Israel in Translation

The last of the fall Jewish holidays, Simchat Torah, came at the start of this week. It's a celebration of the Torah; it takes a year to read the entire Torah in synagogue, and on Simchat Torah one finishes the reading and begins again with Genesis. Host Marcela Sulak reads an excerpt from Yoel Hoffmann’s short story, “Katzchen,” translated by Eddie Levenston and David Kriss:

“God,” thought Katzchen, “gave birth to the world and died. And now the world asks for God in vain. A child sees his mother only for a short time, when he is a baby, and then, for the rest of his life, he asks for his mother who has no form and the mother who has no form asks for her child.”

Hoffman was born in Hungary in 1937 and immigranted to Mandate Palestine as an infant. His mother’s early death and a childhood spent boarding with relatives and in children’s homes figure prominently in his prose. He is a professor at Haifa University, where he teaches Japanese poetry, Buddhism, and philosophy.

Text:“Katzchen,” translated by Eddie Levenston and David Kriss in 50 Stories from Israel. Edited by Zisi Stavi. Yedioth Books, 2007.

Further reading:Katschen and The Book of Joseph, trans. from Hebrew by Eddie Levenston, David Kriss, and Alan Treister, New Directions (New York, NY) 1998.Bernhard, trans. from Hebrew by Alan Treister & Eddie Levenston, New Directions (New York, NY), 1998.The Christ of Fish, trans. from Hebrew by Eddie Levenston, New Directions (New York, NY), 1999.The Heart is Katmandu, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2001.The Shunra and the Schmetterling, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2004.Curriculum Vitae, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2009.Moods, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2015.

Music:Gustav Holst - The Planets: "Venus," "Saturn"

The last of the fall Jewish holidays, Simchat Torah, came at the start of this week. It's a celebration of the Torah; it takes a year to read the entire Torah in synagogue, and on Simchat Torah one finishes the reading and begins again with Genesis. Host Marcela Sulak reads an excerpt from Yoel Hoffmann’s short story, “Katzchen,” translated by Eddie Levenston and David Kriss:

“God,” thought Katzchen, “gave birth to the world and died. And now the world asks for God in vain. A child sees his mother only for a short time, when he is a baby, and then, for the rest of his life, he asks for his mother who has no form and the mother who has no form asks for her child.”

Hoffman was born in Hungary in 1937 and immigranted to Mandate Palestine as an infant. His mother’s early death and a childhood spent boarding with relatives and in children’s homes figure prominently in his prose. He is a professor at Haifa University, where he teaches Japanese poetry, Buddhism, and philosophy.

Text:
“Katzchen,” translated by Eddie Levenston and David Kriss in 50 Stories from Israel. Edited by Zisi Stavi. Yedioth Books, 2007.

Further reading:
Katschen and The Book of Joseph, trans. from Hebrew by Eddie Levenston, David Kriss, and Alan Treister, New Directions (New York, NY) 1998.
Bernhard, trans. from Hebrew by Alan Treister & Eddie Levenston, New Directions (New York, NY), 1998.
The Christ of Fish, trans. from Hebrew by Eddie Levenston, New Directions (New York, NY), 1999.
The Heart is Katmandu, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2001.
The Shunra and the Schmetterling, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2004.
Curriculum Vitae, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2009.
Moods, trans. from Hebrew by Peter Cole, New Directions (New York, NY), 2015.

Music:
Gustav Holst - The Planets: "Venus," "Saturn"

As we celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, host Marcela Sulak reads an extract from a story about the mitzvah of the etrog, by Israeli Nobel laureate S.Y. Agnon. It starts with the narrator making a trip to the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim to purchase his own etrog:

"I pushed my way into the shop of a seller of old books, who abandons book selling during the month or so before Sukkot in order to sell etrogs. The shop was full of customers, aside from the usual scholars and the types that crowd about wherever crowds are gathered. 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, forced to sell off their libraries to buy Sabbath provisions or to marry off their daughters."

During his trip the narrator is plunged into a world of over-eager sellers, beleaguered customers, and, most importantly, old rabbinical tales about etrogs.

Text:“The Etrog,” by S. Y. Agnon. Translated by Jeffrey Saks. Forthcoming in Forevermore: Stories of the Old World and the New, edited by Jeffrey Saks, the Toby Press in 2016.

Music:Shirei Sukkot - Yerushalayim (Shloshet HaRegalim)Shirei Sukkot - LaSukkah SheliAvihu Medina - Melech BaSukkah

As we celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, host Marcela Sulak reads an extract from a story about the mitzvah of the etrog, by Israeli Nobel laureate S.Y. Agnon. It starts with the narrator making a trip to the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim to purchase his own etrog:

"I pushed my way into the shop of a seller of old books, who abandons book selling during the month or so before Sukkot in order to sell etrogs. The shop was full of customers, aside from the usual scholars and the types that crowd about wherever crowds are gathered. 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, forced to sell off their libraries to buy Sabbath provisions or to marry off their daughters."

During his trip the narrator is plunged into a world of over-eager sellers, beleaguered customers, and, most importantly, old rabbinical tales about etrogs.

