Month: February 2016

Seeking and Finding ‘In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist’

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  • Unknown-17In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist by Ruhama King Feuerman (The New York Review of Books, 2013)
  • In 40 words or less: A rebbe’s courtyard in Jerusalem and a shard of pottery discarded on the Temple Mount are catalysts for life changing experiences for three lonely people.
  • Genre: Fiction
  • Locale: Jerusalem
  • Time: 1994
  • Read this book for a well-crafted story bringing in the many different peoples that make up Jerusalem.

There is a timelessness to Ruhama King Feuerman’s novel despite its contemporary setting. The courtyard of the title, on Nineveh Street in Jerusalem, is a place where seekers of all sorts congregate. A wise and ailing rebbe and his wife offer guidance and soup to an array of regular and occasional visitors. Isaac, a former haberdasher from the Lower East Side, arrives in the courtyard while looking for a new direction in his life. As luck would have it (and out of the goodness of their hearts), Isaac becomes the assistant to the rebbe, ferrying messages, keeping order and conversing with the visitors.

Among the visitors is Tamar, a young American who has moved to Israel and become more religious. She is effervescent in personality and dress and is in search of her bashert, the person who’s destined to share her life. She asks the rebbe’s guidance in finding him.

On the Temple Mount, Mustafa toils daily as a janitor, sweeping, washing, and hauling trash to maintain the holiness of the site. Mustafa has been an outcast from birth, his head awkwardly twisted almost over his shoulder. Rejected by his family who are concerned about the negative influence his condition may have on the marriage prospects of his siblings, he lives narrow existence of work, dinner and sleep with little human contact.

In the course of clearing out buckets of debris from questionable digging on the Temple Mount, Mustafa finds a shard of pottery that appears to have some value. Mustafa sees Isaac as someone who can explain what he has found. Looking for answers endangers Isaac and Mustafa but they are resolute in what becomes a quest for both. As with almost everything in Jerusalem, religious and political controversies, control of holy sites and distrust among groups become obstacles in their path.

Over the course of the novel, these three lonely, family-less people find connections with each other. The story has ample twists and turns, but it is the blossoming of the people and their friendships that gives it lasting strength. This is a slim book, tightly written and very well-suited for discussion among book groups.

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‘Year of Wonders’ – a timely story from a 350 year old reality

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  • Year of WondersYear of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (Viking Press, 2001)
  • In 40 words or less: Based on Eyam, England which cut itself off from the world in the hope of saving its people from the plague.
  • Genre: Historical Fiction
  • Locale: England
  • Time: 1665
  • Read this book if individual stories bring you a new  understanding of history.

Geraldine Brooks’ ‘Year of Wonders’ has long been one of my favorite novels. It is particularly appropriate that I am finishing this review after almost a week of hunkering down due to winter storm Jonas. Her debut novel, written in 2001, is based on the actual English village of Eyam which in 1665 chose total isolation from neighboring villages in the hope of mitigating bubonic plague. The outbreak was in the early days of the Protestant Reformation, a time of religious and social friction. Anna Firth was created by Brooks to tell the community’s story.

Anna is a still a teenager when her husband dies mining lead. Left with two small children, she works in the rectory for Reverend Mompellion and his wife, Elinor. To augment her wages, Anna takes in a tailor who has come to town.  He becomes the first victim of the plague, likely infected from fleas in cloth he received. Fortunate to have been taught to read, Anna is hungry for knowledge and Elinor sees in her a kindred spirit. While Reverend Mompellion sees to the religious needs of many in the community, Elinor and Anna work together to keep the community fed and restore their health.

In a community barely subsisting, the toll of isolation and deprivation is high. Through Anna’s eyes the reader sees the best and the worst behaviors. Beyond the stark religious differences within the Protestants, there is a household of women herbalists and healers who some consider witches. These women are increasingly called upon to help those who have fallen ill from a variety of ailments. They, however, are often not treated with like kindness. The harshness of daily life and lengths people go to survive can be chilling.

Over the course of the year, Brook peels back the layers of life – birth and death, cruelty and kindness, love and hatred. It is astonishing how many aspects of the book ring true 350 years later. This is a book to read, re-read and share.

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