In spoken Arabic a glass crystal is called belora. This name is reserved for Greater Haifa with a distinction for the Olive Valley, Kessel and Ben Yehuda. The country was divided into regions not according to the "Lightning" division, but according to the nickname of the glass crystal. In each region the name changed. When you say 'Gula', 'Jula', 'Bandora', or 'Blora', you are referring to the same glass ball that was used for many years as a children's game. The important principle is to know how to change between good and bad and vice versa. Always the opposite of true.
There are ugly crystals with small fragments and oil in Israel 'bombs'. 'Simple' as its name is, just don't forget which syllable is stressed. The 'gezozit' is characterized by small air bubbles inside a transparent sheath. The 'butterfly' is quite similar except that those with imagination could notice something butterfly-like in the transparent core. 'Beautiful', with weight stress on the 'y' and this is a nickname for a beautiful flower that does not fit into one of the definitions. The last one is the 'smooth' which is a solid, uniform and non-transparent color.
The main game is called 'Moore'. A small triangle drawn on the ground with easy rules changing from neighborhood to neighborhood. This is why forays into another neighborhood were suitable only for small-time lawyers who knew how to turn everyone around and return home with an impressive amount of crystals in their pockets.
The 'halangios' were really expensive crystals that were rare and in exchanges were equal to several others. Another and the most important type are the 'heads'. A personal blura where you play, win and earn becomes your 'main'. You are allowed to have several 'heads' and use them as you see fit in each and every game. I didn't intend to expand so much on this subject but I got carried away and I'm fine with it. The adults will be happy to remember, the children of today will learn something new and the women will be able to
to remember 'Kles' and 'four stones'.
I took advantage of the knowledge I had in conducting negotiations, the knowledge of the laws at the level of a senior notary, and in addition 'a good hand and eye' which also helped in basketball and the shooting course in the IDF. With all these impressive data, as a shy child, I went wandering through the neighborhoods and returned home with a lot of loot . Goes out with some 'simple' balls and one of the best and returns with pockets full to the knees. Not that the pockets were so big as the knees were very close to the pockets.
Before I enlisted in the army, my Polish mother, who was like the last of the Circassians, approached me and asked very gently, so that I wouldn't get angry and end up in the army angry: "What to do with your crystals?". The truth is that I was angry because everyone knew that I jealously guard my childhood games in order to pass them on to my children whom I plan to bring into the world at some point.
The army somehow moved and the elite of the crystals were packed in a medium plastic case and whoever was missing from her place in the package, her burial place is unknown. I came to terms with the knowledge that my parents were unable to fit into the living room of their small house two containers that would contain the possessions I accumulated as a child for future generations. It's hard for me to even tell this story lest I mourn all the loot that has disappeared and no one can testify where. I drop the subject quickly and move on.
Time, as we know, does not stand still, and my wife, whom I married according to religion and law, is kneeling to give birth. I will finally show the whole world why you should keep the crystals. Little Iris grew up and as a mischievous girl even played a little marbles, but I'm not the sucker who would let some small-nosed hawk bandit, the son of a shrewd lawyer, trick her and take the marbles I had accumulated during many hours of playing while wandering around the various Haifa neighborhoods in my area.
The years fly by and my little son plays marbles. Admittedly as an amateur still, but an apprentice. I bought him expensive marbles with the best of my money so he could lose with dignity. I didn't dare touch the valuable collection. My son is losing! I didn't understand how the tree grew so far from the apple. On a clear day, Oren Benny returns with a few crystals in his pockets. I explained to him that stealing is not allowed and it is not accepted in our family to do such things. The boy swears and I grin under my breath and plan to talk to the probation officer about my unruly sons.
A day goes by and another and Oren's stock is growing. From an apprenticeship of ball players he became a sniper who could compete with Wilhelm Tal. The day I can entrust my treasures to his faithful hands
coming closer and closer
In a surprise check to Oren's inventory I discovered a treasure trove that my crystals can only turn pale. I just miss, after so many years, that I will come to my dear son with the inheritance in my hand and hear from his mouth:
"No thanks!". I didn't stress, nothing happened. There will be more children and if not them, certainly grandchildren too.
Since I did not intend to write a book about crystals but only a story, I will be brief. I have had eight grandchildren so far, including six males. With the older ones I went through a similar story to my children and the little ones don't play Jolly anymore. The whole inheritance has been dragged with me for almost seventy years and in my opinion has already become an archaeological museum exhibit. I hope to bequeath to my descendants a few good millions in property and a plastic package of 'joules' accumulated through the labor of the state. I wonder what will excite them more. "But... if my mother had been alive to see why every child should keep inheritances for his children to come."
To all the skeptics shake their heads….so…. Every Monday, you can, by prior arrangement, come and check my 'joules' case, free of charge.
Nostalgia of a beautiful childhood, marbles, waymarks, marbles, rubber, gogos, class, glass of water, rope, hide and seek. Catching, was never boring. I think the marbles/crystals have remained with me to this day.
Thank you, you wrote very well.
I wonder what our childhood would have been like without the crystals. There were endless hours of fun playing games (especially our favorite pit game), and collecting all kinds of different types.
And with us in Ashkelon they called them julots and not julims
Even in Remez levels we played and won balls!
We played Moore and "Borot" (from above).
To this day there are at home…
FAV
Indeed yes, with us in Kiryat Eliyahu (from the German settlement to Kiryat Eliezer) they were called Belorut. The description of the games is incredibly accurate, but who remembers.
A reference to the Haifa idiom, "shrubs" were called the strings that damaged the bicycle wheel, in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv they were called "spitzim"
We had "gogoim", apricot kernels, which we would rub on the pavement until we got an opening, on both sides, which served as whistles
Dear Eyal! I forgot to mention that in each yearbook the games and names changed. Football and basketball games were almost non-existent because of….. money. Before the establishment of the state, a family did not allow itself to own private football.
By the way, almost everyone has marbles somewhere in the house, always warn without pause not to swallow and keep away from small children
I think they sold them in a lot of kiosks near schools, the idea was that they would sparkle with light at the entrance to the store and kids would ask their parents for marbles.
Absolutely they were called marbles I never heard of crystals. Belorah is probably a Hadar neighborhood with an Arab influence.
You could buy them in a mesh bag with about 5 to 10 in the contents.
The types were Gola Bombilla or Gola and a half - bigger than normal and have to play with similar ones.
The nicknames were
Gula Planeta - uniform color with a stripe or several stripes on them
Gula Pachetsa - a marble that has a fracture or a missing part
Brazilian marble - very colorful and not transparent
Spray marble or page marble - a transparent marble with colored stripes inside, or page-like stripes
Ugly marble - ugly marbles, beige, banana, burgundy, peach colors
Gola 'Til' - the gola is a sniper
Two game upgrades.
One is called Gula Balta. Arrange marbles along the grooves of a relief on the floor and you need to bring as many as possible into the groove on the other side of the relief. If it passes the slot you lose, if it doesn't pass there is another try.
The second one is called rocket marble and this is to roll a rocket to get as many marbles as possible but without yours leaving the circle that you draw and put a few dozen marbles inside. At the end you see who got the most and of course you can earn more marbles. Tight style.
Sorry, dear commenter, also here at Gan Binyamin
And on Yosef Hagidam Street, we played
balls in the late 40s
What to do? The age is getting a little higher...
The pockets were heavier than the quantity.
Later they were indeed called marbles, etc.