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Lupovici, Lefkovici, Lubavici, Leibovici and all the other similar Jewish names
are all derived from the original Levi. Meaning that the name bearer belonged to
the tribe of Levi. Now, in antiquity, the Levites were the ones who carried the
Ark of the Covenant. Anyone else other than a Cohen (from the priesthood cast,
though technically they are also Levites, just descended directly from Aaron)
would have been struck dead if they touched it. That thing had become a
tradition and no one other than a Cohen or a Levi is allowed to open the Holy
Cabinet and remove the Torah. Thus Joel was Jewish nobility if you will. There
are a lot less Cohanim than Levites and of course a heck of lot more am'cha
(plain folks) so the chances where that Joel could be the only one allowed to
perform that task. He would once in a while go to a synagogue just for the Hell
of it. The MC (prayer leader) would stand on the podium and ask the
congregation if there is Cohen in the house. 90% of the time there would be no
answer. He would then ask is there is a Levi to stand for a Cohen, at which Joel
would raise his hand. Joy to the fucken Jewish world, the scrolls would come out
to play. -%-
I'm digressing, sorry. On this particular Yom Kippur, the 6th of October 1973,
Joel and his wife Hanna were in the kitchen cooking. They had invited some
friends for later on and Joel had promised to make stuffed grape leaves. Though
this was his first attempt at cooking that dish, he was a good cook and he had
prepared stuffed cabbage and stuffed bell peppers in the past. The recipes for
all three are quite similar, so he was sure that he could do it. There are other
ways to prepare stuffed grape leaves, but Joel had opted for one of his mom's
recipes.
Hanna had volunteered to make desert. She made this really
simple pastry that was basically three rows of Petit Beurre biscuits laid on a
wax paper with a layer of chocolate pudding running through the middle. Then,
they were formed into a triangular loaf by lifting the wax paper, and covered
with an Israeli version of Nutella. She had finished that in a short time and
had placed it in the fridge. It would be perfectly chilled and sliceable, by the
time the after dinner coffee was served. Joel was just finishing stuffing the
grape leaves with a mixture of ground lamb, rice and spices, so Hanna decided to
pickle some gherkins. They would not be ready to eat for a week, or two but they
both loved pickles and she wanted to stay in the kitchen with Joel. The oven
that he was preheating was heating up the kitchen quite nicely and the brine
that she was bringing to a boil was adding to that. Not that it was cold -
actually it was quite a pleasant 30 degrees outside (86 on the Fahrenheit
scale.) Hanna was starting to sweat a little so she went into the bedroom,
removed all her clothes and tied her little apron back on. Back in the kitchen
she started loading her jars with the basic pickling spice mixture adding a few
dill heads to each. Joel, having finished with stuffing the leaves, had placed
the rolled up cylinders into a roasting pan, added some chopped up cabbage,
diced tomatoes, spices and covered it all with chicken stock and white wine.
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