David Cojocaru
Barber , Film lover, Mench
My father David liked his trade , that of hair cutting, shaving, trimming beards , and everything about it. He was good at it too, good at handling the scissors, the comb, the single blade razor, the pomades, the hair tonic, the neck powder. He also liked his clients that were seated on the chair ready to receive his full attention and skill. I think he was the favourite barber in town, not only because he did a good job but also because of his endless patience and smile.
He started as the owner of a small barber shop. After world war two ended, and he returned to his town Saveni as a Holocaust survivor, he had to join a barbers' cooperative, according to the rules of the communist regime (that was not in favor of private ownership). There were about five barbers in this cooperative , and they had their hands full of work.
(In the seventies , in Israel, there was no much demand for a traditional barber. Hair styling and the Gillette self razors - opened a new era in which there was hardly place for him. So he went to work in a big oil and toiletry concern named "Etz Hazait"- olive tree, in Hebrew, where he stayed until retirement).
He liked to go to the cinema whenever he could. There were films he had watched more than once. I recall the title of a russian war picture he often used to quote : "Nothing New on the West Front", it said. He was so pleased with this title that whenever asked how things are, he replied with "nothing new on the west front".
When we got hold of a a television set, he became addicted to TV action serials.
After retirement, he liked staying at home , preparing his daily salad and cup of tea or coffee, giving my mother and my brother a monthly decent hair- cut, going to the synagogue, browsing the prayer book on holidays, reading the newspaper, and , among other things, visiting the local clinic to have his blood pressure checked.
The family doctor at the clinic told me once that my father was unique in that he never left her cabinet with the back to her, only with his face to her. Such a fine man he was !
אבא שלי - ספר,פועל,גמלאי
אבי, דוד ז"ל, היה ספר במקצועו
תחילה עבד במספרה קטנה משלו
ולאחר מלחמת העולם השניה
כאשר הקומוניזם תפס שליטה
נאלץ עם אחרים לשתף פעולה
"בקואופ. ממשלתי "המספרה
הוא אהב את מלאכתו
וגם היטיב לבצע חלקו
בגילוח פניו ותספורת ראשו
של הלקוח ובני ביתו
הצטיין בסבלנות ובחיוך חמים
והדבר קנה לו חיבה ומוניטין
אצל לקוחותיה המגוונים
של מספרת חמשת הספרים
בארץ עבר אבי לעבוד
במפעל לייצור שמן וסבון
הספרות הפכה לתחביב
מועיל, מהנה, וחביב
"עם פרישתו מ"עץ הזית
מצא את מקומו בבית
בהכנת מאכלים פשוטים
בקריאה , בצפיה בסרטים
מדי פעם לשווקים נסע
להביא משם תוצרת טריה
את בית הכנסת ואת המרפאה
פקד בקביעות במשך השנה
Barbierul din Saveni
Ii placea de meserie
Si lucra zilnic la frizerie
Manuia bine brici si foarfece
Masina de tuns, si pieptene
Clientii il respectau
Talentul i-l apreciau
Si el din partea sa
Amabil se comporta
In orele libere citea
Sau la cinema mergea
Il interesau filme de actiune
Si apoi seriale de televiziune
In Israel la "Etz-Hazait" a lucrat
Concern de ulei si sapun de spalat
Era muncitor harnic si devotat
Pana cand s-a pensionat
Dupa a sa pensionare
A avut placere mare
Pe la casa lui sa stea
Cu chestii mici a se ocupa
Prepara salate si cafea
Pleca la piata si targuia
De mers la sinagoga nu uita
Si nici clinica, nu o neglija
David, Tata Drag
Tata, tatal meu
Ma gandesc mereu
La zambetul tau
Oh, zambetul tau !
Tata, tata drag
Bun ca cozonac
O inima de aur
Capul -un tezaur
De la tine am mostenit
Naravuri si multe calitati
Tot de la tine am primit
Suport, sfaturi si poveti
Pentru toate-ti multumesc
(Charlie Chaplin - The Barber)
