'Sure. Have fun.'
'You're not mad?'
'Not one bit. Be home by two.'
'Thanks.' She blew him a kiss and ran to catch up, the purse knocking against one narrow hip.
'Now can we go to the zoo?' asked Benny as Daniel put the car into gear.
'What do I need a zoo for? I've got wild animals right here.'
'Rahhr,' said Mikey, screwing up his little face and attempting to snarl. 'Rahhr.'
'Rahhr, me too,' said Benny. He curled his hands into claws and raked the air.
Daniel looked at them in the rearview mirror. Little lions, his father had called them. More like kittens.
'Rahhrr!'
'Very fierce, boys. Let's hear it again.'
Shabbat felt like Shabbat. A rosy, springtime glow seemed to settle around Daniel from the moment he woke up on Saturday.
He was in synagogue for the beginning of the shaharit services, stayed after services, wrapped in his tallit, listening to a visiting rabbi expound on the weekly Torah portion. He came home at noon, meeting Gene and Luanne as they got off the elevator. They'd brought flowers, a dozen red roses from the shop at the Laromme Hotel. Laura put them in water, next to the daisies. Daniel made Kiddush over a bottle of Hagefen Riesling and everyone helped bring out the food.
They ate themselves drowsy for an hour, cleared the dishes, then returned to the table for dessert and conversation, coffee and arak. Shoshi pulled Gene away for raisin poker, winning four games out of seven before the black man dozed off on the couch.
'Oh, Gene,' said Luanne, and continued talking about their tour of the Negev.
At two-thirty Daniel's father came over, wearing his heavy black Sabbath suit, a snowy-white shirt, and a large black kipah embroidered with gold. The children jumped on him shouting 'Saba! Saba!,' covered his beard with kisses, and the old man pressed pieces of hard candy into their palms. The boys ran off, unwrapping their treasures. Shoshi pocketed hers.
'Abba Yehesqel,' said Laura, hugging her father-in-law.
'Leora, beautiful as always!' he said, using her Hebrew name.
Daniel introduced his father to Luanne, cleared a place for him at the head of the table, and brought him the bottle and a glass. When he sat down, Shoshi climbed onto his lap.
'Nice to meet you, Mr. Sharavi,' said Luanne. 'That butterfly is lovely.'
'Saba made Eema's earrings too,' said Shoshi, pointing. Laura pushed her hair aside and revealed a lacy silver pendant shaped like a spice box. From the bottom of the earring hung tiny gold flags.
'Lovely.'
'My Saba is the best.'
Yehesqel smiled, shrugged, and drank arak. Laura left and came back with a box full of jewelry, spread the pieces out on the tablecloth.
'These are all my father-in-law's creations.'
'Such delicacy,' said Luanne, examining the pieces. She picked up a filigree bracelet set with turquoise and held it up to the light.
'I learned to bend wire as a child,' said the old man in heavily accented English. 'What a man learns as a child, he remembers.'
'My father is being modest,' said Daniel. 'He's a master of his art.'
'Bezalel was an artist,' said his father. 'He carved the Temple vessels with God's hand guiding his. I am a craftsman. I learn by making mistakes.' He turned to Luanne. 'We Jews became craftsmen because we were forced to. In Yemen we lived under the Muslims, and the Muslims hated the crafts and gave them over to the Jews.'
'How strange,' said Luanne.
'It was their belief. They called us usta-masters-but put us under them, on the bottom. Seventy crafts we did: weaving, leather, pottery, baskets, making swords. A craftsman is a good job for a Jew, because it doesn't stop the learning of the Torah. A man makes a pot-when it cooks in the oven, he opens a book and studies. The Muslim understands that-he loves his Quran.'
'I've been told,' said Luanne, 'that the Jews living in Arab lands were treated with respect.'
Yehesqel smiled. When he spoke again, his speech took on a singsong rhythm.
'In the beginning, Muhammid thought the Jews would all become Muslim. So he said nice things about us, made Moses a big prophet in Islam. He even put parts of the Torah into the Quran-the Israilyat. It's still there. But when we said no, we want to stay Jews, Muhammid got very angry, told everyone that the Jews were cofrim? what's the word in English, Daniel?'
'Infidels.'
'Infidels, The Christians, too, were infidels. Sometimes infidels were killed; sometimes they were kicked outside. In Yemen we were kept and protected-like children. We lived in small villages in the mountains. Even San'a, the capital, was just a big village. We lived very poorly. Many of the Arabs were poor also, but we were the poorest because we couldn't own land, couldn't be merchants. They kept us as craftsmen, because they wanted the Jewish crafts. Each village had a tekes?'
