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17
Advanced Level -‫שוק מחנה יהודה‬

Meni and Oplatca Pharmacies

Once, in Jerusalem of the beginning of the century there were only
two pharmacies; Oplatca and Meni.
How did they [the people] know that it is already "Motzai Shabat"
[that the Sabbath is over]
Oplatca and Meni started to operate and turned on their lights.
Mr. Oplatca believed in superstitions and one of these beliefs was that
if the first customer who comes into the store on Saturday night is a
Halebian, Georgian or Bukharian (acronym Hagav) he is expected to
have a bad week. And that's why he told his helper-
"I will hide behind the cash register and when a customer who's in one
these categories enters I will shout to you Hagav! Hagav!" And so ,
on Saturday night Oplatca opened the store and when a patient who
complained about a stomach ache came in and asked for medicine, the
pharmacist's helper heard a shout "Hagav!, Hagav!" and referred the
patient to Meni's Pharmacy.
"No, I've already been there, and when I came in they shouted"
Hagav! Hagav! What's going on (happening) here in your
pharmacies?" and he left the store angrily.

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