"Well!" said Benjamin; "there's one thing at least I can do, and that is to help my mother to prepare for the Passover in my spare time." "And I, too," and "I, too," exclaimed others. "Bravo, boys!" said Mr Jacob. "Even if you do not enjoy it so much physically, you will do so spiritually, for anyone who tries to help his mother to keep up our fine old customs will be blessed." LAG B'OMER It was a week before Lag B'Omer, and the friends of the Jacobs family continued to attend every Friday evening to hear a letter from Jerusalem read. There was only one drawback to these Friday re-unions, and that was that every week the little cellar-kitchen sitting-room got more and more crowded, for each friend became so interested that he brought another with him without asking permission. However, as no one complained, Mr and Mrs Jacobs said nothing, and were indeed thankful that so many were interested in those old letters; and Mr Jacobs at once started reading as follows:-- "DEAR MILLIE,--I want to tell you how we spent Lag B'Omer here, for in London we used not to make much of a holy day of it. Here days are taken in preparing for it, baking cakes and preparing tasty meals. Both old and young spend that day in visits to the graves of our great Rabbis and in picnics on the Mount of Olives or in the cool shade of the many caves in the neighbourhood. Those who have large families have their hands full, for the walks in the open air give the children huge appetites; and, unless you are prepared for such appetites it is difficult to supply all that is needed, for you cannot buy extra food, as in England, except perhaps a few nuts and a drink of water. "Before dawn, our youngsters awakened us and hurried us to get ready to start, as if we should not have quite enough of their pranks even if we left a few hours later. As we have to form ourselves into large groups, we arrange these a day or two beforehand, for there are a great number of Arabs and Turks about, and many of them are very wild. If you go alone, or even in pairs, they are often known to attack you, especially in the case of a girl or a woman. At first I laughed at the girls fearing to go alone when in the country, but, after having had an unpleasant adventure myself, I determined to be more careful and obey those who knew better than I did as to what was safe and what not.