The story about the Hannukah wish - Essay Example

?The Hannukah Wish “Ron seems to be running late today.” Nicky Chelsea, the owner of the only Jewish bakeshop in Ridgemont, Illinois wondered to herself as she studied the clock. Having struck the hour, she had hoped to see the little 10 year old girl duck into the shop for a hurried bite of Rugelah, her favorite breakfast, on her way to school. But a half hour past the hour and the little girl had yet to show up. It was only by chance that Nicky happened to glance out her shop window to see the raven haired child hurrying past her shop. Nicky grabbed a piece of the pastry and ran to the door. “Ron, you forgot to pick up your Rugelah!” She waved the pastry at the little girl who was being weighed down by her school backpack as she ran up to the bus stop at the corner of the street. The raven haired girl with doe eyed looks glanced back as she fell into line with the other school kids who were boarding the school bus that had just arrived. “I can't this morning,” Ron hollered back as her turn to get on the bus came up, “I'll drop by after school to pick it up.” she smiled as Nicky waved her off to school. BBBBBB The bus slowly started up as Ron made her way to any vacant seat she could find on the bus. She had hoped that she would be allowed to sit down this time. Her back pack was really heavy because she had Physical Education that day and she had to pack her uniform into the already heavy bag. But as she tried to sit down, the other children on the bus placed their bags on top of the seats. Without her bus mates ever uttering a word, Ron knew that she would spend the half hour trip to school standing at the back of the bus again. She had no choice, she had to get to school because it was expected of her. But each day that she had to go, she underwent an ordeal that she wished she could avoid somehow. Veronica Ziv, Ron to her family and friends, looked like any typical ten year old girl who went to Taft Elementary School, a public school that was closest to where she had been born and raised in the Jewish faith by her parents. It was not easy for Ron to attend classes at Taft because of the public aspect of the school system. It seemed that everyone was welcome at this school except those of the Jewish denomination. Ron was daily living proof of that. It was not uncommon for Ron to stand at the back of the bus to and from school. Her classmates bullied her because they said she looked different from everyone else. So she must be from an alien planet. The first time she heard her classmates describe her that way was when she was 6 years old and in the first grade. When she tried to explain that she was not an alien but Jewish, Betty Jones, the blonde haired rich girl in her class declared that Ron was from the alien planet of Judaism and should be cut open and experiment on like their alien kind do to the human beings. The more Ron tried to explain at her young age about her family's religious belief's, the worse things got for her with her classmates. BBBBBB Ron was the only Jewish girl at the Taft Elementary school. As such, the school authorities never saw a need to alter their holiday schedule just for one student whom, according to her classmates, stuck out like a sore thumb. Although she dressed the same as her classmates, spoke like them, and shared their interests in life, they refused to befriend her because their parents had told them that Ron was a “dirty Jew” and should be avoided at all cost. it was not uncommon for Ron to be told that her parents should have died when Hitler tried to wipe the Jews out all those decades ago. These were hurtful words that parents had told their children about Jews in general that they carried with them in life. Their parents had made the children anti-semitic and because there happened to be a Jew in their school, Ron became the chosen target for all the hatred that these parents fed their kids. “I wish I wasn't a Jew!” ron muttered under her breath during lunch break. She sat alone again, near the trash cans in the school cafeteria because nobody wanted to let her share a table with them. Everyday she sat in the smelliest part of the school, trying to keep down her food as the other students persistently made fun of her by calling her racist names. “Hey Ron, how does the pigs food taste today?” Betty was yet again on her case as the lunch hour began to draw to a close. “You better start eating fast with that nose of yours. I thought you would have sniffed all that food up those two holes you call a nose by now.” she high-fived the other girls with her as they made sure to continue their tradition of lunch time bullying. “Betty, please leave me alone. I haven't done anything to you. I just want to eat in peace.” Ron pleaded with the girl as Betty's companion spit into Ron's soda can. “The would really have been a more peaceful place if your like had all died in the Holocaust!” Betty reiterated before pushing Ron's food tray off the table. “Oops. Sorry. I guess you'll have to eat the rest of it over the floor like your like are used to doing.” Ron wished that she had it in her to let the rage that she felt swelling up within her out. She had been treated this way every day ever since her classmates found out she was of Jewish heritage. She could not understand why they changed towards her just because she was a Jew. She had always been a