Holiday Stories

We felt we were doing the right thing; earlier on we had motivated ourselves, patted each other on the back, helped each other pack, but as the day wore on with the constant drone of the unbearably loud car engine in our ears, the sweat dripping down our faces, threatening to enter our eyes, we’d begun to rethink our plan, our strategy. We’d begun to wonder if it was such a spectacular plan after all. Mary, my younger sis...

Summer holidays aren't what they used to be. Everyone's into my baby brother now, which is fine, but it means I've got to look after my little sister. "Take Louise for a swim son." She can't swim. She's only six. She just paddles and cries if too much water splashes her face. There are some kids about my age climbing round the bottom of the big rock nearby, exploring its rock pools. They'd let me explore with them if I we...

The Boat of Sand When I was young, my Father built for me, a boat of sand, so very grand, to sail upon the sea. My sister was the cabin girl and made to swab the decks, we searched the seas for pirates to turn their boats to wrecks. Our anchor was a bucket filled with stones and sand, tossed with caution overboard, if we spotted land. Bright red spades were used for oars or cricket bats sometimes, we’d row for miles acros...

Dreidel mine, spin, spin, spin! By Marvin Rabinovitch It was Purim eve, and Meyer-Zalman Glayzel was so drunk that, as the proverb had it, he couldn’t tell Mordechai from Haman. Somehow or other, he found himself outside the shtibl where the other male inhabitants of Verbovsk were making merry over a reading of the megilla, the scroll of Esther. What was he doing here on the porch of the rickety beit midrash? Oh yes, he h...

The Christmas holiday season has always been a memorable time of year. Whether it is time spent with family, those special gifts from a loved one, or simply the smell of Grandma's cooking, every Christmas has always had something worthy of remembrance. The story of the Christmas holiday which I am about to relate holds a special fondness. It happened many years ago when I was still a single guy in my twenties. One of the...

Sitting with you right next to me,Nowhere in the world I’d rather be,Your every move brings a smile to my face,With your awesome beauty and natural grace,I enjoy being with you day and night,Being with you just feels so right.Of all the loves I have known,None have the kindness you have shown,None have the charms that you possess,None can match your soft caress,None can match the joy you bring,None can cause my heart to s...