Text:
“The Etrog,” by S. Y. Agnon. Translated by Jeffrey Saks. Forthcoming in Forevermore: Stories of the Old World and the New, edited by Jeffrey Saks, the Toby Press in 2016.

Music:
Shirei Sukkot - Yerushalayim (Shloshet HaRegalim)
Shirei Sukkot - LaSukkah Sheli
Avihu Medina - Melech BaSukkah

"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,and be, myself, a memorial candle made of her fire."

Host Marcela Sulak reads Abraham Sutzkever's poem "Ever Since My Pious Mother Ate Earth on Yom Kippur" to mark the holiday of Yom Kippur. She then reads from an article by Israeli writer Etgar Keret, translated by Sondra Silverston, explaining why Yom Kippur is his favorite holiday.

Text:Abraham Sutzkever, The Ilanot ReviewEtgar Keret, Table Magazine

Music:Avraham Brudno - Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern (words by Abraham Sutzkever)HaMechashefot - TsiporYafa Yarkoni - En Den Di NoAdam - Sod

"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,
and be, myself, a memorial candle made of her fire."

Host Marcela Sulak reads Abraham Sutzkever's poem "Ever Since My Pious Mother Ate Earth on Yom Kippur" to mark the holiday of Yom Kippur. She then reads from an article by Israeli writer Etgar Keret, translated by Sondra Silverston, explaining why Yom Kippur is his favorite holiday.

Text:
Abraham Sutzkever, The Ilanot Review
Etgar Keret, Table Magazine

Music:
Avraham Brudno - Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern (words by Abraham Sutzkever)
HaMechashefot - Tsipor
Yafa Yarkoni - En Den Di No
Adam - Sod

"To start love like this: with a cannon shotlike Ramadan.That’s a religion! Or with the blowing of a ram’s horn,as at the High Holidays, to exorcise sins.That’s a religion! That’s a love!"

As we enter the Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Marcela Sulak reads several of Yehuda Amichai's poems about the themes of the High Holidays: Judgement, memory, and, of course, the blowing of the shofar or ram's horn.

Text:Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems. Translated by Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell. The Sheep Meadow Press, 1986.The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai. Translated by Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell. The University of California Press, 1996.

Music:Adonai BeKol Shofar Nosach TripoliRav Moshe Levi - Tikiat Shofar Nosach TeymanIlanit - LeOrech HaShdera SheEin Ba IshShai Tsabari - Lavi Oti

"To start love like this: with a cannon shot
like Ramadan.
That’s a religion! Or with the blowing of a ram’s horn,
as at the High Holidays, to exorcise sins.
That’s a religion! That’s a love!"

As we enter the Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Marcela Sulak reads several of Yehuda Amichai's poems about the themes of the High Holidays: Judgement, memory, and, of course, the blowing of the shofar or ram's horn.

Text:
Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems.  Translated by Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell. The Sheep Meadow Press, 1986.
The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai. Translated by Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell. The University of California Press, 1996.

Music:
Adonai BeKol Shofar Nosach Tripoli
Rav Moshe Levi - Tikiat Shofar Nosach Teyman
Ilanit - LeOrech HaShdera SheEin Ba Ish
Shai Tsabari - Lavi Oti

With the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah - coming up on Sunday evening, host Marcela Sulak reads some of the poetry of Navit Barel on that theme. "Free Admission" begins like this:

We ate apples dipped in honey. Free admissionto the sweet and happy years. Mira from Nepalunderstood when we talked about indulgence, income tax and chopped liver.

Navit Barel was born in Ashkelon to immigrants from Libya, who had lost a son in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. “I grew up in a home in mourning; it was a complicated existence,” she told Haaretz newspaper when her second book, MAMASH, appeared in 2011. Barel has also been active with the Cultural Guerrillas – a group of Israeli artists who promote social and political struggle via poetry and music.

Text:All poems and biographical information come from Poetry International Rotterdam.

Music:Idan Raichel Project - Brachot LaShana HaChadasha (Blessings For The New Year)Noa Shemer - Yitzrach (Words by Navit Barel)Arik Einstein - Od Yihiye

With the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah - coming up on Sunday evening, host Marcela Sulak reads some of the poetry of Navit Barel on that theme. "Free Admission" begins like this:

We ate apples dipped in honey. Free admission
to the sweet and happy years. Mira from Nepal
understood when we talked about indulgence, income tax and chopped liver.

Navit Barel was born in Ashkelon to immigrants from Libya, who had lost a son in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. “I grew up in a home in mourning; it was a complicated existence,” she told Haaretz newspaper when her second book, MAMASH, appeared in 2011. Barel has also been active with the Cultural Guerrillas – a group of Israeli artists who promote social and political struggle via poetry and music.

Text:
All poems and biographical information come from Poetry International Rotterdam.

Music:
Idan Raichel Project - Brachot LaShana HaChadasha (Blessings For The New Year)
Noa Shemer - Yitzrach (Words by Navit Barel)
Arik Einstein - Od Yihiye