In Israel, girls defend the homeland alongside men
For some reason, nose rings (like anklets) are worn by girls of clearly European appearance, apparently believing that this brings them closer to an Eastern flavor. We have no racism yet, thank God, and the heart and eye of an Israeli rejoices at Ethiopian does the color of ground coffee and creamy-skinned Yemenite women (and although even by eye you can see how smooth and tender their skin is, you so want to touch it) and marble-white redheads with freckles, Ashkenazi girls.
Brothers and retinue! Which of these fair maidens shall I, servant of God, be captivated by? Almost all year round we wear sandals, so special attention is paid to the feet. A ring is put on the toe, nails are painted in the most exotic colors. I don't know what thoughts came to Nabokov's mind while writing "Lolita," but that, God forgive me, thirteen-year-old local princesses are quite ready for all the joys of love is evident from their gaits and grace. It's not for nothing that among us Jews, girls were married off at 12.
Eyes... no, my computer is powerless here... Eyes are mostly large and brown, sometimes greenish. The hair of most Israeli women is black as pitch, and for those from Eastern countries, especially Yemenite women, it curls into small ringlets. In general, a Yemenite woman ("teimania" – what a word, reminiscent of the skin on boiled milk) is our synonym for an Eastern beauty. A Yemenite girl has a supple Eastern gait – after all, hundreds of generations of their mothers carried heavy loads on their heads, so posture is innate. (No, after all, Academician Trofim Lysenko was right – acquired traits are sometimes inherited among us Jews). A Yemenite woman has long legs, a long neck, long fluffy eyelashes, thick sweeping eyebrows, huge brown elongated eyes set somewhat slantwise, which gives the face a flavor of the mysterious East... Hold me, I can't vouch for myself. Oh, Yemenite women... A typical example of a Yemenite woman was our wonderful singer Ofra Haza.
However, to be honest – among young Arab girls there are also very interesting specimens. But I have seen beautiful Arab women only on television. And, by the way, they are all rather portly ladies. I have never seen thin female announcers on Arab television. It's not for nothing that the Arab epithet is "moon-faced" – i.e., face like a full moon. And for belly dancing – the ancient version of striptease – you actually need a belly. And the bigger, the better.
But in our Palestine, Arab women are somehow drab – a white scarf fastened under the chin, a floor-length dress of the same smooth cut without any adornments, no makeup, smooth hairstyle, eyes downcast and no excitement in them. With such wives, it's understandable that Arabs get much more excited by belly dancing than we do by striptease.
Well, now let's return to our fellow countrywomen. Their feet are comparable only to Indian jewelry – silver with rubies – like those sold at the "Ganges" in Moscow. The feet of our young girls are mostly plump like a baby's, which is only emphasized by the thin straps of sandals. The big toe is of a clear, neat pentagonal shape, and the rest are no worse – pink, round, with perfectly trimmed nails. Lord, these should not be walked on but displayed in a natural history museum so people can see how perfect God's creation is. In childhood, I dreamed of reading all the books, and upon coming to Israel – of trying all the food in the supermarket and at the market, and my friend still hasn't given up the idea of loving all women...
There she glides through the crowd, licking an ice cream with her tongue (how come the Orthodox haven't thought to ban selling them ice cream?), seemingly paying no attention to anyone, chattering on her cell phone, looking at shop windows and herself in them, afraid of no one – who would hurt her? There she is – the most vivid and convincing result of Herzl's work, and there is not a shadow of that dog-like expression in her eyes by which we unmistakably identified Jews in our former homeland.
Maryan Belenky,
Jerusalem, Israel.
Specially for "Zagranitsa."