Yona Greenberg - the teacher of the mythological painting of the Haifaites • She wanted to donate the money from her works to soldiers and evacuees

The drawing classes were among the classes most liked by the old students in the Ahuza neighborhood. It is likely that today, many of them are mature and respectable residents, and it is even more likely that they will always fondly remember the mythological painting teacher Yona Greenberg, who lived, studied, taught and worked exclusively in the Charva Amot complex of the old estate neighborhood.

Here is the section that brings you Haifa characters. Fascinating characters in their homes, where the introduction is through the stories, charges and the unique point of view of the people who make up the human mosaic of our city. In other words, this is life and living here, just like the name of the section - "I also live here".

"Incredibly clear and razor sharp"

On top of a contemporary medical document, by a well-known doctor, it was written: "I met an 88-year-old woman who is incredibly lucid and sharp as a razor."

Indeed, such is Yona Greenberg, who has a dream and wishes to realize it now she is alive: to sell all that remains of her creations and works, thereby financing a handsome donation for the well-being of IDF soldiers and/or civilians who were evacuated from their homes due to the war, all this in addition to her regular financial contribution for warriors

An artist and a soldier's wife

Yona Greenberg is a painter and artist, 88 years old and a veteran of Haifa. She studied art at "Bezalel" and then a degree at Haifa University. She taught painting and art at the schools: "Herzl", "Ehud" and "Memory of Yosef" - to this day she creates special handicrafts on fabrics.

Her home is full of works of art, both her own and by other artists, paintings from all periods, prints (etchings), watercolors, woolen carpets that she made by hand and more... and above all Yona is a wonderfully clear and coherent conversationalist.

Yona's family

At the beginning of the days of the Ahuza neighborhood, Yona was born to the El family. The "Herbert Samuel Estate" company was established in Romania in 1920. This company aimed to establish a neighborhood in the format of a "garden city" on Mount Carmel and was originally called "Yididia Company". At the beginning of the "Estate Neighborhood" it was a kind of agricultural colony outside the city of Haifa, but soon it became a suburb of the city.

"Father will bring down the moon for you!"

Yona Greenberg wrote her biography and even published a book in an internal printed edition (2005) called "Father will bring down the moon for you!".

Prof. Yaffe Berlovitz (Department of Israeli Literature, Bar Ilan University):

There is no doubt that you know how to tell and tell with great grace. Most of all you know what not to tell and this is even more important... you are attentive to the listener or reader and know how to interest and fascinate him... your sensitivity to details is the beauty. You not only see but also smell and touch and taste and hear...

"Tourism in my cities, stories of houses and people in the Herbert Samuel estate"

In her book "Tourism in my city, stories of houses and people in the Herbert Samuel estate" the author Amira Kehat describes the life of the El family, who were among the first to settle in the estate neighborhood.
"The El family arrived at the estate in the late 20s, and lived in one of Habkin's shacks, on the path between Sderot Sinai and D'Israeli Street."

Yona was born in the "Molda" hospital/maternity (which used to be located at 82 Hanasi Boulevard) in 1935, and from infancy until the age of 4 she lived in one of the three barracks down the road that diverges from Sedot Sinai on D'Israeli Street, right next to the "Copperhouse" (Copper House) which was the home of Dr. Schmockler.

Jonah's happy childhood

Yona describes a fairly happy childhood. According to her words "everyone had only nothing with nothing" and therefore the rag doll was a beautiful and good company for her. The mother of the family, Miriam El, worked at the "Wolstein" hotel which was on Aviv Street and is now Kadima Street. Over the years, her father, Yaakov Al, also worked at this hotel as an "all-powerful maintenance man".

Yona's childhood was full of spending her vacation days from school in the area of ​​the "Wolstein" hotel where her parents made sure to give her various tasks such as: wiping the kitchen utensils or folding the many towels.

At that time, the highlight of life was playing in the grove next to the hotel, as well as a family Shabbat pleasure which included watching a movie at the "Moriah Cinema" which was the one and only movie theater on Mount Carmel.

As was customary in those times, Miriam Al also added to the family's menu the surplus food portions that the guests in the boarding house did not eat, which she received with the permission of the hotel owners. During the summer, all members of the Al family went swimming at the beach in the Hyatt Beach area.

Their house on Mapo Street

Yona describes the district of her childhood and the rest of her life in a very limited area in the old mansion neighborhood. From the shack with the room and kitchenette that was on the path between Sderot Sinai and Dishrali Street, the Al family moved to an apartment that was shared with another family on Kiryat Safar Street and from there to an apartment with a round "Yulia balcony" on Mapo Street.  

