israel in translation

The Day Before Passover: S.Y. Agnon’s “The Home”

In honor of Passover, this week’s episode features an excerpt from S.Y. Agnon’s story, “The Home.” Agnon is the only Hebrew-language writer to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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Egypt, Interbellum: Jacqueline Shohet Kahanoff’s “Jacob’s Ladder”

In honor of Palm Sunday, this episode features an excerpt from Egypt-born author Jacqueline Shohet Kahanoff’s “Jacob’s Ladder”. The novel depicts life in Egypt between the two world wars and features a young child, Rachel, and her nanny, Miss O’Brien.

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Neighborhoods: Mahmoud Shukair’s “Jerusalem Stands Alone”

This episode features segments from the book “Jerusalem Stands Alone” by Mahmoud Shukair, a collection of tales narrated in a series of stand-alone observations, usually no more than a single page.

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“A Bride for One Night”: A Talmudic Tale by Ruth Calderon

In honor of the Purim custom of reading the Book of Esther, this episode features an excerpt from Ruth Calderon’s short story “A Bride for One Night”.

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An Elegant Professor: Ruby Namdar’s “The Ruined House”

Ruby Namdar’s novel “The Ruined House” centers on an esteemed professor and is uncannily timely in how it dovetails with the #MeToo movement.

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Travels Through Language: The Poetry of the Jerusalem Light Rail

Each of the 23 stops of the Jerusalem Light Rail’s red line features a poem, translated into Arabic, Hebrew, and English. We’ll devote this episode to some of these pieces.

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For the Sake of the Homeland: Nava Semel’s “Paper Bride”

Nava Semel’s “Paper Bride” paints a vivid portrait of British Palestine in the 1930s, seen through the eyes of an illiterate boy.

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A Translator Poet: Peter Cole’s “Hymns and Qualms”

Peter Cole is a poet and translator who has recreated Spain’s golden age of Jewish culture and adapted tenth-century Arabic-language poetry to 21st-century English so skillfully that the lines sing.

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And The Rat Laughed: Remembering Writer Nava Semel

Excerpts from the novel “And The Rat Laughed,” by the late Nava Semel. Her work was the first to address the topic of the so-called “Second Generation”— children of Holocaust survivors. Nava passed away in December 2017.

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