The End Keeps Moving Further Away...
On how history keeps overtaking this book, and the books of many of you, and the difficult questions that raises for Jewish writers in particular.
I have what I expected to be a nearly complete version of the book, which I planned to send to WVU press in mid-February. In my current outline, the book ends with my affirmation ritual, completing a tryptic of essays that ask the question of whether or not I am actually a Jew. (It’s not a conversion. Everyone with authority has agreed that I could join the congregation here without this process. But that because not all traditions recognize patrilineal Jews, this is a way for me to affirm my Jewishness and feel entirely comfortable at my new shul.) The book as I’d originally imagined it has done what I wanted it to do in this manuscript; it has repopulated West Virginian history with the Jews who helped to build the state in the years after the Civil War and explored issues of both Appalachian and Jewish identities and the tensions between them. It’s raised a lot of questions without offering too many answers, and that’s always my aim… I want to show the reader things they might not have a chance to see otherwise, not dictate to them what those things should mean. So all in all, I should be happy with this draft.
Reader, I am not.
I no longer feel a book that looks backwards, and then to the present, is enough. And I also no longer think it’s possible to talk about a Jewish future without talking about Israel. Given the amount of travel writing in the book that looks at the past of Jews living in Europe, I think I’ve come to believe the only real way to end the book is to also write about Jews now living in—and building a future for—Israel. And that, I’m afraid, means that I need to go to Israel; a thing I’d never considered doing before October 7th.
I’m still not sure how I’ll pull this off. I didn’t get a grant I’d applied for to do further travel for research, and travel to Israel is expensive. I also don’t have great connections to people in Israel who can help me make this trip meaningful and ensure that I see the things I need to see and help connect me with the people I’d like to speak with. And I recognize that I’m not going to come away with any great depth of knowledge, but of course that was true with my visits to Europe as well. These travel essays are about what it feels like to be in a place of significance to me, not about writing complete and complex histories. But I am becoming more and more convinced that this really is the only way to end this essay collection.
I’m reaching out to you, fellow writers and fellow Jews, to ask for tips for both funding the travel and for making it meaningful. I’m also interested to here how history has overtaken your own WIP, and what decisions you are making as a result. I suspect that this will, among other things, make it harder to get the collection through the peer review required by a university press, but I’ve decided that is a form of censorship and I won’t allow myself to be concerned about it. But I do want to be sure I make this essay worth that risk. What suggestions do you have for me to make sure that it is?
I have a lot of things to say so this may be my first comment of several. Of course go to Jerusalem as soon as possible after you get there. But if you land on shabbas, meh. It's hard place to get around on shabbas. If you are trying to save money never use the taxis unless you are in a pinch. There is almost no circumstance they will turn on the meter and give you a fair price. It's crazy. Luckily the buses and trams are great. In TV-Yaffo, if you are phsically an amazing experience is walking fro, the North where it is mostly Jews and as you get further south it become beautiful mix of Jews and Arabs until you get to Yaffo, which is mixed but mostly Arabs. Don't let anyone talk you into missing Haifa. It is one of the most interesting and beautiful cities in the world. It is a beautiful mosaic of Arabs, Russian Jews, Bahai people. From Haifa is the one time I would splurge on a guided tour. In a day, you can have someone drive you to Sfat, Nazareth, Akre, and Rosh Hanikra. Feh with the Dead Sea. The only reason to visit Judea is just to see those hills. I believe that every Jew has a spiritual connection to those hill. We don't have to own them. We don't have to live there. but they are are exciting to see. Masada -- and I am deeply conflicted about Massada. Really? Suicide? But it's pretty I guess. To wrap up. staying in cheap air bnb's, taking public transportation and splurging on only one day of guided tours you can do a couple days in Jerusalem, a couple days in Haifa, and a couple days in TV. Unforgettable experience.
I’m sorry I don’t have any useful advice, but I hope you will find a way to take this trip! I have never been to Israel, but it is a place I would like visit if I were a person who could travel. Instead I read books! I recently reread A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz, which I highly recommend if you haven’t already read it. It’s a beautiful memoir about his personal history and the history of Israel.