Mr. Monday and other tales of Jewish Amsterdam

BACKGROUNDS

J_/ong ago they were driven from the land where they were one people, and where they received the law which they passed on to the world. Their "Ten Commandments" are still the backbone of what we call Western civilisation. Within the confines of their persecution they guarded the memory of Eretz, the land of Israel so dearly, that through the ages they wandered carrying that land with them. For two thousand years they carried it on their shoulders and that is why so many Jews have a slightly bent back.

Scattered over the wide world, they still remained one nation. Desert sands buried in thick layers the cities where they had once dwelt, and the cities of their enemies. The language of the Babylonians withered, but the Jews kept the speech of Miriam, David and Solomon living like fresh water. Again and again the sons of Haman stood up to exterminate them, and always in the final reckoning the persecuted stood at the gallows where their tyrants were hanged.

Goods, possessions and wealth are not really important, when things are at their blackest, only staying alive is. If even that is no longer possible, the lives of the children