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The last of the fall Jewish holidays, Simchat Torah, came at the start of this week. It’s a celebration of the Torah; it takes a year to read the entire Torah in synagogue, and on Simchat Torah one finishes the reading and begins again with Genesis. Host Marcela Sulak reads an excerpt from Yoel Hoffmann’s short story, “Katzchen,” translated by Eddie Levenston and David Kriss:
“God,” thought Katzchen, “gave birth to the world and died. And now the world asks for God in vain. A child sees his mother only for a short time, when he is a baby, and then, for the rest of his life, he asks for his mother who has no form and the mother who has no form asks for her child.”
Hoffman was born in Hungary in 1937 and immigranted to Mandate Palestine as an infant. His mother’s early death and a childhood spent boarding with relatives and in children’s homes figure prominently in his prose. He is a professor at Haifa University, where he teaches Japanese poetry, Buddhism, and philosophy.
Text:
“Katzchen,” translated by Eddie Levenston and David Kriss in 50 Stories from Israel. Edited by Zisi Stavi. Yedioth Books, 2007.
Further reading:
Katschen and The Book of Joseph, trans. from Hebrew by Eddie Levenston, David Kriss, and Alan Treister, New Directions (New York, NY) 1998.
Bernhard, trans. from Hebrew by Alan Treister & Eddie Levenston, New Directions (New York, NY), 1998.
The Christ of Fish, trans. from Hebrew by Eddie Levenston, New Directions (New York, NY), 1999.
The Heart is Katmandu, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2001.
The Shunra and the Schmetterling, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2004.
Curriculum Vitae, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2009.
Moods, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2015.
Music:
Gustav Holst – The Planets: “Venus,” “Saturn”
Producer: Laragh Widdess
Technical producer: Alex Benish
