In this compelling conversation, Hadassah Magazine senior and books editor Leah Finkelshteyn speaks with Israeli-Canadian writer Ayelet Tsabari, whose debut novel, Songs for the Brokenhearted, won a National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. 

The rich and complex novel unfolds across two pivotal moments in Israel's history: one set in an immigration camp in the 1950s, shortly after the founding of the modern state of Israel, as thousands of Yemeni Jews arrived seeking a better life; the other in the 1990s, just before the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, when a young Yemeni Israeli woman uncovers her mother’s secret romance through a dramatic journey into lost family stories. 

Ayelet discusses the complex history of Yemeni Jews in Israel, drawing on her own family background that inspired her novel and highlighting the central role of music in Yemeni culture and in her lyrical storytelling. 

Further Resources 

• Purchase a copy of Songs for the Brokenhearted
• Read the review in Hadassah Magazine

Watch the program recording here.

The show is hosted by Hadassah Magazine Executive Editor Lisa Hostein and produced by Hadassah Magazine with the support of the Engagement and Marketing divisions of Hadassah.  

Our podcast editors are Arielle Kaplan and Eli Hershko. 

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