Water Queen

By Daphna Shahar

Water Queen was inspired by my mother who won that title in Haifa in 1950, she was from that moment a " Queen " in her own right living a life that she dreamed of as a young girl in Palestine in the 1930's and 40's, watching Hollywood movies at the local cinema. Her dreams and ambitions took her to Beverly Hills, 5th avenue in New York and later to Palm Beach, where she achieved incredible success as a fashion designer and lived the life of the rich and famous.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781662443770

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Water Queen

Daphna Shahar

Copyright © 2021 Daphna Shahar

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2021

ISBN 978-1-6624-4376-3 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-4377-0 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

About the Author

This book is dedicated to my beloved children and grandchildren, who bring joy and love to my life and make everyday an adventure, to the amazing mothers you are and the loving daughters I am so proud of.

My grandmother Tony always told me the story that my mother, Rutka, was born on the kitchen table in her modest home in Tarnow, Poland, on August 8, 1931. I always believed it, although I often wondered why anyone would give birth on the kitchen table. Coming from a long line of storytellers, it may be true, and I like to think so since it seems a more dramatic entrance into the world for the most dramatic of women.

Ruti and Tony

in Tarnow

1933

My grandmother Tony examined her second daughter with a critical eye and was disappointed to see the baby’s dark skin and abundance of black hair. What would the neighbors think? She certainly did not look like a pure-bred Polish Jewish girl of Ashkenazi roots. Of course, it was his fault, meaning her soft-spoken, intellectual husband—Avram Weinberg—who had the same dark olive complexion, only with piercing green eyes. He was Russian born; who knew what the Cossacks had to with his genetic makeup? Rutka had dark eyes like a gypsy and this did not please Tony. Since she had already decided that this child would be the last of her offspring, she would make the best of it as she always did with every situation.

Growing up the youngest of seven daughters, it was the custom at the time that the eldest would marry first and so on down the line. Tony was the youngest; therefore, she had to wait many years for her six older sisters to get married. She finally did get married in 1925 but felt that she married beneath her status as did the rest of her prominent family. Avram Weinberg waited, like Jacob for Rachel, until the Galician magnate—Kanner of Debica near Tarnow—agreed to relinquish his beautiful daughter, Tony, to the Russki, a refugee of the Ukrainian pogroms. The two were attracted to each other by their love of Hebrew books. Avram was the Hebrew teacher at the town’s Safa Berurah (clear language) Hebrew school. Tony taught Hebrew as well and was an ardent Zionist. They both shared their passion for books, Hebrew books, and literature. They spent many hours together at bookstores and cafes, discussing the merits of various books and conversing in Hebrew. It seemed natural that they should open their own bookstore and so with the backing of her father, Tony and Avram embarked on the next step and opened the Kanner Bookstore.

It should have been called the Weinberg Store, after the couple that owned it, but at the time, there was a problem with couples that wed under Jewish law but had not yet registered under civil law. In such cases, the bride would keep her maiden name until her civil status had changed. The Kanner Store, as it was known, quickly became a hub for young Jewish intellectuals and a place for Hebrew writers. They hosted such poets such as Bialik, Tchernichowsky, and writers such as Uri Greenberg. Only Hebrew was spoken; Polish was only spoken in whispers within the walls of the narrow store.

Tony was the tight-fisted businesswoman who managed the bookstore with an iron hand. She kept the books, paid all the bills, took the inventory while the soft-spoken, dreamy-eyed Avram would just as easily give away books, loan them out, and generally drive his wife crazy with his casual attitude. Avram would have given away his wares for a promise to pursue the study of the Hebrew language. He was an idealist in his beliefs and lived that way too. Despite Tony’s strong sense of business, advice from her father, and arduous long hours, the bookstore was a complete financial failure. For outsiders’ eyes, it was a tremendous success, this was based on popularity only. The only redeeming factor was the reputation as a guiding light for those seeking the secrets of literature and to improve their Hebrew. The store was small, narrow, and windowless; it was actually created between two walls of buildings in the historic part of town on Walowa Street. The walls were lined with books so high that only Avram could reach them by climbing up the ladders with some dangerous and acrobatic moves not to be emulated! His slim, wiry frame allowed him to climb like a monkey up those walls! The bookstore was divided in the middle with a long and narrow table covered by prayer books, Talmud tractates, and Pentateuch. The back of the store contained Hebrew textbooks, these Tony was especially proud of. Tony would sit at the back of the long wooden table, eager to teach any potential young buyer the fine points of the textbooks. She would give private lessons there too.

