Trafika Europe 7 - Ukrainian Prayer

Felix Austria

Shem Tov, disappeared an old Kiddush cup, a chanukiahwith a walking golden lion, and an emerald-decorated yad, someone suddenly recalled a pantomime performed by the wandering Brodensingers that recounted how the Lord of Sabaoth transferred to Heavenly Jerusalem His people: first the belongings, then the temples, animals, dwellings, surprising earthbound people with unexplained disappearances. Then the holy men, wise men, musicians, children disappear too, until not a single Jew stays behind on this sinful earth. All these terrifying events definitelysignal thatourworld is living its final moments. Someone Unimaginably Boundless will now take a deepbreath, languidly stretch the limbs—and wake up. That very same moment, all of us,

with our evil eyes and drafty rooms, with our fears, yelps, passions, and tears, shall be no more. We shall dissolve in the sky like black suffocating smoke of a house on fire. Inordernot tothinkabout this, peoplepreoccupy themselves with other thoughts—for example, about the holidays. And cannot keep calm. Adela dragged me to a concert by the sweet young Raoul Koczalski. He is not yet fifteen, but the piano keys just melt under his fingers— it seems he operates the instrument with the help of his gaze, the power of thought, a nod of his head. The way I operate a cabbage slicer when I make sauerkraut with caraway seeds. Raoul is a dark-blond youth with a round face, radiant eyes, chubby rosy cheeks. It seems that mustache has not

51