Laish

In his latest novel, Israeli author Aharon Appelfeld tells the story of a caravan of Jews on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The story is told through the voice of Laish, a fifteen year-old orphan. The only home that Laish has ever known is the caravan; his only "family" is the ragtag group of pilgrims. Laish tells his caravan's story with the innocence, vagueness and acceptance of a child. The story is often hard to follow, due to Laish's childlike simplicity. However, it is precisely Laish's simple and childlike perspective which makes the novel effective and intriguing. Although Appelfeld provides no dates or timeframe in the novel, I gather that the story is set in the late 19th Century around the time when a group of Ukrainian Jews founded Rishon Lezion, one of the earliest Zionist settlements in Palestine. The caravan of this novel is also Ukrainian, having been started in Lemberg by a rabbi whom Laish refers to only as the Holy Man. The Holy Man issues a directive that the group is to accept and look after the downtrodden, the sick and insane, and the widows and orphans. As a result, the caravan is composed of outcasts. The strongest members of the group are the wagon-drivers who are all ex-convicts, and the dealers who buy and sell merchandise along the way. In the words of one member, the caravan is "a rabble of . . . godforsaken Jews". The Holy Man dies before Laish's narrative begins; the reader only hears about him indirectly through Laish's offhand recollections of his orders and admonitions. Without their leader to keep them in line, a constant tension develops between the dealers who keep delaying the progress of the pilgrimage in order to sell their wares and the other pilgrims who want to ascend to Jerusalem. There are parallels in this novel to the biblical Exodus story. Like the biblical children of Israel, the caravan wanders, taking many years to travel a distance that normally could be crossed in a matter of days or weeks. Like the children of Israel, the group suffers hunger, pestilence, and persecution. Like the biblical children of Israel, many members get discouraged and leave the group, are banished or sicken and die. The Holy Man is the group's Moses, Old Avraham is their Aaron, Tzilla (a mute but nurturing old woman who silently works to keep everyone clothed and fed) is their Miriam, and Sruel (a ex-convict of great kindness, strength and faith) is their Joshua. There is much sadness in this novel. The pilgrims behave like a dysfunctional family, at one point brutally beating Ephraim, a young man who is troubled by dreams and visions, then caring for him and carrying him through the rest of the journey. At another point, in violation of the Holy Man's directive, they banish Mamshe, a deranged young woman, then search for her in the marsh and the riverbank. This is a story of hope, human frailty, despair and, ultimately, survival. Until reading this novel, I had no knowledge or understanding of

Appelfeld is a phenomenal writer. In this novel he portrays in shockingly vivid hues the depravity and desperation of a group of Jewish pilgrims migrating across Europe with the vague intention of "going up" to Jerusalem. The only honorable people are the elderly men, who devote all their time to prayer and Torah study. But even these people live in fear and suspicion of those who travel with them. Accusations of thievery and worse resound at all times. The narrator is a young orphan, an decent soul, who seeks to make the best of a difficult situation. I would say that this review is rather misleading: "The narrative of these desperate pilgrims trying to reach the Holy Land is vintage Appelfeld: equal parts fable, folktale, Torah, and Kafka . . . rendered with the author's trademark precision. . . . In his growing body of fiction-a novelistic kaddish-Appelfeld employs the right words, the only words, to pass along the story that should never have been. Being labeled a Holocaust writer might irritate Appelfeld, but no living novelist--not Elie Wiesel, not Amos Oz--better chronicles the spiritual vacuum and extreme disorientation that ensued in the aftermath of Auschwitz. Whatever critics choose to call him, we require his witness." Because this book is set in pre-WWII Europe. It has nothing to do with the Holocaust or Auschwitz, and the character flaws revealed by the author cannot be attributed to Naziism or anti-Semitism in any way. Indeed, they are purely of Jewish origin and seek a Jewish solution.

Appelfield, Aharon. "Laish", Schocken, 2009. Melancholy and Narrative Amos Lassen "Laish" is an amazing book that is equally a fable, a folktale, some Torah and Kafkaesque. It is simple and beautiful and totally original. Laish is a 15 year old orphan who is traveling with a group of World War II survivors who are on their way to Jerusalem. This traveling community represents the historic wandering of the Jewish people in search of their homeland. Laish was employed by Fingerhut who was a sickly man with money but when he died, Laish then had to take care of himself. He was able to find some work with some of the religious older men from whom he learns Torah. He also found work with Sruel, a former convict who has a way with animals and with Ploosh, a driver. As the group wanders, sickness and elements take place and we soon see that the group is a microcosm of society and behave as such. It is the author who says this all in beautiful language and to be honest I have only read Appelfield in Hebrew so this was my first exposure to him in translation. It is Laish as narrator who observes and it is his experiences that tell us the harsh truths of survival. The book is a look at how those that experienced the Holocaust live their lives in a spiritual vacuum and are disorientated to put it mildly. The story is disturbing--a story of expectations, disappointments and desperation. The caravan of Jews is made up of holy men and misfits, thieves and dreamers and they seem to be constantly at battle with each other and always a step ahead of the police. When the rabbi that brought the group together died, the leadership is taken over by men that Laish refers to as "dealers"--they are men who trade on the black market and have "questionable motives" yet occasionally they give the group money to enable them to get to the next town. The wandering seems to go on for years and as time passes, tempers become short, illness decimates the number and the group's endurance begins to sag. What keeps them going is the dream of Jerusalem. When they finally make it to Galacz, they see their ship which is to take them but we doubt if they ever make it on board. One cannot but marvel at the beauty of Appelfield's writing and his creation of Laish. The story is a paradox that Jews know only too well. This is one of the most beautiful novels I have read but more important than that is it has something to say about the way we live.