sweet natured and friendly school girl whose only ambition in life was to have more friends than she could ever have on her Twitter page. Oh what she would have given to have had the freedom to pull on the long golden locks of Betty and then slap her until her face bled. But Ron was not like that in nature. Instead, she decided to be the bigger person and leave the room. Her parents taught her that Jews never provoked a fight nor fought back unless they absolutely had to. Jewish were truly peace loving people whom the rest of the world just chose to ignore. By keeping as low a profile as possible in class, she sometimes managed to evade their bullying. That is until math class where she excelled tremendously in class. For every correct answer that she gave to a math equation, a classmate should shout out “Tax manipulator!” or “Miser!” or even worse “Thief!” No amount of explaining from her teachers that Jews were naturally gifted with numbers could prevent the hurtful slurs from being uttered each time she stepped up to the board. BBBBBB She never did figure out how she managed to make it to the end of the school day everyday without getting killed. Maybe somebody up there really does like her enough to watch out for her. The final bell reverberated through the school halls. It was 3 p.m. finally Ron could run to the refuge that Chelsea's Bakery offered her everyday after class. However, Ron had one last stop to make that day before heading home. Her parents had written a letter for her that she had to take the school principal and get approval for to participate in the final Hannukah day festivities. Hannukah is the Jewish celebration that is equivalent in nature to Christmas. Having started on the 8th of December, it was scheduled to have its final day of celebration on the 16th of December. Since the holiday vacation for the school did not officially start on the 21st, and the school did not normally recognize Jewish religious occasions, Ron needed to ask for permission to attend Hannukah related activities without being marked as having missed a day of school. She also needed the principal's approval of her absence so that her teachers could give her advanced homework for the day or days that she would be missing. She stood bravely at the door of the principal's office and put her hand on the door knob. Steadying herself, she turned the knob and smiled at Mrs. Fox, the principal's secretary. Mrs. Fox was a grandmotherly figure who had worked for the school for the past 35 years of her life. She was one of the very few people who did not have a racist view of the Jews in the school which is probably one of the reasons why Ron liked her. “What have you got for me today Ron?” Mrs. Fox asked her as she set aside the papers that she had been reviewing. “Hi Mrs. Fox. Is Principal Holt in? I need to get his approval on something.” Ron answered as she held out her letter for the woman to review. Mrs. Fox motioned for her to sit down while she reviewed the letter. “I don't see why he won't approve this.” she smiled as she looked up from the letter. “It's only fair since we celebrate the holidays with a longer vacation from school.” “But he's only been our principal for a year...” Ron worried. “Tell you what Ron. Why don't you sit here and wait for me?” Mrs. Fox began as Mrs. Leviste, the Home Economics teacher walked out of the principal's office with Betty in tow. “You are lucky Principal Holt just gave you Saturday detention for that stunt you pulled. If I were the principal, I would have suspended you for a month! Why are you such a racial discriminator Betty?” Mrs. Leviste was still livid from whatever stunt it was that Betty had pulled in her class. “My father will make sure that I don't serve weekend detention. You'll see!” Betty adamantly responded to her teacher. Ron tried to look away and not hear anything that was transpiring within the argument unfolding before her. She would have preferred to have taken cover but then there was no other place for her to go in order to hide in the room. She had to sit there and listen to the teacher and student argue. That was when Betty noticed Ron. “What are you doing here mudblood?” Betty made a reference to the description of a human person born with dirty blood from the Harry Potter novels. “Don't call her that!” Mrs. Fox responded. “Ron is a human being just like you and me. Her blood has nothing to do with who she is as a person! When will you understand that Betty?” Mrs. Fox pushed her chair away from her desk and proceeded to show the tandem the door. “I will not have filthy language like that in my office.” “That girl needs a lesson in humility.” Mrs. Fox explained to Ron before she headed towards the principal's office door. “Wait here Ron, I'll get this approved.” Ron nodded both in approval of Mrs. Fox's statement and the instruction that she was given. It took only a few minutes before Mrs. Fox returned with the signed letter and permission slip for the classes she would be missing. “Happy Hannukah Ron!” Mrs. Fox greeted her as she gathered her things in preparation for leaving the room. BBBBBBB “You have got to tell your folks about that Betty girl Ron. She can't keep getting away with treating you that way.” Nicky tried to convince Ron for the umpteenth time upon hearing of her latest adventure at the hands of Betty at school. “Somebody has to put a stop to that girl.” she