DAD SWEET DADDY

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)