A Chair for Daddy

Ten-year-old Rotem is much loved and has a special talent for art, but she is increasingly troubled by a painfully missing element in her life: her father. She sees a small statuette of a bull and cow, pulling a plough-shaft together, as a metaphor for her family predicament: the bull that once stood by the cow fell and broke, and is now missing. Can he ever be replaced? And what will become of the cow, left to carry the burden by herself?

Rotem is also troubled by her mother`s romantic interest in Misha, their new neighbor. She knows it is difficult for the cow to carry a load meant for two; she also knows that depending on just one person is very hard. But she is unwilling to accept the replacement bull that Misha has sculpted for the statuette. “Blood is thicker than water,” she repeats to herself again and again. Rotem eventually satisfies her need to meet her father and overcomes her fantasy of being loved and accepted by him. She grows to respect – and even like – Misha, who makes her mother happy and is truly nurturing and supportive. Eventually, she learns to accept that the bull Misha has sculpted suits perfectly, and that the new family she is about to become a part of is more real than any imaginary one.