Years after she had settled in Israel, she decided to return to South Africa for a niece’s wedding.\u00a0 The events of that visit have been added to family lore about that enterprising woman.<\/p>\n
*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/div>\n
Ella sipped a second cup of coffee in her sister-in-law\u2019s bright, spacious kitchen.\u00a0 A plate of warm cinnamon buns perched on the table in front of her.<\/p>\n
“So, what are your plans this morning?\u201d\u00a0 Sima asked, joining her at the breakfast table.\u00a0 Ella had arrived in Cape Town, South Africa the previous day for her niece\u2019s wedding, which was scheduled for later that week.\u00a0 It had been five years since Ella\u2019s last visit from Israel, and she was eager to make the most of her ten-day trip.\u00a0 It was December, summer in the Southern Hemisphere.\u00a0 The sky was robin\u2019s- egg blue, the sun a yellow magnet drawing her out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a long list of things to do, but I\u2019d really like to just go down to the water.\u00a0 I\u2019ve missed the ocean,\u201d she admitted.\u00a0 She loved living in Jerusalem, but having spent most of her life in Cape Town, she longed for the soothing roar of the ocean as it rippled and crashed, the blue green waves that lapped the rocks and pounded the shore.\u00a0 As a child, she remembered spending hours gazing out of the large picture window of her house, which overlooked the sea.<\/p>\n
Particularly during its violent moods, the ocean held a special charm for her.\u00a0 She had been awed by the angry waves that leaped like bucking horses in furious storms and swirled ferociously in almost black waters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a new mall at the waterfront now.\u00a0 You could do some of your shopping there,\u201d pointed out Sima practically.\u00a0 \u201cYou said you wanted to pick up some gifts for your kids.\u00a0 There are some beautiful crafts and handiwork shops you might find interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWonderful.\u00a0 I\u2019ll take a walk down there this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ella strolled down the familiar streets of Sea Point, enjoying the pleasure of bumping into old acquaintances.\u00a0 She passed a kosher restaurant, which she didn\u2019t recall from her last trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might as well pick up something for lunch here.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what time I\u2019ll be getting back to Sima\u2019s,\u201d she decided on a sudden impulse.\u00a0 A bell tinkled above her head as she pushed open the heavy glass door.\u00a0 A young woman behind the counter smiled sweetly.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood morning.\u00a0 May I help you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, thanks.\u00a0 I\u2019d like a sandwich and some salads.\u201d\u00a0 She explained that she wanted the food put in small, disposable containers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo problem.\u00a0 Would you like some plastic cutlery, as well?\u201d\u00a0 The sales girl offered helpfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m actually going to have a picnic by the water,\u201d Ella confided.\u00a0 \u201cWould you have a box I could put this all into for the meantime?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll check at the back, if you don\u2019t mind waiting a few minutes.\u201d\u00a0 A short time later, the girl appeared, triumphantly waving a small, Styrofoam box.\u00a0 She arranged the containers neatly inside, and presented it to Ella.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you so much, I really appreciate all your trouble.\u201d\u00a0 Ella paid for her food, and continued on her way.<\/p>\n
Ella explored the waterfront for several hours, wandering around the converted warehouses that had been remade into attractive shops.\u00a0 She marveled at the mass effort that had gone into changing the once rundown waterfront area into an upscale, appealing tourist attraction.\u00a0 When she began to feel her stomach rumbling, she was surprised to see that it was almost two o\u2019clock in the afternoon.\u00a0 She searched for a quiet spot to have her picnic, overlooking the ocean.\u00a0 The waterfront was shaped in an arc, and she found a perfect spot that offered her a magnificent view of the remodeled buildings and the Atlantic Ocean, which also afforded her some measure of privacy.\u00a0 With Sima\u2019s repeated warnings about nimble-fingered pickpockets ringing in her ears, she hid her purse behind her back, concealed by several shopping bags.\u00a0 She opened the deli box, eager to sample the tasty looking salads, when she noticed a small boy standing in front of her.\u00a0 She closed the lid of the box, and examined him closely.\u00a0 A raggedy scarecrow of a boy, dressed in torn, shabby clothes.\u00a0 His enormous dark eyes were two pools of hunger and neglect.\u00a0 Her heart melted with pity at the sight of the scrawny black boy.\u00a0 He held his palm out, and shuffled his dusty, bare feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019s hungry.\u00a0 Can you give me money?\u201d\u00a0 She hesitated to take out her wallet, unsure of whether the starving boy might not just grab it and run.\u00a0 Taking her hesitation for a refusal, the boy shrugged his thin shoulders and wandered away.\u00a0 Ella picked up her fork, and tried to eat, but a flickering movement caught her eye.\u00a0 Hunched on the end of the bench was the little boy, furtively watching her.\u00a0 She beckoned him over with a wave of her hand.\u00a0 Heartened by the kind look in her eyes, he drew closer, a wraithlike shadow stepping gingerly on the polished stones.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you last eat something?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDunno.\u00a0 Maybe yesterday.\u201d\u00a0 The mask dropped over the pinched features again.\u00a0 Bleak eyes regarded her stolidly. She glanced once more at the white box on her lap, and then handed it over gently to the startled lad.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake it.\u00a0 It\u2019s for you.\u201d\u00a0 Not waiting to be told twice, he bolted, clutching the food in grimy hands.\u00a0 Ella saw him at a distance.\u00a0 Crouching near a wall, he shoveled the food hungrily into his mouth, ignoring the plastic fork and knife.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, he certainly needed that more than I,\u201d she thought to herself, as she collected her shopping bags.\u00a0 She began the long trek home, up the hill to her sister-in-law\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
