Why I Wanna be Like My Watch Repairman

Why I Wanna be Like My Watch Repairman

In the Weisberg home we call it “the watch store that looks like a closet,” and when a watch needs a new battery or a watchband or we need to buy a new watch altogether, “the watch store that looks like a closet” is where we go.

I don’t only prefer this store because it’s one of the cheapest watch stores in Jerusalem, and the service is quick, high-quality, and courteous.

I like that every time I walk into the store and see the 60-something owner humming a tune as he opens a watch with his antique pocket knife or reading his ancient book of Tehillim with tea stains on the edges, I feel like I’ve turned one of those clocks on his wall back 80 years.

watch repair

Yesterday, as he was concentrating on fixing a watch my husband received from his grandfather, I asked him, “How many years has this store been here?”

The man stopped humming, looked up from the watch, and said, “43 years.”

“And how many years have you been working here?”

“43 years. Since the beginning, I’ve been here.”

Funny, I thought. I am 43 years old. This man has spent an entire lifetime inside this closet of a store. And he is still fixing watches and reading his psalms.

And humming.
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I am inside the four walls of my home. It is summer vacation.

Older children come and go—occasionally needing food or advice or money between their outings. Younger children go out to camp and then come home in the afternoon, hungry and in need of attention and entertainment for the rest of the day.

And in the center of it all, in the center of this buzzing hive, is me.

Feeding. And cleaning. And dressing. And helping.

Sometimes, surrounded by this many offspring in this tight a space, I lose it. And when that happens, this queen bee can sting.

But I do my best, when I can, to be like that man in the watch store that looks like a closet, emulating the rich man who is happy with his lot.

Being there when I’m being here

And filling these crowded four walls with the beautiful sounds of….

A heartfelt hum from a hardworking mum.

IY”H.

6 comments

  1. Thank you! I needed to hear this.

  2. what!! this is a masterpiece, Chana Jenny! I want this one too! (at the risk of appearing greedy…)

  3. Beautiful! Something about it reminds me of the song – the workmen who live in Yerushalayim preparing for Moshiach. Do you know the one I mean? Can’t think of the name. Hatzlocha and enjoy your summer!

    • bikores.blogspot.com

      Yerushalayim Our Home

      In a village near our home,
      works a carpenter alone.
      He’s been carving wood for years,
      shtenders, shelves and chairs.
      Daily buyers come and go,
      but there’s one thing they don’t know.
      His thoughts, so far away,
      while waiting for a special day.
      There is a dream a vision deep within his heart.
      That he’ll rebuild the Beis Hamikdash part by part.
      Doing mitzvos, adding precious stones.
      Our dream, our palace, Yerushalayim our home
      Yes, there’s a dream a vision deep within his heart.
      That he’ll rebuild the Beis Hamikdash part by part.
      Doing mitzvos, adding precious stones.
      Our dream, our palace, Yerushalayim our home.

      In a crumbling little home
      lives a fiddler all alone
      His inheritance so dear
      for many ancient years.
      It’s this instrument he holds
      his great-grandfather he’s told
      Would hurry off each day to the courtyards of Hashem to play.
      There is a dream a vision deep within his heart.
      That he’ll rebuild the Beis Hamikdash part by part
      . Doing mitzvos, adding precious stones.
      Our dream, our palace, Yerushalayim our home.
      Yes, there’s a dream a vision deep within his heart.
      That he’ll rebuild the Beis Hamikdash part by part.
      Doing mitzvos, adding precious stones.
      Our dream, our palace, Yerushalayim our home

      On a mountain on a stone,
      sits Mashiach all alone.
      Suffering for years,
      from all our sins he bears.
      While so painfully he cries,
      prayers piercing through the skies.
      He’s pleading with Hashem to take us all back home again.
      Yes, there’s a dream a vision deep within his heart.
      That we’ll rebuild the Beis Hamikdash part by part.
      Doing mitzvos, adding precious stones.
      Our dream, our palace, Yerushalayim our home.
      Yes, there’s a dream a vision deep within his heart.
      That we’ll rebuild the Beis Hamikdash part by part.
      Doing mitzvos, adding precious stones.
      Our dream, our palace, Yerushalayim our home.
      Yes, there’s a dream, a vision deep within his heart.
      That we’ll rebuild the Beis Hamikdash part by part.
      Doing mitzvos, adding precious stones.
      Our dream, our palace, Yerushalayim our home
      Ani maamin, ani maamin, ani maamin..

  4. It’s from Mordechai ben David. I just can’t remember the name of the song.

  5. Beautiful. I am sure you are an amazing mom.

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