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Advanced level – ‫רמה מתקדמת‬

A Letter That David, an Immigrant From Ethiopia,
Writes To His Wife Bat-Sheva

"What is Jerusalem for me, Bat-Sheva? How will I be able to describe to you
in words that wondrous love? For me, Jerusalem is not just a city, it is a way
of life! You are an Israeli, Bat-Sheva. Maybe you will not understand. You
were born here, and for you Jerusalem is something taken for granted. But for
me… it started when I was about eight years old; I wanted to immigrate to
Israel, and to meet the city of King David, the man after whom I am called…"

I remember how Mother woke me up in the morning: "David, get up quickly!
Today we are traveling to Israel!"

I jumped up from my bed. "Will we go like the Children of Israel in the desert,
Mother? Will miracles also happen to us on the way? Why not?" I asked
question after question.

The way was hard. In the night I would dream about Jerusalem, about King
David capturing it. I want to be now in Jerusalem! To see the Temple! If I
were now in the Temple, I would pray to G-d that He would banish the wolves
on the way, so that my little brother would not be afraid.

It is written in the Bible that Jerusalem has a wall of fire around it. I hope that
I will not get a burn. Last week I got a burn on my foot, and it still hurts me.
But it doesn't matter! When we get to Jerusalem, Eliyahu (Elijah) the Prophet
will heal me.

"I was so excited, Bat-Sheva, to immigrate to Jerusalem, to the Temple. I
wanted to sit in the Temple all the days of my life. I expected to see Jerusalem
surrounded with light and fire and gold. You can imagine how disappointed I
was when it became known to me that the Temple was destroyed two thousand
years ago! For the course of a week I was not able to stop crying. It took me
time to understand that true, the Temple is destroyed, but traces of its light
remained in all Jerusalem. They are in every stone, in every person,
illuminating and guarding Jerusalem.

Since then, I refuse to leave Jerusalem, city of eternity. I feel a need to make
up two thousand years of exile. I never get tired from walking in Jerusalem. I
walk in its streets. True, it is not the city that I dreamed about in Ethiopia, but
it is the city of kings and of people who dreamed about her and of soldiers who
fought for her.
I am confident that we shall succeed in redeeming Jerusalem, Bat-Sheva. And
when we have a son, we shall call him Shlomo (Solomon), and he will build the
Temple."

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