The Thursday morning of Tanya\u2019s wedding dawned bright and clear.\u00a0 The birds were chattering cheerfully in the trees outside Ella\u2019s window.\u00a0 The perfumed smell of the blue-headed agapanthus, crimson roses, and bougainvillea that grew in such profusion in the lush garden reminded her that she was back in the Cape.\u00a0 She hummed softly to herself as she dressed for the wedding.<\/p>\n
After the chupah, she wandered through the hall, greeting old friends and family members.<\/p>\n
“Excuse me, aren\u2019t you Mrs. Schumacher?\u201d\u00a0 It was Jenny Cramer, one of her daughter\u2019s oldest school friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cJenny, how nice to see you again.\u00a0 Yes, I came in for Tanya\u2019s wedding.\u00a0 Yael is fine; I\u2019ll be sure to tell her I saw you.\u00a0 She and her husband live in Jerusalem, that\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenny was chatting easily, telling Ella about her husband and family, when the words \u2018Sea Point restaurant\u2019 caught her attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you just mention the new eatery in Sea Point?\u201d\u00a0 She asked.\u00a0 Jenny nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYes, my husband is the manager.\u00a0 He\u2019s been working there since it opened.\u201d\u00a0 Ella smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just there several days ago.\u00a0 The saleswoman was very helpful.\u00a0 The food looked delicious, too.\u201d\u00a0 Jenny was intrigued by her account and curious about her description.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people generally go into a restaurant to eat.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t you taste anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ella suppressed a chuckle.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re right, it was kind of odd.\u201d\u00a0 She proceeded to tell her the tale of her picnic lunch, which had been eagerly anticipated but given away to a hungry-eyed boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI must tell my husband what happened,\u201d Jenny insisted.\u00a0 \u201cHe would appreciate a story like that.\u201d\u00a0 She disappeared into the milling crowd for a few minutes, and then returned with a tall, bespectacled man.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Schumacher, this is my husband, David.\u201d\u00a0 After explaining her connection to the older woman, she summed up the incident at the waterfront.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry you never had a chance to eat the food you bought,\u201d David apologized.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m really impressed with what you did.\u00a0 Please do me a personal favor, and come back to the restaurant tomorrow.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to treat you to lunch, on the house.\u201d\u00a0 Ella was touched by his gesture, but firmly refused.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very kind of you, but I could never accept.\u201d\u00a0 At his crestfallen look, she added, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, I would be happy to come back and buy my lunch.\u00a0 But I have no intention of giving away my good deed in helping that starving child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I see your point.\u00a0 You\u2019ve certainly given me something to think about,\u201d he said pensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cFood for thought, hm?\u201d\u00a0 Ella quipped, as Jenny and her husband laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose I’ll have to find my own waterfront beggars to help.\u00a0 I might just do that,\u201d David mused, contemplatively.\u00a0 Recognizing the determined look in David\u2019s gray eyes, Jenny was convinced that he had already settled on a plan.<\/p>\n
The following day, the staff at the deli was given new instructions.\u00a0 Any food not fresh enough to sell was to be collected at the end of the day to be distributed to the local soup kitchen for needy individuals.<\/p>\n
Ella returned to Israel, pleased that her good-hearted gesture, like a small ripple of benevolence, had created wider waves of charity and kindness, resembling a pebble thrown in a pool of smooth water.\u00a0 And on a hot, dusty street in the Cape, an emaciated youngster with inky black eyes was just a little bit less hungry after that day.<\/p>\n
We weren’t surprised-after all, that was our aunt Ella, the Johnny Appleseed of Chessed.<\/p>\n
Sheila Segal teaches in a women’s seminary in Israel, where she has been living for the past 23 years. She enjoys writing in her spare time<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My Great Aunt Ella was a legend in her own time.\u00a0 “The Johnny Appleseed of chessed,” one irreverent cousin once declared, after reading a book about the well-known figure, and the name stuck.\u00a0 In our family, Aunt Ella was the soft touch, the gentle, kindly soul that could see no harm in anyone, even boisterous<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":48923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\n
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My Great Aunt Ella was a legend in her own time.\u00a0 “The Johnny Appleseed of chessed,” one irreverent cousin once declared, after reading a book about the well-known figure, and the name stuck.\u00a0 In our family, Aunt Ella was the soft touch, the gentle, kindly soul that could see no harm in anyone, even boisterous ten-year-old boys who tracked mud into Mom\u2019s spotless kitchen or rowdy teenagers who pelted each other with the harvest of the lone peach tree that stood in our back garden.\u00a0 Ella, who, in all likelihood, was unaware of the nickname bestowed on her by her impertinent nephew, liked to view herself as a gardener planting seeds of kindness, even in the most rocky, infertile soil.\u00a0 She served on countless committees, collected money for the most obscure charities and visited the lonely and ill.<\/p>\n