Halh Ashkenazi

Tsvika, the half-Eastern, half-Western (Ashkenazi). His luck, along with the uneven distribution of genes, favored him: he inherited his mother’s Western features, a tall stature, with a round, fair complexion tinged with red, and hazel-tinged brown eyes. Yet his temperament and mindset were undoubtedly inherited from his father's Eastern genes.Still, Tsvika never acknowledged, not even to himself, that he had any Arab roots. From childhood, he aligned himself with his Polish mother’s lineage and declared himself a pure-blooded Ashkenazi.Tsvika would force Ronit to prepare “gefilte fish,” the cold fish dish that Ashkenazi Jews traditionally serve to start their Sabbath meal. He never allowed her to cook the Nile perch—Nisichat Hanilus—that Sephardic Jews prepare.Every week, his meal would be tossed in the trash, and the whole neighborhood would hear their quarrels erupting around the dinner table.