Ravages of a Guillotine

When I returned to the meeting – having placed Harley in my breast pocket – I found that the matter was not proceedings as smoothly as expected. To be placed before the re-insurers, the settlement agreement had to be written in English. Since 1948, though, the language of the courts had been Hebrew. Our day-to-day precedents were also expressed in the official language. The old English precedents were kept in Jacob Keren’s locked filing cabinet. As both he and his secretary had left for the day, nobody had access to them. ...

To put the drafting committee at ease, I rang to let them know I was on my way. It turned out that the precedents in my hand were no longer needed. Jacob Keren’s secretary had gone back to the office to pick up a parcel she had left behind. With her assistance, they located the old precedents. As I was no longer in a hurry, I decided to drop into David Misrachi’s eatery. I had been too nervous to take a proper lunch before the meeting. I was hungry but it was getting too late to have dinner before the show to which Rachel and I were going. ...