Hasamba, the heroic group of kids from Tel Aviv fighting for their country and all evils, were dead when Ori Katzir dug them out of their literary grave. I mean, who reads these books nowadays? So when Katzir published this call to arms post, I was sure it'll turn out to be one of those tours of old people walking down sad sad memory lane. My boy, Jaw, was of more optimism and insiste we'd go, so I told myself - Oh, what the heck, it'll only take three hours. I was wrong.
60something years have passed by. The first Hasamba book was published in 1949. Israel was fighting for its statehood and the children were this land's future. Kids all over this country dreamed of joining handsome leader Yaron Zahavi, beautiful Tamar, Fat Ehud, Yemen Menashe and other Hasamba members in their heroic actions for the greater good. They just don't make heroes like them anymore.
Katzir led us (Israeli bloggers) through the British occupation, with him we fought alongside underground Haganah members, tried convincing Hilton to open a fancy hotel in Tel Aviv, looked for the secret electric cave, planted candy trees, met dead people, donkeys, bad cops, illegal immigrants, been to the gulf war, survived and saw soooo much of Tel Aviv we didn't know. He did all this with bright eyes, great belief and devotion. Ori Katzir saved Hasamba and we were there so witness the miracle. By golly, the dead rose from their graves!
Next tour following Hasamba: July 23, 2010. Details here.
