Yuval Ben-Ami: I reunited with Ruthie and both of us headed into the monsterous terminal building itself. There, inside a small bar, we met our friend Yonatan. All around him were platters full of noodles and sushi, bottles of soft drinks and balloons. They were all Filipinos, well, mostly Filipinas.
People from the Philippines arrive in Israel mostly as nurses, to care for the elderly and the handicapped. They are a community of some size and over the years many of them have put down roots here.
Yonatan added that we can move on whenever we wish. "There are other parties on tonight. People can hop from one bash to the next, like at the Mimouna." Mimouna is the feast North African Jews observe in honor of Maimonides following passover.
The next party, held at a community center in South Tel-Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood, was utterly huge and soon erupted into some fine dancing.
Yonatan explained that each party was thrown by natives of different regions in the Philippines. With us here were the people of Pangasinan, on the island of Luzon. Following the dancing, they held a beauty pageant and kids got up on stage to sing. Yonatan and his colleague Noa knew the kids well and cheered them on.
I stopped 9-year-old Brigit in the community center’s corridor.
"What do you like best about Hanukkah?"
"Sufganiot!" she said, the Hebrew name of the holiday’s traditional jelly-filled donuts.
"Which candle of the menorah do you like best?"
"The Shamash!"Brigit is a smart and wonderful kid and I’m glad to have her share this country with me. Eventually, inevitably, lights are lit and puto pastries are served, right next to the sufganiot.
