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Available
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Publication
Toby Press (2007), Edition: 1st English Language Ed, 229 pages
Description
Set in Israel between the Six Day War and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, 'If You Awaken Love' is an intensely moving story of a stormy and spiritual young girl and her love-hate relationships with her childhood sweetheart, with her father, and with God.
User reviews
LibraryThing member -Eva-
Although Shlomtzion's religious fervor and the reason she gives it up is somewhat implausible to me, Elon's story is still a strong story about the power of love and the repercussions of choosing reason over love and vice versa. She manages to write a story about history, culture, and politics
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(personal as well as national), in a lyrical way that catches the imagination and makes you care for all her characters, whether you agree with them or not. Show Less
LibraryThing member ashergabbay
ent back and read this novel.
Shlomzion, a young idealistic girl growing up in Jerusalem, falls in love with Yair, son of a renowned academic. They decide to get married and go to Yair's rabbi to get his blessing. Alas, the rabbi does not give them his blessing and instead says: "Heaven rejoices,
Jump forward a few decades. Yair married Leah, has several children with her and lives in a settlement. Shlomzion quits being religious and spends time in the Sinai desert, marries Yair's old army commander and has a daughter, Mia. Years go by and Mia, who does the reverse journey of her mother and becomes religious, announces that she is going to get married to Ariel, who turn out to be Yair's son. The loop is closed. If the parents were not to wed because of a "hand that delays", their children will.
This is a simple and easy novel to read. It is interspersed with quotations from the Bible, the Talmud and the prayer book, so it might be a little off-putting to those not familiar with these texts. The background to the happenings is the aftermath of the Oslo accords, when Rabin was prime minister and the gap between mainstream Israel and the settlers grew to frightening proportions. The book doesn't reach the climas, Rabin's murder, but it deals with the zeitgeist of the times.
Shlomzion, a young idealistic girl growing up in Jerusalem, falls in love with Yair, son of a renowned academic. They decide to get married and go to Yair's rabbi to get his blessing. Alas, the rabbi does not give them his blessing and instead says: "Heaven rejoices,
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but there is a hand that delays". These enigmatic words cause Yair to call off the wedding and the couple part.Jump forward a few decades. Yair married Leah, has several children with her and lives in a settlement. Shlomzion quits being religious and spends time in the Sinai desert, marries Yair's old army commander and has a daughter, Mia. Years go by and Mia, who does the reverse journey of her mother and becomes religious, announces that she is going to get married to Ariel, who turn out to be Yair's son. The loop is closed. If the parents were not to wed because of a "hand that delays", their children will.
This is a simple and easy novel to read. It is interspersed with quotations from the Bible, the Talmud and the prayer book, so it might be a little off-putting to those not familiar with these texts. The background to the happenings is the aftermath of the Oslo accords, when Rabin was prime minister and the gap between mainstream Israel and the settlers grew to frightening proportions. The book doesn't reach the climas, Rabin's murder, but it deals with the zeitgeist of the times.
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Awards
National Jewish Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2007)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
229 p.; 5.75 inches
ISBN
1592641458 / 9781592641451