Colette used to offer her guests a tea that she made and used to drink.
Pour water on chopped dry rose and jasmine petals and na'anah (mint) and drink.
(Posted on July 18, 2004 by Aliza Yehezkiel, Jerusalem alizay@bezeqint.net
In future postings designated as A.Y.)
Colette dreamt that in a tree in her garden, between two branches, instead of fruits there were two eggs. On one egg there was written a date 14/12 and the word "wisdom." On the other egg, that was parted in two, there was written "October".
About the first egg Colette understood that her daughter in-law in pregnant and wrote to her to go for check up, even though her daughter-in-law didn't believe that she can be pregnant. The daughter-in-law told Colette that she went for checkup and there is no pregnancy. Colette insisted that she should to go to another doctor for check up. The daughter-in-law went for check-up to another doctor and the result was the same: no pregnancy. At the time Colette was planning to go to France with her husband for a mission related to his work, and went with her daughter-in-law for to another checkup. The doctor asked Colette why she is so sure about the pregnancy. Colette said "It was in my dream." The doctor asked her "Do you believe in dreams?" Colette said "I am expert in understanding dreams." After a short time her daughter-in-law confirmed that she is really pregnant. Then Colette said to her "You will give birth on 14/12 and the name of the baby will be wisdom." The daughter in-law said "How can I call her wisdom, I wanted to call her 'Sophi'?" (In Spanish it means "wisdom").
About the parted egg Colette explained that her other daughter-in-law gave birth to twins in the coming month October.
(Posted on July 18, 2004 by A.Y.)
Following the Sun
Colette told us that before she came to Israel, her family had been very wealthy and she was treated like a princess. She said that every hour had its own auspicious location in their home in Algiers. For example, at 12 noon, one might work in the southeast corner of the room; at 2:00 PM the area along the western wall would be more comfortable; and at three o’clock the middle of the room would be best. Colette followed these guidelines in her daily life, moving from one position to another.
(Posted on July 19, 2004 by Dr. Phoebe Frank in Calabassas, California USA phoebestar04@hotmail.com)
Colette used accompany her mother to bring presents to poor and sick children. One day on the way she asked her mother "Why we wear such fancy clothes and not as the poor when we meet them, to make them feel close to us?" Her mother's answer was: "Because we have to show them that we respect them exactly as we respect rich and high society people."
(Posted on July 22, 2004 by A.Y.)
Colette's mother accompanied her husband to a conference in France, when they still lived in Algeria. It was in Pessach and she could not eat the food in the meal they were offered, therefore she ate only oranges. As her mother was pretty with a thin figure, all the women believed that she has such a beautiful figure because of the oranges and they at also only ate oranges during that meal.
(Posted on July 22, 2004 by A.Y.)
One of Colette’s students told her that she was very angry at her husband one day when he came in the kitchen while she was in a hurry cutting the meat for cooking. The minute her husband enter she lifted the knife in a way that made her to imagine she entered it into his chest. Colette liked it so much that she repeated this story again and again.
(Posted on July 22, 2004 by A.Y.)
Colette was one of the organizers of the revolt against the Vichy's government, which supported the Nazis in 1942 in Algiers. She had the list of the people who were involved in this revolt. At this time her mother was very sick, lying in bed, her long blond her was cut and put in a big envelope, over a shelf. Inside this envelope Colette hid the list of the people. When the Vichy soldiers came to her father's house to search the house and to arrest the people in the underground, whom they didn't know, they took everything which seemed to be important. Among other things they took the Aboulker family's genealogy documents, which Colette wanted to re-build. (She told me this story when I started to work on her genealogy.) When the soldiers lifted their hands to look in the envelope of the hair of her mother, she said loudly, "Don't touch it; the spirit of my mother is there!" This stopped them from taking this envelope and discovering the list of the people in the underground who were all young Jews and most were from Colette's family. They could all have been killed if they were caught.
To ease the tension in the room, Colette said to one of the soldiers, who was standing with his back to a very expensive vase, "Don't move, the vase behind you may be broken and you will have to pay an enormous amount of money!" This was Colette's humor.
(Posted on Dec 14, 2004 by A.Y.)
When Colette and her "daughter", who was in her late teens, dressed up to go to a party, the "daughter" said to Colette that now people will court after Colette. Since then, when she was with this daughter, Colette wore gray dresses to look older. (The "daughter" was actually Colette's sister’s daughter, whom Colette adopted after her sister’s death.)
(Posted on May 11, 2005 by A.Y.)
About two years before Colette’s death she fell from her bed in the middle of the night when she got out of bed. Her nurse was in a very deep sleep. On the small table next to Colette's her bed was a glass of water which fell and injured Colette. Colette remained on the floor, with hands full of blood, until the nurse woke up and helped her. Colette looked at her hands and laughed to herself when her position on the floor reminded her of a renowned painter.
(Posted on May 11, 2005 by A.Y.)
Colette had a neighbor who was working with crystals. One day they flew together to Paris. On their way back the woman brought with her a very large crystal, which she was afraid to pass thru customs. Colette took the crystal and said: "I’ll put it in my makeup bag and will tell them it is for massaging the face, and so they will let us pass."
(Posted on May 11, 2005 by A.Y.)
Colette's brother did not like her to talk about their family. Colette spoke so much about the greatness of their family that he could not hear it anymore. One day while they were talking on the telephone Colette read to him something she wrote about the family. He said to her if she continues to speak about the family he will not be her brother anymore. Colette cut the paper and let him hear that on the telephone.
(Posted on July 4, 2005 by A.Y.)
July 4, 2005 (was May 11, 2005)