thought in the bud.

"Then he forgave me, and we parted good friends, for I love him. He is
exactly what I think Jonathan must have been to David, and I will write
more about him in another letter.

"When I arrived home, we had to prepare and cleanse the house for
Passover. We had to do all the work ourselves, for we could not hire any
helpers except, by a stroke of luck, the 'white-washers,' as they are
called.


SPRING CLEANING

"All the furniture is put out of doors, not even a pin is left in the
house. As everyone does the same, a stranger passing by would think
there must be a 'jumble sale' going on.

"Passover time is usually like lovely English summer weather. As very
little water can be got, guess how everything is scrubbed and rubbed!

"Outside Meah Sheorim there are large holes from which clay has been
taken for building purposes, and during the winter-rains they get filled
with water and they look nearly as large as ponds.

"We carried or pushed all the furniture to one of these ponds, took sand
moistened with a little water, and rubbed the furniture till it was
white and clean. This we have to do three times: such is the rule. If
any of the furniture was polished, you can imagine that not much of the
polish was left after all this scrubbing and rubbing.