In her book, in a very pictorial and even tangible way, Yona describes their house on Mapo Street, and even sails through her thoughts in describing that apartment which at the time housed five people and sometimes even seven and where one young man lives today with his beautiful dog.

Belonging to an estate neighborhood

As mentioned, from her birth, Yona is a member of an estate neighborhood. She grew up in this place. From here she left for military service in "Givati" and returned to her parents' home. She then continued her studies at the "Bezalel" art school in Jerusalem, but made sure to return to Haifa every Friday of the week, and at the end of her studies she returned to live in the city of Carmel.

With the certificate of art studies and combined with a summative test about two pedagogy and psychology books, she was accepted by the Ministry of Education to serve as a painting teacher. The students' drawings were the raw material with which teacher Yona decorated the school's walls. The grades "very good" and "excellent" were handed out by teacher Yona with a generous hand.

Indeed, her students reached high levels in the performance of their work, so much so that every school she worked in became a sort of "pilgrimage place" for art teachers who were sent by the supervisor to see and be impressed and even learn from it. The school where she worked also won quite a few awards.

Uri Greenberg - "Eternal bosom man"

When she was about 24 years old, she met the "eternal bosom man" Uri Greenberg in a ballroom dance class at Beit Rothschild. Elam Hamudot is handsome and polite, has a red hair and the manners of an English house which has won her heart. And not without reason, since he is descended from members of the Brent family.

In the ballad about Yoel Salomon by Yoram Taher Lev, the first stanza of the song opens with the words "In a wet morning in the year 1778", and it describes five riders who left Jaffa, and they are mentioned in the second stanza:
"Stampfer came and Gutman came,
And Brent shone
and Joel Moshe Salomon,
With a sword in a sash."

These were the four businessmen who participated in the first tour of the lands of the place that would later become the city of Petah Tikva. One of them is Zarakh Barnet, a branch of Uri Greenberg's family.

Three sons were born to Uri and Yona: Chaimka, Gili and Hagi

Uri, who was an accountant at the "Zim" company, and Yona lived in Aharon alley near Carmel Hospital, and later on Sderot Moriah near Sderot Sinai. Three sons were born to them: Chaimka, Gili and Hagi.

At the beginning of his professional career, Gil specialized in hotels, but after a while he moved to the field of maintenance and plumbing, when the manners of the fine hotel service still flow in his blood, which he also instilled in his son Ido, who works with him.

Hagai, an employee of the computer company "Oktz Systems Ltd", a company that specializes in developing products for smart management of personnel - is the loving and devoted son that "every mother wishes for herself" and he is the one who helps his mother Yona in every area.

Besides them there was even Chaimka, the eldest of the sons. When he was about 27 years old he fell ill.

Yona writes about this in her book:

The news that my Haimka was sick, fell on me like a thunderbolt. 'A well-defined block' they said. What is the connection between my eldest, the funny, tall, good-looking, dark-haired and blue-eyed son, to cancer? Where did this line of Job come from?... And so I joined the endless statistics of those unable to rest...

"And only from you. From you the animal went

As is the way of the world, even in Yona Greenberg's house the memory of the son Haim is visible in special places: the kitchen counter that Haim created with his own hands, a display case with items that belonged to the late Haimka, and above that a memorial corner with a picture of Haim and below it the words of the poet Yehuda Amichai , which thus unites those who have lost the dearest to them of all:

"And lays a corpse at your feet,
And see: And there is no end of eternity
And the sky does not fall on their faces
Because only in you. The dead was buried in you
and only from you From you the animal went"

But not only the memory of sadness is in Yona's torment, but as mentioned her house is full of works of art, both her own and by other artists such as the painter Yossi Stern who painted her during her studies at "Bezalel". Her paintings from all periods are also displayed - prints, watercolors, wool carpets, and many other handicrafts.

Using only needle and thread she creates layers of movement on the fabrics of her contemporary works

Yona's works are characterized by choosing a balance between innovation using different media, such as diverse fabrics with a unique texture and sharp colors, and the theme and message expressed and presented in the work. All this in order to create a kind of stimulation or tension that will make the audience look at her works again and again.

These works are characterized by a wealth of colors and messages. In an overall view it can be seen that sometimes messages of humor are integrated in her works, sometimes of optimism or even there are works that contain messages of rebellion or even protest.

