Novel set in Israel (plus Talking Location With author Ariel Kahn)

20th July 2018

Raising Sparks by Ariel Kahn, novel set in Israel.

“gone off the path”

First of all, the cover has to get a mention! Simple and eye catching. Enough said.

Raising Sparks opens in the Charedi world of the Sabbatto family living in Jerusalem, who are bound by the traditional values of their ultra Orthodox faith. Malka is one of three daughters, who is a spirited young teenage woman who yearns for a freedom that she cannot find within her community. Her father is a supremely religious man, who, going against religious tradition, is very inclusive of Malka in his reading and teaching, although it is not usual practise to extend deep religious learning to a female. But one day he stops. He then reveals a secret to Malka that undermines the ethos of his position and religion and puts her world into a spin.

Kabbalah is an esoteric, mystical tradition that evolved within Judaism. It now has a more New Age feel, it has been a popular choice amongst celebrities, and allegiance to this ‘faith’ is symbolised by a simple red band, worn on the wrist, a sign of the holy fellowship. And it is to this community that Malka is serendipitously drawn; she  sets off on her travels in search of spiritual richness. She has indeed “gone of the path“.

Moshe has arrived in Israel from Russia and finds the ways of his adoptive society quite alienating in some ways. Yet he is an intelligent young man and he finds himself studying religion amongst the best… until things turn sour. He is already on the edge of the community when he steps out of line to spend just a few unchaperoned hours with Malka. Once she is on her spiritual path, he must decide where his own destiny lies.

This is a beautifully written novel that initiates the reader into a virtually closed world. And a world of different cultures struggling to co-exist. The novel is not a judgement of lifestyle but a rich exploration of character and destiny that allows the reader to be involved in a world beyond normal experience. It won’t be a novel for everyone, but will be a good choice for someone who is looking for a deeper understanding of religion and culture.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

#TalkingLocationWith…author Ariel Kahn:Dreams in Stone – From Jerusalem to Jaffa

Jerusalem is a map of dreams. So many peoples, so many faiths, that you can feel them pressing down on you as you walk the streets of the old city. There is even a mental condition, Jerusalem syndrome, for those who fancy themselves as the next messiah. Any version of the city is necessarily partial. I was meant to be a rabbi, and lived in Israel for three years between High School and University. The first of these was in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, in a dome-ceilinged Arab house that was so cold in the winter you could see your breath. I used to walk to the seminary every morning through the vibrant, crowded food market of the Christian quarter. In my novel, Malka, the protagonist, escapes from her religious Jewish family and finds solace there:

Jerusalem Hills

The street sloped steeply away beneath her feet, slippery with crushed fruit. The air thick with the sound of Arabic as the merchants vied with one another to sell their wares. She loved it here. No-one noticed her in her uniform of long sleeves, dark ankle-length skirt and thick seamed stockings, her red hair swinging over her shoulder in a tight braid. No one except for the coffee-merchant at the very edge of the Christian quarter. Her feet always slowed outside his stall.

For Jews, the most significant site in Jerusalem is the Western Wall, the last remnant of the second temple. The Wall so dominates the identity of the city that all stone buildings use the same honeyed “Jerusalem Stone”. It has a formative impact on Malka:

Growing up almost in its shadow, she went to the Western Wall almost every day. Jews travelled from all over the world to pray there, and so they wanted to leave something of themselves behind. They wrote out their most fervent hopes, things which they didn’t dare say aloud, and slipped these paper prayers, or kepitelech, into the cracks between the ancient stones, pressing these furled buds of longing together so tightly the huge stones seemed held aloft by prayers alone.

Old City Wall

Kierkegaard once wrote that “purity of heart is to will one thing”. Hidden away in a corner of the Christian quarter is a very different place of pilgrimage. Zalatimo, a pastry shop that makes only one thing. Mutabbaq, a Palestinian layered dish of pastry and cheese almost stunning in its simplicity. Celebrated by Yotam Ottolenghi in his Jerusalem Cookbook, this is available in either a sweet or savoury version. Silky sheets of filo are rolled out on the marble counter to translucence by Zalatimo, for whom this is a passion, and eaten on the spot at a few tables leaning against Roman columns which have become part of the space.

This sense of physical and cultural identities folded into one another are a key feature of the city. A great way to tease out these layers is to visit the Tower of David Museum, housed in a medieval citadel beside the Jaffa gate, and telling the story of the city in Arabic, English and Hebrew. The view from the citadel towers allows you to bridge the old and new aspects of the city, something Malka discovers through her Palestinian friend, Mahmoud:

Malka looked down at the old city, melded into a whole from Mahmoud’s birdlike vantage. From above, the holy places of each faith punctuated rather than punctured that harmony. (286)

Jaffa Sea – Mosque

For Malka Jerusalem gets too much, and if you feel the same, you could do worse than follow her trail to Jaffa, the ancient Arab port-town which often comes second to its brash neighbour, Tel Aviv, hyphenated as Tel-Aviv-Yafo. The shimmering turquoise of the sea summons you here.  You can still see Andromeda’s rock, from which she was rescued by Perseus. Jonah fled from Jaffa, and Napoleon landed here. It is a city that seems to float between the past and the present, something summed up by an artist installation in the city, Orange Suspendu, a floating orange tree in a terracotta pot held aloft on taut wires. Like so much in the city, it can be experienced in multiple ways. In my novel, Moshe, a Russian immigrant and Malka’s would-be lover, identifies with it:

He was still early for work, so he took a detour through old Jaffa. The narrow cobbled streets commanded his full attention. He stopped for a moment beside an art installation he loved, an orange tree raised off the ground in a ceramic jar, held suspended by taut wires, forever prevented from taking root. You and me both, Moshe thought as he reached up to stroke the smooth, cool bark. (194)

Mahmoud, Malka’s Palestinian friend, sees the tree as a symbol of his frustrated nation:

Mahmoud’s face was dappled with shadows from the leaves of the tree. “This sculpture is by an Israeli artist called Ran Morin. But when I look at this tree, I see Palestine in a jar. They keep it suspended in the air for fear it might take root.”

Just like Jerusalem, food is a key expression of personal and collective identity here. No visit to Jaffa would be complete without a trip to Abulafia’s, the Arab owned bakery that closes on all Jewish festivals, a physical embodiment of co-operation and mutual respect. This is Moshe stopping for a breakfast snack on his bicycle:

As he passed Abulafia’s bakery the shutters were just being raised, and taxi drivers, clubbers, and other post-night-denizens were already clustered eagerly outside. It reminded him of the Arab market in Jerusalem, the shutters scrolled up by bleary-eyed men scratching their bellies, erasing the failed hopes and soured dreams of the night before. Maybe the two cities were not so different after all. The green awnings fluttered their eyelashes at him, teasing him with hints of cinnamon and sesame.

I hope this teaser trailer for two cities I love, and the novel that they inspired, whets your appetite for travel, either on the page or on foot.

Thank you to Ariel for such a delightful look at the two cities… Do follow Ariel on Twitter

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