FIRE IN THE DUNES  - By Shifra Shomron

(18 years old)

Neve Dekalim

22 Iyar 5765/ 31 June 2005

It was hot. Out in the golden sand dunes waves of heat shimmered over the burning sands. Ehud, Tziona, Nechama and I shielded by hats, sun glasses and sun screen were braving the furious sun’s rays to collect more wood; Lag B’Omer was only a few weeks away.

“How much longer?” I hopefully asked Ehud who was in charge of our small group, while wiping the beads of sweat from my forehead.

“Not much more”, he replied bracingly. “We’ll dump the wood at the site and then do one more trip. That’s all.” And he continued dragging the heavy acacia log to the fire site. Sighing, I readjusted my hold on the bulky branches I was carrying and followed him. Tziona and Nechama slowly followed me dragging branches that probably weighed more than they did.

Ehud had easily managed to convince me to join them for the wood collecting this afternoon. It was my first free afternoon from studying this week and spending it outside under the bright blue sky had seemed delightful. Especially as the phrase “collect wood” had brought back cherished childhood memories of building Lag B’Omer fires with my brother Baruch. But now Baruch was away at Yeshiva and rarely had the time to come home and help us build the family fire. So, Ehud had taken that role upon himself and spent nearly every afternoon out in the dunes with Tziona and Nechama gathering wood.

Finally, we finished for the day. The crimson sun was setting in the azure colored sea and a cool, refreshing breeze blew. I gently brushed the fragments of brown bark from my aqua colored shirt and sank down on the hot sand. Soon Tziona and Nechama joined me with a bottle of water and a package of rice cakes. Ehud stood nearby and, after drinking all the water in his bottle, walked around our fire appraising it from every side.

On the way home he cheerfully commented that ours was nearly as big as Meir’s and he had started collecting a month before us for his bonfire with his friends.

I didn’t manage to go out collecting wood with them again. I had tests to study for, tests to take, and I spent my free time indulging in indoor hobbies of mine like reading.

Lag B’Omer drew nearer and Ima bought chicken wings, hot dogs, beef patties, buns, pickles, corn-on-the-cob, soft drinks, potatoes, marshmallows, pretzels and chips. She also bought another barbeque grill and plastic utensils. Baruch would be in charge of the cooking and we all knew that everything would turn out delicious!

Orna called me up, inviting herself to join us as her parents would be going to a wedding that night. Excitedly I agreed. Orna is my best friend as well as being my younger sisters’ heroine. Everyone would enjoy her presence.

A few days later. Orna called me to say that she had just arrived in Neve Dekalim. I walked down to meet her and help her carry her bags, which we dumped in my bedroom. Tziona and Nechama entertained her while I greeted Baruch and we got things ready to take to the fire.

At last night fell and the stars came out. We distributed the chairs, bags of food and sleeping bags among us and, everyone carrying something, we walked down the street, past our neighbors’ small fires and onto the white gravel road. After 75 meters we left the gravel road and, turning to the sand dunes, plodded up a small dune. There, on the crest, was our fire.

We kids, under Ehud’s supervision, arranged the chairs, sleeping bags and food while Aba and Baruch lit the fire. The dead wood started crackling and bright orange flames leapt into the dark sky. Very soon the fire lit up the entire area and we all stepped a respectable distance backwards.

A friendly neighbor joined us for a bit and chatted with Aba while admiring our fire. Then several reporters and security personnel also joined us at our fire for a short period.

But finally they all left and it was just our family and Orna. The stars gleamed brightly, the night was cold and we all pulled our soft blankets and sleeping bags closer to the warm fire. We were letting the fire consume the wood without us adding more wood so that Baruch would be able to take shovels of glowing embers to cook the meat over.

We all sat quietly, discussed Lag B’Omer and stared into the fire, watching the brown logs turn red and orange in color and gleam like gold. There was one branch in particular that held me fascinated: fire was slowly streaming up it like drops of golden water.

Lying on my back, I watched the glowing red sparks fly from the fire up into the cloudy night sky. Everything was still except for the comforting crackling of the hungry fire and the distant merry sounds of other kids around their bonfires. I started to sing. Slowly Orna, Tziona, Ehud and Baruch joined me. Our voices intertwined: loud and low, strong and soft, shrill and deep. All, joined in harmony, forming the same beautiful melody, passed the gleaming red sparks rising high, high into the night sky.

Baruch took the burning embers he needed. Ehud added more wood to the fire as well as a handful of dry leaves, which made the tongues of flame soar higher and lick the new dry wood. Taking my flashlight, I soon joined Baruch by the gleaming embers. I held the light steady over the meat so he could check and see what was done. The chicken wings were ready soon. Afterwards we cooked the hotdogs and lastly we cooked the spicy delicious beef patties. Ehud thrust a piece of wire through the potatoes and then placed them in the fire.

And we all filled our plates and sat together basking in the warmth of the fire and the warmth of our feelings for each other.

When we were done eating, Baruch and Ehud took out their recorders (musical instruments). Baruch’s recorder is a bass and Ehud’s recorder is regular. I play the soprano recorder but hadn’t thought to bring it along.

They started playing: Rav Carlebach’s melodies decided to join our fire. Hassidic tunes came to keep us company. And Jerusalem herself, the golden city, came to enjoy the gold of our fire. Clear recorder notes and soft voices merged together in unison. The moon came out from behind a cloud. It was nearly full and beamed brightly down at us.

And thus the night passed. Ima, Tziona and Nechama soon fell asleep, snug in their sleeping bags, warm from the fire… we sang and played for a while longer… roasted marshmallows over glowing embers… every now and then added more wood to the fire… dozed off for a bit… added some more wood…

The night got very still. No one else remained in the sand dunes besides us and the boys at Meir’s nearby bonfire. The gray bonfire smoke had drifted up into the dark sky, which was now cloudier than ever. The fire softly crackled on. And in the east, the sky started growing brighter. Slowly, slowly, the light spread. A fresh breeze blew. I woke Baruch up and he started putting the fire out. Shovel by shovel the fire was covered with a thick blanket of cold and pale sand. I woke Ehud and the girls up. We started gathering all our belongings. The sky grew brighter still. And brighter. Any second and the golden sun would come up. We distributed everything among us and slowly walked home.