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2018
אוגוסט
114 #
אדריכלות ישראלית
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החדר הירוק
95
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Little Trust Me – Shimshon Rabinowitz, a main character in the book "Bag of Tall Stories" by Dan Ben Amotz, relates
the amusing adventures of Palmach heroes. On one of the reading evenings, Ben Amotz explained the distinction
between a lie, a hoax and a tall story: a lie is when no-one knows the truth, apart from the teller; a hoax is when
everyone knows the truth except for the victim of the hoax; and a tall story is when everyone knows that it is just a lie
and are, nonetheless, willing to hear it over and over again.
Either way, the book became a bestseller soon
after it was published in 1956, mainly because
Dan Ben Amotz was a prince of story-tellers,
particularly when the greatest pantomime artist,
Shaike Ofir, was standing next to him.
One of the tall stories was about Little Trust Me
who, together with his father, was commissioned
by the Jerusalem Municipality to transport a
"hole" from Rishon-le-Zion to Jerusalem! On
the way up Bab-el-Wad, the hole slid from the
truck, and when little Trust Me reversed to pick
it up, the truck fell into the hole that had fallen
off.
Since little Trust Me was a friend of my father's,
who was himself a daring Palmach convoy
escort, I know that this story is true, just like all
the other stories in the Bag, and even if they
did have an element of charming exaggeration,
they teach a great deal about the handsome
figure of the Israeli Sabra with his crest of hair
(men still had crests of hair then), who tells you
that, no matter what happens, it's only a matter
of time before the situation is under control. But
who cares when the fact is that, only thanks to them, the State of Israel was founded.
As a tenth generation Sabra, for better or for worse, I still fall into the trap of thinking like that, and anyone who knows
me is sure that at least half of my life is a tall story, although the facts speak for myself, with, or mainly without the
crest.
One of the stories was that it was me who invented the words of the song "Green Fields" every time I sang it with my
brother, not because I didn't like the original, wonderful and painful words, but because I didn't really understand the
real meaning of several key words, such as "
parched
" or "
the cold wind that swept..
." and, with infinite longing for the
return of disappointed love, I focused on simpler sentences like,
"I'll keep on waiting until the day you learn
…".
Little Trust Me died in 1988 and there's a street in Rishon-Lezion named after him. Today, there are thousands of
ostensible "Trust Me's"; some became famous orthodox politicians, others - famous orthodox who became politicians.
Both feed us with daily lies; for some reason most of us believe they are amusing tall stories and continue to listen to
them as if – nothing.
Today, my English is wonderfully improved and I understand that what lies behind "Green Fields" is love, while the
parched symbolize the opposite, no matter who started.
By the way, this wonderful song ends with simple words of hope for a home… or two:
"
You can't be happy until you bring it home
Home to the green fields and me, once again.
"
P.S Any hint of the political situation is completely coincidental and may the famous orthodox politicians forgive me.
Architect Dr. Ami Ran
little trust me and the bag of tall stories
editorial
Editorial