1984-1985 Rothberg Yearbook

m Y tittle sister
Last spring I had an interview to come on the One
Year Program at the American Friends of Hebrew
University office. The gentlem an who interviewed
me kept stressing th at the only way to assure a
good year would be if I volunteered. Of course I
said, “ Yes, yes, I really w ant to get involved with
Israelis,” because I w anted to come here, b u t I had
no idea w hat that would mean.
In the fall I was assigned to my little sister,
Ziva. I w ent t a her house, after a disastrous phone
call during which I forgot all my Hebrew. I was
sure that her family thought I would not be able to
com m unicate w ith them . In the first meeting Ziva
stood in the corner and refused to talk to me.
Needless to say, I left feeling, “ This is volunteering” ?
But slowly the situation improved and Ziva warmed
to me. Now, she is my little sister — in fact her
family is my family in Israel. When my m other was
here for Pesach, we w ent to Ziva’s for the Seder.
Despite the language problem (my m other knows
no Hebrew), I saw that now my family from New
York had becom e a part of my family in
Jerusalem.
Our activities are not particularly interesting in
themselves, but somehow we always end up
laughing. We do a rts-a n d -c ra fts, tiyul around
Jerusalem , go to the Biblical Zoo, etc. But Ziva’s
favorite activity is to go into tow n, wander around
in HaMashbir and then have an ice cream. I d on’t
have the words to express how w onderful the
relationship is, but I guess the best I can do is say
th at my little sister is the best little girl in the
world, and that I intend to pack her in my suitcase
at the end of June.
ANNIE KAPLAN
New York, NY
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