Syria in the... in the last, in the last, in the last period before we... they have two to go to... to go to Syria. So, anyway, my family used to come a lot to do business in Israel, and at the end of the day, they decided to come and live in Israel. So, this is before even... the Jews were not allowed to leave Syria anymore. So, and we had other family, and he lived in Syria, and then he had to come to this community, for a decade, maybe a year, and after a few years. So, now that you're talking about Israel, can you tell us about your education in Israel? Okay, so my education, I went to the... schools, it was a French school, it was a private school. How did I get into that? Because they... especially when they live in Syria, they are trying to take citizenship, like a French. So, I went there, I went to a good school, it's called Halyan, it's a private school, and later on, I guess, they closed it here, you know, after I left Israel, and it was closed, but that is my education. So, was that a French school? So, it was a French school, each to each other, so they taught everything, French and English included. So, there you learned French there? Yes. So, you know Hebrew, English, and some French? Very little French. I forgot, I haven't spoken, but my dad knew how to write in French, and he knew how to write in Arabic, in Hebrew, because he learned in Syria. And when he came, he didn't forget, he was so afraid that he was going to be in Syria, or they can ask, he just went from Canada to Argentina. He would write to them in Argentina. Other than that, you know, he was being very active, teaching the families, going on and on, and a lot, and you know, yeah. So, you're telling us that you were speaking so many languages, so what was your favorite language to read books? So, in the beginning, Hebrew was first, that was my language, and then later on, when I came here, I started to learn, not because I didn't want to, but I don't know, things happen, you live in the city, but everybody's talking English, everybody's talking in English, and so on, and they come and say, oh, did you read this book, or the other book, and so on, and they're into reading English, and now, 30 and up, I find myself reading English, and very easily, this book, 30 and up, I have to say, right? Yeah. So, let's go back to Israel for a second. Okay. When, how many times have you been there? How many years? I was in Israel 16 years. Wow, so, did you remember, do you remember any dreams, about the future, did you have, did you tell about your career, Yeah, I have to say, because, I was living in one house, with 4,000 people in our house, with lots of children, it was just my father and mother, I had 8, 7 countries, and, you could imagine, being in a house with so many kids, coming from school, but they're not from, out of the house, but, every one, we have a home, my mother and the other mother, had to prepare lunch for the kids, they had to feed their kids, and do their homework, my father was very strong, and nice, he used to say, we don't need, you know, kids can help us with their homework, and teach us, and so on, and we must work hard, work more staff, formation ideas, and people would say, yeah, so, that's what it was. So, what was your first job, now that we're talking about careers? My first career, I think it didn't have a good beginning, but my kids grew up, because I, all I did, and I was accustomed to it, I didn't have to teach, so I was teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching,