Page 52 - Rehavia advanced 130918
P. 52
Advanced level – רמה מתקדמת
Villa Leah
Dr. Nasib Abakrios was General Allenby's financier and arrived in Jerusalem with
him. After arriving in Jerusalem, Dr. Nasib worked as a lawyer and his fame spread
throughout the land. He spoke ten languages and had great charisma. In the course
of his work, the Dr. met Mordechai Tannenboim, an ultra-Orthodox man from Mea
Shearim. Tannenboim had a beautiful young daughter and Dr. Nasib fell in love
with her. He asked Mordechai Tannenboim for her hand in marriage. Tannenboim
was terrified at the very idea. Although Dr. Nasib was wealthy, he was a Christian
and was 30 years older than Tannenboim's daughter, Leah. Leah was dazzled by the
Doctor's wealth and didn't hesitate to agree to marry him. As a result of this
tragedy, the Tannenboim family was destroyed and the depressed father lost all his
money.
Dr. Nasib wanted to spoil his love so he built her a palace and called it Villa Leah.
It was a beautiful, impressive house. Eventually, Moshe Dayan was to live there.
His daughter, Yael, writes in her book, My Father, His Daughter: "In the first days
we lived there I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a palace such as might have been
taken out of the pages of romance novels; a pink, stone castle; an estate of the
Princes of St. Petersburg; or a capacious fortress taken from a legend. Each room
was painted a different color and we never stopped trying to count them all. There
was a pink room, and a green room…. and two huge guest rooms…There were long
hallways and balconies. There was a walled-in garden and in the garden were a
well and many fruit trees".
Leah lived a life of squander and waste. She had servants who catered to her every
wish. She spent her husband's money at will in order to realize all of her dreams.
When an economic crisis befell the region, Dr. Nasib was impoverished and became
destitute. Leah, who could no longer live the life of a princess, left Dr. Nasib and
didn't even come to his funeral.
Pg. 51 Copyrighted and owned by Ulpan-Or. Any usage, copying and distribution without express permission RD
from Ulpan-Or is prohibited. העתקה והפצה אסורים, כל שימוש.אור-כל הזכויות שמורות לאולפן
