My triplet grandsons, now, baruch Hashem, six years old, are typical of boys living in Israel. They love to play soccer and spend a lot of time trading cards of well-known soccer players. They often ride their bicycles in their free time. They spend a lot of time outdoors, often barefoot, as do many kids in their yishuv.
They also love learning Parsha and Tanach with their father. They answer all the questions posed by him at the Shabbat table. I sit there quietly, enjoying this evidence of their vast knowledge and enthusiasm. I also hope I don’t get asked any of the questions they are asked. I don’t think I know half of what they know. I can’t help imagine them as they win the International Bible contest which is held here yearly on Yom Ha’atzmaut.
They love the land of Israel, and they know the names of all the leaders and of past wars we have fought and won, with the help of Hashem. They can’t wait to grow up and become chayalim one day.
Their many interests also extend itself to a love of science as well. They are well-rounded six year olds, baruch Hashem. They dream of becoming archeologists so they will be able to help find the treasures from our people’s history.
We live in Gush Etzion, which is rapidly growing. We can see the desert in the distance. When there is a sand storm in the desert, sand seeps into our houses and covers the cars like a sprinkling of snow.
Right next to our house, there are four empty lots, two on either side of us. It is a trove of research into our past for three curious little boys. There are the sounds of tractors digging up the earth and smoothing out the empty lots which will be turned into the foundations of new houses being built.
One of the triples proudly showed me his growing collection of stones he scavenged in the empty lots nearby. Each stone has its own story.
“Savta! This stone is from the Beit HaMikdash! This one has the footprints of the Kohen Gadol! He shows me one, embedded with little sparkles, which he calls his diamond stone. He keeps these special stones in a drawstring bag, and loves to look at his growing collection.
Not long ago, I moved into a small apartment which was built onto the side of their house. My husband, their Sabba Yakov, was niftar and is buried in a cemetery in a nearby yishuv. His first yahrzeit was coming up and I asked my grandson if he could collect some stones for me to place on his Sabba’s matzeiva. He immediately ran around and collected big stones.
I tried to explain that the large stones would block a lot of the words about Sabba which were written on his matzeiva.
My grandson ran off with a big smile. He came back clutching his bag of special stones. He started to hand them to me with a glint in his eye.
I told him I could not possibly take these treasured stones from him.
He looked at me, and then he looked up to the sky.
“Savta! When Sabba comes down from Shamayim, he’ll bring them back to me!”
B’ezrat Hashem, I believe he will!!
