May Mid-Month Report: Kudos to the Tekes Organizers
An update from day 222 and some literary-related things
For new subscribers: On the first of each month, I put out a newsletter with book recommendations, literary events and resources and more. Since October 7th, I’ve also been putting out mid-month updates with some reflections from life in Israel, as well as some literary things. (Scroll down for the literary things).
Dear friends,
It’s been a week in Israel.
I’ll start by saying that Israelis excel at ceremonies. As we do every year, on Sunday night, we joined our school community for the evening tekes (ceremony) to begin Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day). It is the day set aside for mourning Israelis who have lost their lives either during their IDF service or through acts of terror. This year, over 1,650 people were added to the list, the highest number in five decades. According to details published by the Ministry of Defense:
Since Memorial Day 2023, 760 new names have been added to the roster of those who died defending the country. Another 61 disabled veterans died due to complications from injuries sustained during their service. In addition, 834 civilians were killed in terrorist attacks over the past year.
Everyone knew this would be a Yom Hazikaron like no other, a difficult, difficult day. In the early years of our school community, fellow parents and teachers would speak of a sibling or parent or grandparent or cousin who had been killed at some point since the founding of the State, or leading up to it. In more recent years, we’ve mourned and memorialized two graduates of the school who died during their IDF service, Nadav Ezra z”l and Gadi Isaacs z”l. This year, tragically, several more graduates have been added to this terrible roster: Eden Nimri z”l, Ori Yaish z”l, and - just this past weekend - Ariel Tsym z”l. Several teachers and graduates also lost loved ones on October 7th or its aftermath. From the moment the siren sounded at 8 pm, through the testimonies of the newly bereaved families, the songs of mourning, the beautiful words of our school principal, Sagiv, and the singing of Hatikvah, the tears did not stop rolling down my cheeks.
In his speech, Sagiv (whose oratory skills are phenomenal, for years I’ve been saying that every word out of his mouth is gold) spoke of Kibbutz Bet Hashita, a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley that lost 11 members in the Yom Kippur War. Just as new memorial songs were written by (and on) the kibbutz, Sagiv said, we, too, will have to write new songs. These songs will have many stanzas, and they will somehow have to incorporate each person we’ve lost, the melodies and beats they loved, and what they meant to us.
It was the longest ceremony I can remember, and after it was over we lingered to catch up with friends. From a distance I saw a friend whose son had been at the Nova festival but ran for his life and survived. We saw other friends who have children currently serving in or near Gaza. Reservists we have known since birth. It was a heavy, somber night.
The next morning, I took part in a memorial run for Nadav Ezra from the school to a small park near his home. All over Israel, similar memorial runs were taking place. Sagiv read a poem by Haim Gouri. I have not yet found an English translation of it, in fact I’ve found very few references to this poem at all, and perhaps I will try to translate it myself at some point. For those who understand Hebrew, here’s a link to the poem, B'hitkadesh בהתקדש. I have not found the year in which it was written, but as my friend said, it could have been written right now.
At some point during the day, another friend sent around a video of a speech her son gave for Yom Hazikaron in New York, at the Nova exhibition, which, I understand, is on display in lower Manhattan for another week. Her son, who’d been an officer in the paratroopers, had been in the States on October 7th but rushed back home to command his company in the reserves. Towards the end of his speech, he mentioned that when the sirens on Yom Hazikaron go off, he holds his head high, proud to be an Israeli and proud to be a Jew. As someone who usually bows my head a bit during the siren, I’ve decided to adopt his approach and hold my head high.
Later in the day, I attended the tekes ma’avar - the transition ceremony from Yom Hazikaron to Yom Ha’atzmaut - at my shul. Once again, an outstanding ceremony that struck just the right chord. We heard from a member who lost two of her first cousins many years ago, from our friend whose student Noa Argamani has been held hostage by Hamas for 222 days, we watched a clip of four different families in the community whose sons or fathers served (or are still serving) in reserve duty, and then as the ceremony went on, the transition: my friend’s aliyah story, the group of bat mitzvah girls talking about how they’ve volunteered this year, video messages from some of our soldiers (including my son) who are currently serving, and the littlest children (accompanied by an adult) who lit torches in honor of our community values. As I said, kudos to the tekes organizers. After our festive, musical maariv (evening service), we had an erev shira (song evening), which was quite nice. All of these things helped me get through the day. Despite our heavy losses this year, and despite so much that needs fixing in this country, I am very proud to be Israeli.
There was no talk of “celebrating” Yom Haatzmaut this year — how can we, when 132 hostages are still in Gaza, and our soldiers are still fighting? But on the other hand, no one wanted to spend the day sitting in front of a computer. Several of my friends volunteered in the morning. We spent several hours at the beach with a few close friends and then reconvened for a modest BBQ at our house. All in all, it was a good day. Good to be outside in the sunshine and good to spend time with close friends. As always, we ate too much.
Apologies for not doing this update in any kind of chronological order, as now I’m going backwards and jumping around.
Speaking of volunteering, last Friday I went by myself to a nearby farm that needed help thinning peach trees. I was joined by a busload of 40 Dutch volunteers, here with Christians for Israel. I got to speaking with them…This is fourth trip from Holland through Christians for Israel. Their guide told me he has two more groups coming, fully booked. It warms my heart, and I couldn’t stop thanking them. Also, I now have a new Dutch friend named Angelique.
