Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 43 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

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From the siddur that Chani Klein prepared for herself at age twelve:

The boys sing in shul, and the girls next to the candles:

Lecha Dodi likras kallah

Pnei Shabbos nekablah

“Time and again, I’m amazed at the creativity!” Naomi laughed as she returned the siddur to her aunt/mother-in-law.

Her mother-in-law smiled. “All the girls my age had such a siddur,” she said. “The idea, of course, was Babbe’s, she should be well. She announced a competition for ‘The Nicest Siddur,’ because lots of the girls our age didn’t really daven the whole tefillah. Siddurim were in shul, for the men, from the few things the Wangels were able to save from the Nazi plundering. And a few people had their own siddurim.”

“I heard about the competition,” Naomi said. “My mother told me about it. She also made a siddur, when she got older, but it was smaller, and not so fancy and decorated.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 42 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י

Beneath the letters on the wall was a drawing of a child wearing a yarmulke, sitting and reading a book. Binyamin stared unseeingly at the drawing. “The idea to break into their house isn’t all that bad…” he said.

“Not bad.” Naomi’s lips curled cynically. “And can you lower your voice a little, Binyamin? There are children here, and as young as they are, their ears are huge. Anyway, like I said, bli neder I’ll run over to her after work today, okay? I can’t imagine there’s too much time left to your break now, in any case.”

“Fine.” Binyamin gave in. “So, what will you tell her when you go?”

“I don’t know—whatever Hashem puts in my mouth.”

“Okay, fine. Good luck. This picture is nice, by the way.”

“One of the mothers came and drew it.” Naomi nodded. The children were frolicking around them with mounting energy, and Binyamin glanced over at them and then sighed.

“It hurts me to think about what will be with the bigger kids here in a few months. I just saw the ones who are taking care of the lambs and the foxes. Believe me, they are babies, literally… When are they supposed to have time to learn to read from a siddur?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 41 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

To the honorable Mr. Josef Wangel,

About half a year ago, I purchased a fur coat produced by your factory, ahead of a trip to London. It should be noted that throughout my stay there, I received countless compliments on the coat, which is unmatched in beauty and quality, and especially for its elegant finishing touches. I wish to offer you my blessings for this. I told all my acquaintances, both in London and in Austria, where I purchased the coat, and how satisfied I am with your exceptional work. There is no doubt that many years of family knowledge cannot be disputed.

Of course, going forward, I will purchase such items only from your unique factory.

Signed,

Victor Nissel, Head of the Social Democratic Party, Austria

The workers in the office read the letter with interest, smiled, as was expected of them, and complimented the Hauptmann standing at the door—also as was expected of them, even though the “family knowledge” mentioned in the letter was more their own than that of the Hauptmann, who was nevertheless glowing proudly and with satisfaction.

“I think all the factory workers will get a nice bonus for this,” he said. “I hope I’ll be able to get this letter published in the media. A bit of popularity among consumers won’t hurt us now. As you know,” he scowled suddenly, “people turned against us when we chased away curious eclipse tourists from the hillsides. And because neither I, nor you, want our sales to decline, we should all be working full force to ensure that such letters become a matter of course.”

He pointed to the letter. “This will hang here on the wall,” he noted, “so that everyone should remember what kind of output you are able to reach. Now, I want the young man Schvirtz here.”

“Can I ask why?” Leo Sherer asked submissively, but not before he motioned to one of the office boys to go call Binyamin from the factory.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 40 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Abba comes home. Chana runs to Abba. Nosson also runs to Abba. Abba is happy.

Nosson gives Abba a date. Chana gives Abba a shoe.

Abba says, “Nosson is smart! Chana is smart! Thank you, children, thank you!”

“I’m already a reading expert,” Aryeh said with satisfaction as he put the paper down on the table. “I only had trouble with that last line, but I was able to figure it out.”

“I really wanted the father to tell them something else, but I couldn’t find something with the right nekudos,” Naomi said, taking out a small box of sugar.“If I would be more fluent in Lashon Hakodesh, maybe I would find better words with kamatz and pasach…” She smiled. “And maybe I would also find an idea for something else that Nosson could give the father… But my girls enjoy reading about a tamar,a date. The idea excites them even though none of them has ever seen the fruit.” She stopped and looked at her husband. She didn’t hear anything, but from experience she already knew that his sense of hearing was much sharper than hers, and clearly, he had just heard something.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 39 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

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Sodium Chloride (15 kg)

Sodium Silicofluoride (1 kg)

Zinc Chloride (2 kg)

Formaldehyde (200 ml)

Sodium Bisulfate (2 kg)

Norsulfazol/Sulfidin/Furacilin (25 tablets)

Mix the ingredients well until it becomes a smooth mixture. Soak the fur in the mixture for a few hours until the hard top layer disappears entirely—

“Binyamin, how are you? Baruch Rofei cholim!” Mottel Kush cast a shadow on the paper his young friend was working on as he chewed on an apple.

“Baruch Hu u’baruch Shemo, I do feel much better.”

“What’s this paper?”

“This? These are instructions plus a list of ingredients for the initial soaking of the furs.”

