The jacket

Some time before – 01.06.58 I know this date for sure. It is my seventeenth birthday. A long time before that I went to Tomi on Hehalutz Street in Haifa on my way home with Tom from a night out. I usually hurried because of the late hour, to gain hours of sleep. A little before Cohen’s shoe store and a little after Greenberg’s shoe store, which still exist to this day, there was a large store, not for shoes, but for men’s clothing.

Hehalutz Street in Haifa is dark and this is the only store in the area whose window light is on until late at night. From a distance, you notice the sidewalk bathed in light and, as if by a whisper, are drawn to the light. It is impossible to reach the store on a mostly dark route without stopping even for a few seconds.

One night, I was rushing home. It was after midnight and indeed the only light that was shining down on the sidewalk was from the shop window. I arrived at a brisk walk, stopped for a few seconds and suddenly out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a jacket in the shop window, on the right side in the last row up. A striped jacket, not striped, not in a color, but
Amazingly beautiful, in my opinion.

When I saw this jacket, my face lit up and since then I have stopped regularly to look at it and dream that maybe one day it will be mine. Its price was written on a note, pinned to one of the pockets: 16.90 LYD. I hope the pin didn't cause any damage on its own. If the route home went through Herzl Street, near the "Ora" cinema, it changed. I went down an alley of stairs leading to Hehalutz Street so as not to miss looking at my jacket. In this way, I accumulated many hours of looking at the jacket. I could identify it among thousands, if they were put on a jacket identification roll.

One day I shared my experience with my mother when I was asked about staying up late at night. My mother was moved to hear this and solemnly promised me that on my seventeenth birthday she would indeed buy me the jacket as a gift. Normally, clothing is not considered a gift because it is the household's job to buy food and clothing for its children, but this time I was very excited as a result of this promise and I increased the time of observation. I imagined this perfect jacket walking down the main street while I was in it. Moving and advancing at the rhythm of a dance and great happiness overflowing my heart. What more do I need in life? I must start practicing walking in a dance style so that I will not sin by walking in a simple and folkish way with such a jacket on me.

I was filled with great anxiety and feared that someone would buy the jacket before me and it would simply disappear from the window. "What should I do? Please go and change?" There are two possibilities. One is that there are two of them and if one is sold, the other will always remain. This makes no sense at all. There can be no poor imitation of my jacket. The other possibility is that I must pray every day that it will not be stolen by a greedy person who discovered what I discovered. Now it is clear that I must go through the place every night, guarding and making sure that no stranger gets it. There may even be secret ambushes to discover if some vandal is looking at it with desire. I did not worry at all about the size of the jacket, because it was clearly sewn to my measurements.
Many times a friend who walked alongside me on the same route, because it was also the way home, would mock me and think I was just stopping on purpose to annoy him. I didn't try to explain or reveal my secret to him. The truth is that I was a little afraid that I would give someone ideas before my birthday arrived. Under severe torture, I would reveal everything, except... this secret. No one would be able to understand the connection between me and my jacket and how it was created.

The date of the event was getting closer. My excitement grew as I thought about what would happen on the appointed day. I had a big surprise from my mother and I didn't have to wait until my birthday. A whole day before, she announced that in the afternoon, after preparing the lessons, we would go to the store to buy some. This meant that I could get dressed properly the night before the date I was expecting. I prepared my lessons with such diligence that on normal days I would arrive with her to the professor.

The main problem is that my birthday is the day that heralds the beginning of summer. This means that I will have to put it away in the closet and wait many months until I can wear it to its fullest. I am not the one who will give in to such small trifles as summer, and I will not abandon the jacket in the closet that I have been waiting for for so long. Betrayal is a trait that I particularly hate, so locking it in the closet the day after buying it borders on criminal and I will not allow such a situation to happen.

Not only did I walk with it, I didn't take it off either. Even though my shirt was already soaked in sweat from the intense heat. When I took it off, I felt like I was betraying him, and as I said, it's not something inherent in my character. It's hard to describe the feeling of leaving the house with the jacket on. It's a bit tight and makes me look a little older. Not just a little boy, but a real guy with a jacket and what!!! Today the jacket looks pretty good. Many years have passed since then. Sixty-seven years and a bit more. The lining inside the armpits is almost torn and a little charred from the hot days when I demonstrated my loyalty in public. The jacket still sits in my closet to this day. It has been through many wars, many troubles, and many events. It has served me faithfully in my closet. I haven't worn it in decades, although with a little pressure it manages to climb over my shoulders, but it doesn't close in the front.

It's not bad.
"Where does it say that a jacket must close in the front?" Every time I open the closet door and see it lying in front of me, I smile from ear to ear, remembering my youth and my entire life passing before my eyes in a single second. They say that a man
A person who falls from a great height has their life pass before their eyes in seconds. For me, it happens in front of the closet, so why jump from a tower? It's also a bit dangerous. It's true that my life passed in a second for an elderly man who deals with memories, but they got stuck at seventeen on my birthday. How beautiful and prominent it is among the colorful new jackets hanging in the closet next to it. Every jacket has its own story, but there is no story that even resembles the story of this jacket.

Now I ask: "Should I throw it away? Or give it to someone in need? Its entire function today is to bring happiness to just one person on earth. Me. Should I give up the light in my eyes when I open the closet door and see it lying in front of me?" I would be very happy to hear your response. I do not promise to carry out the majority decision, knowing that my heirs will know exactly what to do with my jacket.

Shlomo Stern, a dear friend, read the story and insisted on seeing it. I understood that my credibility was being tested here, so I very carefully took it out of the closet and very carefully let him feel it and even modeled what a real jacket should look like.