Going back further in the month - on Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) - I attended a talk by two Danish survivors who met as children after the war and have been married for over 60 years. We all know the stories of the remarkable Danish people, but a few things this couple mentioned have stayed with me. When they returned from Sweden with their families, other people were living in their homes, but in both cases, their neighbors had rescued the families’ furniture, silverware, etc. and kept it for them until they returned. They also told the story of a minister who helped his local Jewish community by safeguarding a synagogue’s sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) and storing them in his church until the synagogue could be rededicated.
While we’re in the feel-good section, let’s all give a cheer for Eden Golan. If you haven’t seen this version of her Eurovision song Hurricane yet, please watch. Absolute rock star. Am Yisrael Chai.
Lastly, my friend Vivian Cohen-Leisorek has written a beautiful essay that captures our feelings here. Please read Stumbling Towards Yom Hazikaron
One day, hopefully much sooner, this nameless war will end, and we will stop obsessing about the slogans and the smiling photos frozen in narrow strips of self-adhesive substrate. This won’t mean, God forbid, that we have forgotten our dead. Quite the contrary. It will mean that, in their memory, we are building something more permanent: a country that doesn’t feel like it’s teetering on the edge, about to be torn off by the wind.
Literary Events
I’m excited for several upcoming events this month and next!
On May 19, Literary Modiin will hold another hybrid event - in-person and on Zoom, featuring Gila Green (WITH A GOOD EYE) , Sarah Ansbacher (WAVE AFTER WAVE), and Sheryl Abbey (ALONG THE EDGE OF ABSENCE). Doors open at 19:30, program will start at 20:00 / 1 pm ET. If you are in driving distance of Modiin — please come in person!! And yes, either way, you need to register!!
Other upcoming events of interest (so much literary goodness in Israel!):
May 26: Our friends at Jerusalism are hosting Maxim D. Shrayer for an in-person event at the Besarabia bar in downtown Jerusalem. Maxim (who has appeared twice at Literary Modiin events) will be discussing his new poetry collection, KINSHIP. More info here.
May 27 - 30: Jerusalem Writers’ Festival in Mishkenot Shaananim
June 2-4: “History, Prophecy, Art,” the 2024 International Creative Writing Conference at Bar Ilan University, in memory of Founding Director Shaindy Rudoff, z’’l. The conference is free and open to the public and features an amazing lineup of workshops and keynotes, from literary heavyweights Joshua Cohen, Iddo Gefen, and Ruth Franklin. I’ll be reading something at lunchtime on the 4th. Hope to see you there!
June 9 at 20:00 IL time / 1 pm Eastern: It’s not too early to get a head start on Literary Modiin’s June event (on Zoom only). We’ll be hearing from Joan Leegant (DISPLACED PERSONS), Don Futterman (ADAM, UNREHEARSED) and Dawn Promislow (WAN) . Register here.
Other Literary Matters
Thank you to Kathleen Schmidt, who writes an excellent Substack called Publishing Confidential, on calling out antisemitism in the literary world.
Happy Jewish American Heritage Month (in Canada, Jewish Heritage Month)! This year Erika Dreifus is highlighting books that, “in various ways, embody connections and intersections among Jewish people in the United States (and Canada) and in Israel.” See her mid-month update here. Thanks, Erika!
What I’m reading: Recently finished and loved Joan Leegant’s Displaced Persons and Dawn Promislow’s Wan (sign up to hear them speak, above!). Currently reading Ian McEwan’s The Innocent. Also reading for research purposes The Rebellion of the Daughters: Jewish Women Runaways in Habsburg Galicia by Rachel Manekin. Listening to Emilia Hart’s Weyward. Look for my reviews in my June 1st newsletter…
RIP Alice Munro, Nobel Prize Laureate and master of the short story form. I just reread my review of her book Dear Life, which I recommended in my Aug 2022 newsletter. I concluded the review by saying, “If it’s been a while since you’ve read an Alice Munro collection, do yourself a favor and pick one up soon.” I think I’ll take my own advice…
That’s all for now. I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my peach thinning with the Dutch volunteers.
B’sorot tovot, my friends. By the time I send out my June 1 newsletter, may all our hostages be home. May our soldiers stay safe or heal quickly, and may there be less suffering all around. And may the roster I mentioned above not grow at all by next Yom Hazikaron (although sadly a few more names have already been added in the last few days).
A small way to support my work: Since June 2019, I’ve hosted the monthly Literary Modiin author series, and since April 2020, I’ve been putting out this monthly newsletter. Both represent a significant amount of effort for me, but I love talking about books and promoting other authors, and I’m committed to keeping both of these things FREE for all. I do incur some expenses to keep these up, however, so if you have enjoyed the Literary Modiin events and/or if you enjoy the newsletter or both, and you’d like to support my work in some small, tangible way, I’d be grateful if you’d click on the “Buy Me a Coffee” link below. (If you can’t, that’s fine too)! I appreciate your continued support for these events, book recommendations and my literary musings.
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Julie Zuckerman's debut novel-in-stories, The Book of Jeremiah, was published in May 2019 by Press 53. Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in CRAFT, Tikkun, Jewish Women’s Archives, Crab Orchard Review, The Coil, The SFWP Quarterly, Ellipsis, MoonPark Review, Sixfold, and The MacGuffin, among others. She is the founder and host of Literary Modiin, a monthly author series celebrating fiction, memoir and poetry with Jewish content. A native of Connecticut, she lives in Israel with her husband and four children. www.juliezuckerman.com
Thank you so much for sharing this, Julie. It's always moving to hear your experiences. My son called me from J-m so I could listen to the siren with him on Yom Hazikaron. It felt so important that I was, in a way, there, though really, my heart is always. Going to print the poem and work my way through (with a dictionary, as needed) it on Shabbos. I have plans to see the Nova exhibit on Thursday. As always, sending love from here.