lamented. “Things will only get worse if I do that Nicky.” Ron explained as she helped load the assorted pastries into the display cases. “Betty controls the student population.” “But somebody has to control Betty.” Nicky explained. “She can't be allowed to grow up with such intolerance for other cultures.” A text message signaled its arrival on Ron's phone. She stopped loading the pastries to have a quick read of it. Nicky knew the message wasn't good from the way the little girl's face turned ashen as she read the text. “Somebody started a basher site on Facebook about me.” Ron's voice began to crack. “My classmates found out I asked for special permission to be absent from class to celebrate Hannukah.” “Give me that.” Nicky took the phone from the little girl. “That is it! I am calling your parents now.” she grabbed the land line phone and dialed Mrs. Ziv's number. BBBBBB “Ron, you should have come to us the minute this started.” her mother discussed with her daughter as they prepared their evening meal. “Yes. We could have moved you to a private school, talked to her parents, gone to the principal...” her father added as he set the table. How could a ten year old girl make her parents understand that having them fight this battle for her was not going to help her situation at school any? Things can only get worse for her if they took action because the repercussions of their actions would bounce onto her. She is the one who will suffer regardless of who did what. If they wanted to truly protect her, they would just let her figure this out on her own. “Mom, Dad, no worries. I can handle it.” she tried to sound confident even though she did not feel the same way. “If I let them get to me, they win.” “But a bashing page...” her mother began. “Mom, it's the 21st century. The bashing page will die a natural death. I just have to wait for the next bullying flavor of the year to come along.” Ron tried to sound reassuring to stop her parents from worrying. “You know, I play poker with Betty's dad.” Her father mentioned as they sat down to dinner. “No, dad. If I get branded a snitch it will go from bad to worse. Please, if you love me, you will let me handle this problem myself. “ “It is because we love you that we want to protect you Ron.” her father explained. “And you have done a very good job at it. When I come home, I know I can't be in a safer or more loving environment. Maybe Betty does not have what I do that is why she acts that way.” Ron analyzed. Her parents could not help but stifle a laugh at their daughter's comment. “Where does she get this kind of logic from?” her father asked. “I'll take the credit.” her mother beamed. “How did you grow up so fast Ron?” her mother commented. “Aw mom!” BBBBBB Ron spent her after home work time surfing the internet for other Jewish people who had been in similar situations as her in the past. As she read their stories, she came to discover that others like her were able to successfully beat back their bullies not by fighting them off, but by making the others around them understand what being a Jew was all about. She hurriedly went off to her parents to show them what she had read. “Mom, dad, can you help me talk to Principal Holt? I want to have a day at school for you guys and our rabbi to come by and talk to my classmates about Judaism and what is all about.” in her young mind, she knew what she had to do for herself. But she needed her parents help to do it. “Of course we will help you. We are proud that you thought of this.” her dad replied. BBBBBB It took the Ziv's a week to plan their presentation to Principal Holt. A presentation which was wholeheartedly met by the principal. It was a plan he was willing to approve provided the PTA would be on board with the suggestion as well. “We have a PTA meeting this Friday evening. I hope you will be there Mr. and Mrs. Ziv, I will present your request for approval. I believe that this orientation idea will only serve to help mold the character of our students. “ the principal explained as their meeting wrapped up. BBBBBB With the rise of bullying encounters at Taft Elementary, the PTA applauded the Ziv's for trying to create an inclusive way of easing the number of bullying events on the campus. The unanimously allowed the orientation to be scheduled and assured the Ziv's that they would attend the event. Two weeks later, the children were herded into the auditorium for the orientation talk by Rabbi Aschner. The rabbi took great pains to explain the history of Judaism to the students in terms they would understand. He used power point presentations to show them that the Holocaust was not a joke and should never be turned into a laughing matter. He explained to the kids about the resiliency of the Jewish people and why it is important that their traditions and culture be respected just like they expect theirs to be held in high regard as well. The talk had the effect that the Ziv's had hoped to have on the children. Now that they understood the real story of Judaism and the Jews, they promised to educate their parents and others as well about it. They would make sure that the Jews would be respected in their school too. And that is the story of how Veronica Ziv managed to turn an angry tide of racial hatred into an outpouring of love and support for her that lasted all throughout her time as a student at Taft Elementary school. The End Read More