But in all of them feelings of love of nature and general perfection are woven and threaded as if they were taken from a dream or the imagination of a young child, directly to a better or even perfect and utopian world. In the laborious nature of these works, the dance of the needle on the fabric substrate of the work is clearly visible.

From the height of her years, Yona looks at life:

Despite everything, life is beautiful, everything I could - I did.

By this she means the good relationship she had with her late husband Uri, and especially her desire to comfort her two sons and grandchildren. As well as the professional aspect of her work, in which she was good at creating with her students the decoration of the schools where she taught.

Yona is reading a thousand books now

Yona can be found not only near the computer but also in the reading corner with the best books she is currently reading. She showcases the book she is reading now - "The Last Interview" by the beloved writer Eshkol Nebo. This book discusses the stories of a writer who tries to answer an interview sent to him from a website. This time his heart was pounding and he was about to break. This is because the essence of his life threatens to disintegrate him, and therefore he is determined to write only the whole truth, which is clearly not pleasant at all.

Yona points out that as you know, Eshkol Nevo's previous books (Three Floors, The Last Hope in Siberia, Newland, One Wish to the Right and Four Houses and Longing) became bestsellers and received excellent reviews both in Israel and internationally.

Black box - Amos Oz

In addition to Nebo's book, Yona returns to read "In the Classics of Israeli Culture", which she says is Amos Oz's book "Black Box". Befitting a teacher, she explains that with each reading she "pays attention to a different detail in the constellation (state of affairs, combination of circumstances) in which it is presented."

The book "Black Box" was already published in 1986 and it discusses the deciphering of an unhappy marriage affair. In the course of the plot, in which a letter correspondence between the couple is presented, an extensive correspondence of other characters is added, which gradually reveal a tangle of tortuous lives, wounds from the past, soul-searching and even a love that longs for a last favor.

Yona's favorite book - "Chess Novel"

But the favorite book among these that are on the bookshelf is Ladida Shel Yona, Stefan Zweig's book "Chess Novel". In this book Zweig describes what happens to humans who are subjected to massive and inhuman pressure. Although the novel tells about two chess players, it is actually a story of a clash between people.

In "Chess Novel" Zweig deals with Nazism, with the decline of Europe, and with the experience of forced immigration. This book examines questions of genius and madness, of mania and obsession, while the game of chess itself is the material from which a difficult story is woven, especially when accompanied by great talent.

And not only arts but also cookies

In addition to all the dishes that were created during her life under her hands, today Yona especially likes the kamish cookies which, in controlled storage, in an airtight container at room temperature, may be kept for a long time (even about two or three weeks). Note: Make sure they cool down completely before storing, otherwise the container will fill with steam and moisture.

The camish cookies are hard and dry cookies, intended for dipping in hot coffee, or tea, and there are numbers that Italians like to dip them in hot sweet wine.

Below is the recipe - products:

• 3 cups of self-raising flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 EGGS
• 200 grams of melted butter
• A handful of raisins
• A very generous handful of chopped nuts

preparation:

• Make dough from these products and roll it into 4 rolls which are placed on parchment paper.
• The baking is two-stage: the first baking is at medium heat (180 degrees) for 35-30 minutes, until the rolls are firm to the touch (but not hard).
• Now it must be turned over and then the additional baking is done at a lower temperature (150-140 degrees).
• After about 20 minutes, remove from the oven, and slice the baked rolls into thin slices with a bread knife.

Yona's dream - for the soldiers and evacuees

In the past, the Greenbergs made sure to listen to concerts, hear lectures at Beit Abba Khushi and even watch plays at the Haifa Theater and the North Theater. Today, Yona focuses on dancing beautifully with the thread and needle on top of her creations and her embroidery on fabrics, when the dream she wants to realize is to sell everything that remains of her creations and works, thereby financing a handsome donation for the well-being of IDF soldiers and/or civilians who were evacuated from their homes due to the war.

Therefore, Yona Greenberg wishes to join a group or company or association (a group of house companies, or Wicho or Rotary, Variety, etc.) that has the ability to produce an enterprise whose entire orientation is donation.

To coordinate the above, you can call her daughter, Hagai Greenberg: 052-5329595

Ahoza neighborhood - "You can't turn back the wheel"

With great nostalgia, Yona speaks of an estate neighborhood that used to be a "small village"... but with the sharpness of her mind she hastens to add that "it is impossible to turn the wheel back" and even praises the renewal of construction in the area on the one hand, but on the other hand she longs for "the wild pigs to be eradicated from the neighborhood, and I wish there would be supporting community Even in the old neighborhood."