Tony would sit at one end and Reb Avrum, as he was known, at the other end carrying on discussions in Hebrew with his customers and friends. Avram was young and clean shaven and spoke modern Hebrew as spoken by the pioneers in ‘Eretz Israel.’ There were heated discussions on the correct pronunciations, Sephardi or Ashkenazi. There were two schools of pronunciation and Poland’s Hebrew lovers enjoyed the arguments that took place in the Kanner Store.

Avram celebrated every new book acquisition as a holiday! He was a teacher and educator in every part of his being. He was an imposing figure, tall and straight, his copper complexion a contrast to his startling green eyes. His voice was soft and velvety, he acted as the cantor for the school as well as the musical director. He conducted the choir with great passion and clearly loved music as much as he loved books. Avram would combine the love of both in his books. His greatest love was writing religious children’s stories and plays for school holidays. He was published in various Hebrew youth magazines as well as his own paper, HaKokhav (The Star). His passionate personality was apparent in his display of affection toward his daughters, Hanka and Rutka; he would much rather read poetry and sing songs than discipline them. The result naturally was that Tony became the bad one and the parent feared by her daughters.

Tony took the opposite stance from her husband and was unrelenting and tough with her daughters, she withheld affection and tenderness. Both girls did not know the meaning of hearing a compliment from their mother and were scolded often as she compared them to other girls that were always more beautiful, better behaved, and smarter. Tony did not believe in giving compliments. She thought it would spoil their character! Tony was a beautiful young woman, frowning upon vanity (although vain herself, always making sure her red lipstick was carefully applied). She carried a small compact mirror that she would check from time to time. Her clothes were always pressed, and Tony always was seen elegantly attired in her tasteful and quite elegant suits and dresses. Her outfits were often adorned with some sort of animal skin with a tail casually thrown over one shoulder which was the style at the time and clever hats tilted to the side just like in the Paris fashion magazines. It soon became apparent that a common love of books was not enough for Tony, she dreamed and had higher aspirations. She found Avram to be detached from reality and often made fun of him in front of their acquaintances. Her father had warned her that he was a dreamer and a child himself.

Finally, in 1935, Avram and Tony were forced to close down the store. Avram then quit his teaching positions, and together, the Weinberg family packed up a minimum of personal belongings, preferring to bring their books rather than clothing or other items. The Weinbergs realized their dream and embarked on their journey to Eretz Israel. Their ship sailed to the port of Haifa when Rutka was four and Anka nine. On the ship, Tony instructed her daughters never to speak Polish anymore, only Hebrew! She herself would speak with friends in Polish sometimes, but the girls were forbidden! They never spoke a word of Polish again.

They settled quickly into their new apartment in Hadar, downtown Haifa. They became Israelis in every way, embracing their new country and culture. Tony became a teacher in a public school, teaching Hebrew as well as teaching adults. Avram taught Bible studies, Hebrew, and prepared boys for bar mitzva. In the afternoons, their small apartment became the center for studies, taking over the main room main which served as the dining room. At night, a convertible sofa was opened to make place for Avram and Tony to sleep. The girls had to be quiet in the afternoons because there were always lessons taking place at the dining table.

Anka, the good daughter, always was considerate and obeyed her parents. Rutka, on the other hand, intentionally made noise, interfering and imposing herself into every situation. Tony was always worried about the neighbors and what they thought. Her daughter did not fit the mold of what she envisioned for her. Tony wanted her to be modest and concentrate on her studies. With her black hair, dark eyes and skin, Rutka was like a gypsy, a troublesome one at that. She was very outgoing and loved to laugh and flash the wide smile that she used to dazzle everyone! She used it to get her way from an early age. The more trouble she got into, the more she seemed to