A Snowflake Never Falls in the Wrong Place

By Richard Zakka

Richard Zakkas story began in Aden, a British colony, during the 1950s. At an early age, it occurred to him how every detail in life is so perfect. No accidents, even in what appeared to be an accident. As each snowflake is original in character and majestic in beauty, tiny in size, it will always fall in its perfect place on earth according to Gods perfect plan, a perfect 13. He realized that all of lifes events are but steps to condition his evolution to perfecting his relationship with his Maker.

When he was thirteen, his family moved to the US and began a new chapter. After studying civil engineering in Texas, Richard decided to move to New York and enroll at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and became an actor.

After graduation, he was fortunate to land several roles in films and commercials. At the same time, to fulfill a promise to his father who was skeptical about an acting career, he started several businesses in the Big City.

A whirlwind of marriage, family, filmmaking, and successful businesses were like snowflakes landing one after another, guiding his life path. Richard weaves a fascinating story that traces the arc of a creative entrepreneurs career from one exciting endeavor to the next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781491777664

Richard Zakka

Richard Zakka was born in Lebanon to a father who traced his lineage in the Book of Ezra, back some twenty five hundred years. Richard was fortunate to apprentice under the late Terry Southern (“Dr. Strangelove”, “Easyrider”) who inspired his writing several screenplays. He produced and directed “Fool’s Paradise” among other films. He lives with his family in Florida.

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Copyright © 2016 Richard Zakka.

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-7764-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7765-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7766-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016910155

iUniverse rev. date: 11/11/2016

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Ancestry

Palestine

Aden

Jordan

New York

Thirty-Sixth Street

New Rochelle

Two Dear Friends

Greenwich Limousine

Jamaica

Capt. Timothy Moxon

Jaffar And Hannah Go To Be With The Lord

Fool’s Paradise

Shawangunk Correctional

The Noor

Milene

New York Spring Water

If We Could Only See The Snowflakes In Our Lives

Thirteen

The Covenant

The Ultimate Snowflake

In Conclusion

I shall not die, but live and tell of the Lord’s works.

—Psalm 117:17

PREFACE

T he information I have shared in this book has been brewing in my mind for years. I felt it was important to put on paper some of the things God has revealed to me, as to why we exist, the great love He has for us and how our battles have a silver lining for our eternal good. All truths are revealed to anyone who is willing to listen.

We all have our own distinct struggles that we face, and without them, we could not advance and grow as a people. As random as each struggle may seem, it is a perfectly designed event for an individual’s growth. And unless we get the point of the assignment at hand, we will not be able to move on to the next step and accomplish the purpose of our existence.

It is irrelevant how rich or poor, educated or ignorant we are. We all face trials that are matched up against our abilities. Being wealthy or living in poverty is not a sign of good and evil but simply a circumstance along our individual journeys. Job suffered the loss of everything he owned, not because he sinned—on the contrary, he was a godly man—but so that he might grow infinitely wiser and closer to God for a rewarding hereafter.

Success is embracing our struggles, believing they will pass, and knowing we will be better from them, trusting that God the Almighty will never give us more than we can handle or less than what we need to grow.

INTRODUCTION

I t is so evident that there are no accidents in life and that God’s favor is everywhere. For without Him, this book would have ended on chapter 1, and I would have nothing to write about. This is not about me, nor a boosting about my life’s or my family’s experiences. Instead, it is about the God who so lovingly created us and the wonders of His works.

It is bewildering to me how every detail in life is perfect. When the Bible says God knows the number of hairs on your head, you can count on that to be 100 percent true and not some mythological guesswork.

Had I written about every manifestation where our God pierced the shroud of illusion that we live in with His special favor, I would have needed several volumes to share His glorious works.

Even a snowflake, majestic in beauty and tiny in size, will always fall in its perfect place according to God’s perfect plan—a perfect thirteen; a special favor.

If we choose not to believe in Him or recognize His marvelous works, we can, because our loving God graciously gave us that choice, but we will gain or suffer the consequences of our decisions.

When referring to the name Zakka in this book, several different spellings were used, depending on the source and translation. However, in Aramaic it was always spelled the same way to this day.

