ISRAEL

My daughter, Julia, is different and fascinating, not average, actually far above it. Born in 1963 in the city of Northridge, LA County, the far end of the San Fernando Valley but part of the City of Los Angeles. Today, due to population growth, it is built up. Year of birth, 1963. We moved to Newport Beach, Orange County, where I commuted for two years by train to LA where I was still a prosecutor, but eventually entered private practice in 1965 and developed a good criminal defense practice. Julia was, by LA standards, attractive, but in Orange County, very curly light brown hair and freckles was not considered as attractive as the tan locals’ straight blond hair in pony tails. She never quite fit in with “soshes,” but had some great friends that she still contacts every now and then. She was a good student in advanced  courses with good grades. Mother, father and brother all attended university. Brother and father- UCLA and her mother- Stanford, and it was expected that Julia would continue along the same road. Not Julia. She wanted adventure. So, on her own, she researched various alternatives, such as being an au pair for a family in Europe or a student at some European college. In her search, she came across a program called an Ulpan, where she could go to Israel, live and work on a collective farm (kibbutz) and study the Hebrew language for six months and then return back to Newport and that is what she selected. Our family was not particularly religious and none of  us had any idea what Israel was like except our knowledge from news accounts that it was far away and periodically had wars with its neighboring Arab countries and also troubles with the local Palestinians. At this time when Julia decided to go to Israel, it was fairly peaceful. The Israelis and the Arab Countries had before engaged in several wars, which Israel had won capturing its surrounding lands, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. and the Holy City of Jerusalem. That is about all we knew. So against my wishes, but supported by her mother, Julia took her savings from her work slinging hamburgers at the local Carl’s Junior where she worked during summer breaks and made arrangements to fly many miles to a place none of us was familiar and knowledgeable about.

So off we go to take my young daughter to LA Airport, where she was going to fly Trans World Airlines to Europe and then to the Israeli airport at Lod, a city close to Tel Aviv. My wife and I, unable to discourage this adventure, made it clear: “Julie, you committed to this venture, so don’t ask to come back early if you are unhappy with the program. You committed for six months and you must honor that commitment.”

So off we go, father, mother and brother to LAX, LA’s airport, me assuring my wife that I would support her if she broke down. Well, I confess I was the one who broke down and had to be walked around the airport by my son until I could get myself under control.  With tears in my eyes, I said good bye to my eighteen year daughter, sending her off to parts unknown, miles away.

So, Julia gets on the plane, rid of parental control. taking care of her destiny, settling in her seat when a gentleman approached her and said, “Hello Julia, I am a friend of your father’s, who learned I was on this flight and asked me to watch over you.”  “Damn,” she must have secretly thought; she finally was on her own and now she has a watchdog. The gentleman was Rich Franks, a law school classmate, and at the time the head of the California State Bar Association, who was on his way to Europe.

So off she went leaving the nest for parts unknown around 9 AM. So, mother, father and brother went directly to LA’s Borscht Belt to Canter’s Delicatessen in the Fairfax Beverly Blvd. area for breakfast. The first thing we did was order shots of DeWars Scotch Whiskey, to the chagrin of the waiter and the other customers who were not used to seeing people drinking hard liquor early in the morning, in a Jewish deli no less!

That is enough for today – gets interesting!

Marshall