Israel at 75 offers a far richer culture than a visitor can grasp from just following its politics or visiting its tourist sites. One powerful way to plunge deeper is to read Israeli literature. Like the Talmud, though, it’s a vast sea. Where should you start?
In this five-session book series, co-sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and Moment Magazine, we’ll at least begin to scratch the surface. Over the next several months we’ll explore today’s Israel through the eyes of writers in a kaleidoscope of genres: novel, memoir, short stories, poems. For each work, we’ll offer a special guest: the author, the translator, or a scholar who will guide readers through the text as well as field readers’ questions. Moment book review editor Amy E. Schwartz will lead these conversations.
Even if you do not read the books in advance, you will still enjoy this series — and hopefully, be inspired to read the books after each program.
Readings will be in English translation — no Hebrew required. All books are available for purchase via the links below.
All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan
Dorit Rabinyan is a two-time awardee of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew Literary Works. She was born in Israel to a family that emigrated from Iran. All the Rivers is the story of a romance between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, based on the author’s own experiences. This novel sparked an international furor when it was banned from the curriculum in Israeli high schools by then-education minister Naftali Bennett, who said it would encourage intermarriage between Israelis and Palestinians.
Read the 2017 Moment interview with Dorit Rabinyan.
Purchase book: All the Rivers
Audio version: All the Rivers
Author: Dorit Rabinyan
Translator: Jessica Cohen