The only treasure worth hunting
is a good friend, and you are the best treasure.
ﺗﻨﻬﺎ ﮔﻨﺠﯽ ﮐﻪ ﺟﺴﺘﺠﻮ ﮐﺮدن آن ﺑﻪ زﺣﻤﺘﺶ ﻣﯽ ارزد!
دوﺳﺖ واﻗﻌﯿﺴﺖ و ﺗﻮ ﺑﻬﺘﺮﯾﻦ ﮔﻨﺠﯽ…
My cousin Rahim was one of the best friends I’ve ever had. When we were kids, we used to play with marbles in the streets and alleys, and when we grew up, we would play ping-pong and card games. Another love we shared was bicycle riding. I used to beg my father to buy me one. When he finally did, that was the best of gifts! Unfortunately, one day I hit a chador-covered lady with my bicycle. She started screaming, and people started gathering around us. My father soon found out about the event, and on that very day he took an axe and mercilessly attacked my darling bicycle, shattering it completely.
As a child, I loved the accordion and was enchanted by its sound. My father was so kind as to buy me one, and I learned to play a little bit with a private tutor. My cousin Rahim also nagged my uncle Mikhael until he bought him an accordion, and we became the family’s accordion duo. We were sure that we were the best in the world!
With the help of our family and friends and their connections, we found a young singer, and were even invited to perform on a radio show. We practiced like crazy, constantly, daily, played our gig time and again, and finally the big day arrived: we were taken to the radio studio. We were supposed to play something on the accordions, and after a short intro, the singer was supposed to start singing. But oh my God, don’t ask what happened! The singer was so excited, he completely forgot the lyrics! We played the intro again. Then we played it again, looking at his mouth with anticipation, but the guy remained mute! Blacked out! Lost his voice! Swallowed his tongue! He just wouldn’t sing. We returned home shamed, disgraced, and humiliated, and that was the end of my musical career.
Rahim and I were best friends in Tehran. When I moved to Hamburg and Zürich, the connection was almost lost, but when we found ourselves once again in the same country — Israel — we resumed our friendship. Towards the end of his life, Rahim had many health and other problems. It broke my heart to see him wither and die before my eyes, and I did whatever I could to help him. His son Oded also came from the north of Israel to help his father during these hard times, and took very good care of him. Rahim passed away of heart failure in 2013. I will always remember him fondly as my best friend in childhood and throughout adolescence.