israel in translation

In the mood for Yoel Hoffmann

“We know some professors who are the exact opposite of wild geese. First of all, they’re always quarreling… Second, their colors… Third, their necks are short.”

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Poems and memoir: Chestnuts blooming in the fall

“Then we strode solemnly down the chestnut allee—and the chestnuts bloomed a second time—white candles against the improbably profound blue of the sky.”

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The One Facing Us: Ronit Matalon’s family album

Ronit Matalon’s first novel to be translated into English is organized around 17 snapshots from an imaginary family photo album.

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Naim Araidi and the people of the Galilee

“People of the Galilee are strong as the sun / Rough as the terebinth tender as the oak / Fiery as the fires of Sodom / Sodden as the salt of the sea.”

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“Let there be light”: The birth of the world through a child’s eyes

It takes a year to read the entire Torah in synagogue, and on the holiday of Simchat Torah we finish the reading and begin again with Genesis.

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A visit to the ‘etrogger’ with S.Y. Agnon

“A beautiful scent arose from the etrogs and hadasim, which masked the smell of old books, most of which had come from the apartments of poor folk…”

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Eating dark earth on Yom Kippur

“Ever since my pious mother ate earth on Yom Kippur, ate dark earth on Yom Kippur, mixed with fire, I, a living man, must eat dark earth on Yom Kippur”

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