ANCESTRY

A Biblical Heritage

W hen we lived in Aden, it was a British colony. Our house bordered a large public park. It was a Friday morning in 1955 when my brother, Ramze, and I received our first two new shining bicycles. Ramze was six, and I was eight at the time. Excited, we wasted no time going for a ride in the neighboring park. It was early in the morning, and it seemed like we were the only people in this huge park. As in most typical Muslim countries, Fridays were the Sundays of the Middle East, so no one worked.

In the center of the park was an enormous, round, menacing-looking pool. It was very deep and dark with algae; so dark one couldn’t see the bottom. Leading down to the pool from four different directions were four paths. Ramze was leading the way down one of the paths toward the pool. Once he reached the pool’s edge, he turned his bicycle sharply and started to ride around the perimeter of the pool. I was following behind, but once I reached the pool’s edge, I must have been going too fast and could not turn my wheel fast enough. I crashed into the side of the pool; my bike and I somersaulted into the water. Even though I was a good swimmer, the bike had hooked to my pants and was pulling me down into the deep. I couldn’t do anything to save myself. I was drowning.

Suddenly, an arm reached down into the water and with one swoop pulled me and my bike out, landing me on dry ground. Stunned and dripping, I saw a short homeless man standing there with his arm also dripping. Dazed, I turned to look for my brother; he was gone, unaware of what had happened to me. I turned back to thank the homeless man, but he too was gone—vanished into thin air.

How could he have disappeared so fast? I thought.

I got on my bike and continued as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t until years later while reflecting on that incident did it occur to me that that old homeless man must have been an angel that saved my life—like a perfect snowflake falling in a perfect place.

I was born in Tripoli, Lebanon. Even though my mother was born in Eagle Pass, Texas, her family originally came from Jerusalem. Her father, whose name was Jacob, had two brothers—Isaac and Abraham—all upright Christian men. By the time my mother was six years old, her father decided to move the family back to Jerusalem. I suppose he did not find Texas quite civilized enough for him and the family to stay there, and at the time, Jerusalem probably had more to offer.

Zaccai

My father, Jaffar, was also born in Lebanon even though his ancestry was originally from Palestine, where his family had lived for more than twenty-five hundred years. He had an uncle who traced the origin of our family name through church records. The Orthodox Church documented who married whom and when their children were baptized.

Our name actually appears in the Bible several times. It first appears in the Old Testament in Ezra 2:9, which notes that in 538 BC, the sons of Zaccai, numbered 760 souls (thirteen), were released from captivity in Babylon to return to Jerusalem. They then continued living there until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when another Zacca, a tax collector who was short in stature, climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus as he was entering Jericho a week before His passion. Zacca wanted to get a good look at this Jesus, as is stated in Luke 19:1–10. Fortuitously for him, Jesus walked to the tree, called him down, and announced to everyone’s dismay that he would have supper with him that night. Jesus then proclaimed a blessing over the Zacca home. Zacca was so moved by that experience that he declared to Jesus that he would give half of his wealth to the poor and that if he had ever defrauded anyone he would restore that person fourfold.

That same Zacca later became one of the early bishops in the Christian Church. That tradition of bishops continued for seventeen generations in the Zakka lineage. In the old days, when a bishop died, the ritual was to bury him in a churchyard in Israel, where many still lie to this day.

The First Actor

In the late 1800s, my grandfather, Elia Zakka (Jaffar’s father), was living with his family in Haifa, where the family had lived for decades. Elia was an astute, powerful man and a very successful publisher. He was the founder of two newspapers. The first was Al Nafir in Palestine, and then in 1875 he and a partner founded Al Ahram in Egypt, which was nationalized ten years later by the government. Elia died when Jaffar was around sixteen years old, leaving behind eight children and a substantial amount of wealth.

Unable to get along with his eldest brother, who took on the role as patriarch of the family, Jaffar decided to run away to Egypt where Elia had been well known among the prominent Egyptians. After arriving in Egypt, Jaffar searched for old friends of the family and was led to a famous Egyptian singer/actor by the name of Mohammad Abdel Wahab who offered him a place to stay. Jaffar started studying acting, and through some connections, he landed a few roles in the Egyptian Cinema.

He recalled a young man who had just arrived from Lebanon by the name of Michelle Shalhoub who was looking to becoming an actor. Michelle was very good looking, and ultimately, he met and fell in love with a very popular Egyptian actress by the name of Fatan Hamama. Soon after, they were married. To succeed in the