One man approached me at the grocery store and carried in my ear one of the most moving monologues I had ever heard.
Are you Kobe?
He asked.
Yes, I answered.
"So know that 30 years ago I was at a summer camp and you were the principal, and one day I scored a goal in football and you stood up at the top of the grandstand and gave a shout yoo!
The man was called Lionel Messi.
Well, not exactly, the man was called to me, but I'm not at all sure that Messi does not have such a manager in his memories.
The truth is that everyone has and these memories are stuck there with such intensity, that it is even a little stressful, how much each word can give work.
Oh, girls, girls.
One day after that the book week began, and as every year we asked the listeners what the first book they read, the one they remember, the one that influenced them.
Most of the books selected were children's and youth books, and a certain consensus was drawn around the "Secret Seven" series, that even a thousand series on Netflix would not achieve the existential effect it had on our soft souls.
So the truth is that it's true.
I remember it very clearly.
I did the first years with the few ultra-Orthodox books that were then (at the top of them, of course, the excellent "So did our sages" series by Yocheved Segal), and here and there I neglected Hebrew and Israeli books that were around.
I well remember the underground "anonymous soldiers" and "the long way to freedom", a little Agnon and a little Hassamba.
But one day I was enrolled in the mobile library, and a new world opened up for me.
I swallowed books in quantities when the first place was taken by Enid Blyton's The Secret Seven.
It worked very nicely, and I linked my young life to the heroic and magical life of Peter and his gang.
As requested, I made comparisons between them and the heroes of the other group, Hassamba, I had loves and hates there, I gave face and picture to every hero and every situation, and these were very pleasant days.
One day, in a volume called "The Detective Seven" or "Surprised" (I do not remember and I do not bother to check, for reasons that will be clarified immediately), Janet opened a warehouse door, and someone inside jumped out and ran away.
Janet, such a bold girl, bravely coped with the situation.
I'm less.
I think it is no exaggeration to say that for two years or more I have dealt with a deep childhood fear that was a result, direct or indirect, of that moment.
I will overcome the shame and say that to this day, here and there, when I open an unfamiliar door at night, that warehouse flashes there for a quarter of a second and my heart drops a little.
So what do I want?
After all, I do not really have scientific conclusions.
The professionals are better versed than me in such issues.
I just want to take the opportunity that came my way during the book week, to unload a small debt from the heart and finally write in the most popular newspaper in Israel: Enid Blyton, go to hell.
kobiarieli@gmail.com
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us