“I got that much.” Mottel smiled and sat down on a nearby tree stump, far from the other workers who were using the break to grab a snack. “I meant to ask why you are sitting and writing it, and more than that—why are you writing nonsense? Fifteen kilograms of Sodium Chloride? You can throw that fur right into the garbage! What else did you write there? Twenty-five tablets…really! It’s one thing if you put in Norsulfazol, but Sulfidin? You need at least fifty if you want to keep the proportions that you started with.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 38 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

SECTION 2: MORNING

Chapter Thirty Eight

A note slid under the door of Shelter B:

Is Hauptmann Josef Wangel inside now?

The note was sent back:

No, only one of the young ones.

Binyamin crumpled the note in his tightly closed fist, and without waiting, he cautiously turned the handle of the heavy door and entered. His eyes fell on the person sitting closest to it. “Thanks.” He smiled wanly to Elkovitz and slowly closed the door behind him.

“So you also came late,” the man whispered.

“As you can see.” Binyamin took a deep breath and opened the velvet satchel. “I didn’t know they were so pressured. Now, if you don’t mind…”

“Yes, of course,” Elkovitz replied. “Daven. I won’t bother you.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 37 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

A letter that Binyamin wrote to his mother when he was seven years old:

To my dear Mamme!

I am lying in bed but I can’t fall asleep. I don’t like the end of the month, when there is no moon in the sky and everything is dark and you are also sleeping. Do you think that when Mashiach comes, the moon will be round all the time, or that we’ll be able to turn on as many lights as we want then, anyway?

Please tell me in the morning that you read this letter and that you are not laughing at someone who is afraid of the dark. Because the night is sometimes so long!

And also tell me what I can do so that I won’t be scared, because I already said Krias Shema and all the pesukim, and it’s just darker than ever.

From, Binyamin

The letter was kept in an upper cabinet in the house, with Naomi’s compositions and drawings by them both, along with a few other mementos of days past.

The door of the cabinet opened, and pages upon pages slid down in the darkness to the floor. He was again a little boy of seven, sad and hesitant, waiting for his mother to come and maybe sing something for him. He sat on the cold floor, with all the papers scattered around him. Maybe that little piece of paper was Tatte’s hospital card? It certainly looked like a medical document.

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 36 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

On the bulletin board in the main dining room:

For a nominal fee, you can have your clothes laundered in the factory’s washing machine. Anyone interested should please contact Elky Kush.

“Elky?” Rochel Cohen put the big ladle down on the counter when she saw her daughter approaching, and came out from behind the counter. “How are you?”

“Baruch Hashem, everything is fine.”

“What’s the sign I saw this morning all about?”

“Oh, nothing major. Peri, who is in charge of laundry at the factory, told me that the new machine is faster and has a bigger drum, so the factory workers’ overalls and aprons get laundered faster. So now the old machine is standing empty.”

“And the office decided to give people a chance to enjoy it?”

“Yes…sort of.”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 35 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Excerpted from “The Kindergarten Book”:

There was a father and mother who lived in Eretz Yisrael, and they had three children. The father went to learn Torah every day in the Beis Hamikdash, and the mother prepared food for the children who came home each day from their kindergarten and ate happily. (Surele F.)

The non-Jewish Hauptmanns did not come to tell them what to do. They would go all day to pick flowers for Shabbos, and they also gave them out to the poor neighbors, so they should be happy. (Chana R.)

Once, a heavy snow fell, and no flowers grew. Outside it was cold, but the children and their father and mother had heavy, thick blankets and lots of clothes that Mashiach gave them all. No one was cold. (Dror E.)

“It’s really nice.” Binyamin closed the thick notebook, whose pages were tied together with a colorful, curly ribbon. “You wrote a whole story together?”

“Each one of the children contributed a sentence when it was their turn,” Naomi said. She was sitting on a small chair in the corner of the clinic. “We made a few rounds, until the whole story came together. Don’t ask, it went through a bunch of different versions of really captivating plots… I just hope the kids won’t talk about it too much outside, and that they have enough brains to realize  it’s not a good idea for the Nazis to read the story. There are a lot of expressions about wanting to get out of here, and to see the beautiful world.”

“And if they do hear about it?”

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 34 of a new online serial novel, Nine A.M., by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week.  Click here for previous chapters.

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Name: Schvirtz, Binyamin

Son of: Asher and Rechel Schvirtz

Hospitalized on: 01-01-78

Reason: Intestinal Infection

Discharge: 05-01-78

Did he remember that? Very vaguely. He remembered having painful stomachaches, and figures passing by near his bed. Was his father one of them? Most likely; based on the date, it was half a year before his passing.

Binyamin stood near the open drawer, one of dozens, and held the precious card file. It was easy to get to—much easier than he’d thought. The whole wall unit was made up of endless drawers, and they were divided clearly into half-year periods. He easily found the card file for the first half of 1978, and there he was, the name on the first card.

With a bit more patience, he’d find his father’s file.

Aside for him, there were only two others in the infirmary right now, and their even breathing hummed in his ears like an all-clear siren that could change at any moment. He wasn’t worried about Zuretzky from the bakery; he was an innocent youth, a bit of a nebbach, who would easily accept any excuse for what Binyamin was doing in the event he’d suddenly wake up and ask.