3
" «Прокладывая первые борозды, выжигая сорняки, осушая болота и вырубая леса, мы одновременно сеяли семена своего поражения. В конечном счете мы осушили болота, но под ними обнаружилось нечто более страшное. «Связь с землей», «слияние с природой» — что это, как не возвращение вспять, закат и озверение? Мы вырастили новое поколение. Это уже не те, неукорененные и несчастные евреи галута, это крестьяне, прочно привязанные к земле, — грубые, сварливые, склочные, ограниченные, узколобые люди с широкой костью и толстой кожей» "
― Meir Shalev , The Blue Mountain
10
" Хората не знаят колко тежка работа е месенето. Тестото е жилаво и присмехулно като момиче, тежко и неподатливо като олово. Яков го месеше с движенията и на други древни професии – на укротителя, грънчаря, масажиста. Той хвърляше парче тесто върху масата, прегъваше ъглите му навътре, биеше, мачкаше, разтягаше и разточваше, а лицето му се кривеше от усилието. Пот и капки от носа му („непролетите сълзи, пламъкът на кръвта, лелеяният блян на семето му“) се смесваха с тестото. "
― Meir Shalev , Esau
15
" Alongside the house he planted orange and grapefruit, two more pomegranate trees, and one unbelievable tree that yielded oranges, lemons, tangerines, and other citrus fruits that I do not recall-- perhaps grapefruit and, perhaps, according to the storyline nature of my family, avocado or tomato. Either way, that tree aroused awe and excitement within me, and this is only increased when I asked my mother how her father had managed to create it. 'He's a magician,' she said. Years later I discovered it was a perfectly ordinary grafting of bitter orange understock, but my mother's words were already engraved upon me, and the impression had never dissipated. "
― Meir Shalev , My Wild Garden: Notes from a Writer's Eden
17
" האדמה הגסה הזאת, שהורגלה בצחנת עצמות של קדושים ובמדרך רגליהם של צליינים וגייסות, פערה פיה בצחוק למראה החלוצים שנשקו אותה ושפכו עליה את מנחת דמעתם, שבעלו אותה בהתרגשות, נועצים את מעדריהם הזעירים בגופה העצום. שקראו לה אמא, אחות ואשה. יחד עם התלמים הראשונים והזרעים הראשונים, יחד עם ביעור העשב השוטה, יבוש הביצה ובירוא היער, זרענו גם את הכישלון". וכאן נעשה קולו חגיגי והוא הוסיף: "בסופו של דבר יבשנו את הביצות, אבל מתחת להן גילינו בוץ גרוע הרבה יותר. הקשר אל האדמה, ההתמזגות עם הטבע – מה הם אם לא התבהמות ושקיעה. הקמנו דור חדש, לא עוד יהודים תלושים ועלובים, אלא דור של אכרים, הקשורים לאדמתם. מגושמים, אנשי ריב מדון, צרי דעת, עבי עור וגרם. "
― Meir Shalev , The Blue Mountain
19
" Two types of sweets were served with the tea: one was varenya, a chunky jam chock-full of whole pieces of fruit, usually grapes. (Who had money for strawberries? my aunt Batsheva pointed out when she read a draft of this book.) The other was “herring tails,” as my grandfather called herring, which was to him—and now to me—better than any sweet the world over. Grandpa Aharon called it selyodka and told the following story about it: In the shop that his family had “back there” in Makarov, in Ukraine, “we sold products for the body, products for the soul, and products for between the two.” When I asked him what he meant by that, he explained. “Products for the body were axes and hoes and boots for the Ukrainian farmers. Products for the soul were tallises, tefillin, and prayer books for the Jews.” Then he fell silent and stared at me in order to get me to ask what the products in between the two were. “Grandpa,” I said, “and what were the products in between the two?” “In between the two,” he chuckled, “is selyodka, herring. It’s for both the body and the soul. "
― Meir Shalev , My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner: A Family Memoir
