I recently started to read a collection of short stories by Etgar Keret, in Hebrew, as a way to practice my Hebrew reading skills and build vocabulary. I’m generally not a short story reader, but my current Hebrew teacher suggested that short stories would be an easier lift than whole novels, and Etgar Keret is the best-known short-story writer in Hebrew today. The other benefit of reading an Israeli author (rather than an English language book translated into Hebrew, like my Harry Potter books, which I’ve been trying to read for many years now), is that I can learn more about life in Israel while improving my Hebrew. The fact that Keret is so popular in Israel suggests that his work resonates with many Israelis.
Of course, even though the first story in the book (the title story), “Suddenly a knock at the door,” is only 3 or 4 pages long, I managed to fill three pages with vocabulary words to look up on Google Translate; words like “holster,” and “butcher’s knife,” and “avalanche,” are probably not going to end up on my long-term vocabulary list, but “nerves,” and “politeness,” and “boiling,” might be helpful down the road.
The problem is that I found the first story in the collection painful to read, even after getting all of the vocabulary translated. The disconnect between Etgar Keret’s characters and reality, and between his characters and their own emotions and actions, makes it feel like we too, as readers, are in a dissociated state as we follow the story. A number of the stories I’d already read by him, in various classes, involved the need to go to extremes in order to “feel something,” as if his characters are all living their lives in an extended state of post-trauma. There’s also a lot of loneliness in his stories, and an inability for the protagonists to connect to the other people in the world of the story, despite increasingly desperate attempts to do so.
After reading 1 ½ stories, I already needed a break, and I decided to go online to see what other readers had to say about Keret’s work, in English, in case I was missing something in the Hebrew. One reviewer called his stories “a blend of the mundane and the magical,” and many called his style “surreal,” but no one could really explain to me why his writing resonated with so many people, or why Keret himself felt compelled to write this way. And then I found an interview he’d given, where he said that whenever he feels angry with someone and he can’t get past it, he writes a story from their point of view, as a way to put himself in their shoes and try to humanize and understand them. He has, for example, written at least ten stories from the point of view of Benjamin Netanyahu, the seemingly-forever-Prime-Minister of Israel who has moved further and further to the right throughout his time in power. And hearing Keret’s real voice, as opposed to his fictional one, helped me to understand his stories a little bit better. They seem to be, at heart, Keret’s attempt to connect with and make sense of his fellow Israelis, and the disconnect I feel as a reader echoes his own frustration at not being able to do so.
Etgar Keret’s version of Israel is a world filled with missed connections, and deep wounds, and problems that can’t be solved, even though his characters want it to be otherwise; and it’s illuminating to know that many people in Israel find Etgar Keret’s version of their world familiar. Would I have gotten all of that from reading the stories only in English? I’m not sure. The fact is, it was only out of a desire to practice my Hebrew that I was even willing to make the effort to enter into Etgar Keret’s world in the first place. And there’s something to be said for that, for the value of investigating the world through another language and another point of view, in order to see and understand things that are usually out of reach.
One of my classmates in the online Hebrew language school is a native Arabic speaker from Jerusalem. He spent years working in the United States and becoming fluent in English, and now he is back in Israel, learning Hebrew and training to become an English teacher. His goal is to use his English to create a bridge between Hebrew and Arabic speakers, and between Jews and Arabs in Israel. And every time I listen to him talk about his work, I’m inspired to add Arabic to my Duolingo list, but I never do it. In a way, Arabic feels as distant and strange to me as Etgar Keret’s world, but the fact that Hebrew and Arabic come from the same language family and have both borrowed from each other at different points in their development, means there is a lot for me to discover about Hebrew by learning some Arabic. I actually know a bunch of words in Arabic already, because they’ve been borrowed into Hebrew, either with their original meaning intact or with some alterations, but I only know how to read or write them in Hebrew and to go any deeper into the language I’d really have to start with the alphabet, which is all new to me.
I’ve heard from many people, recently, that they would love to be fluent in Hebrew, or any number of other languages, if they could only take a magic pill, or insert a chip into their brains, because the actual work of learning another language is too hard. I’ve always assumed that the reason it was taking me so long to become fluent in Hebrew (or French, or Spanish) was because I wasn’t working hard enough, or I was doing it wrong, but I’m finally starting to understand that while there are some people who are extraordinarily talented with languages, most of us have to work at it, and it takes a long time.
So, I’m continuing to read the Etgar Keret stories, and taking my Hebrew classes, and adding Arabic to my Duolingo list, because I’ve discovered that even if I never become fluent in another language, I’m still learning more than I ever expected to learn along the way, and it’s making my life and my understanding richer, no matter how long the journey takes.
A review: Etgar Keret’s “Suddenly, a Knock on the Door” – Words Without Borders
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my novel, Yeshiva Girl, on Amazon. And if you feel called to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
Yeshiva Girl is about a Jewish teenager on Long Island, named Isabel, though her father calls her Jezebel. Her father has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with one of his students, which he denies, but Izzy implicitly believes it’s true. As a result of his problems, her father sends her to a co-ed Orthodox yeshiva for tenth grade, out of the blue, and Izzy and her mother can’t figure out how to prevent it. At Yeshiva, though, Izzy finds that religious people are much more complicated than she had expected. Some, like her father, may use religion as a place to hide, but others search for and find comfort, and community, and even enlightenment. The question is, what will Izzy find?
rachelmankowitz 
Can you find some comprehensible input Hebrew novels so you can focus on high frequency vocabulary?
I can try!
There are CI stories on YouTube as well!
I couldn’t help but wonder if many avid readers of Etgar Keret’s short stories are socially maladapted. They feel sypathetic to the protagonists. A similar phenomenon seems present in fans of Franz Kafka. The psychological unease of the protagonists is relateable to the reader. It’s just a thought.
Interesting idea!
that is genius, when he can’t get past his anger to write from the other person’s point of view. Granted, there are many whose heads i dont want to get into, but how freeing is that?
I’ve tried it as an exercise, but have found it really painful. I’m glad it works for him, though.
“I’m still learning more than I ever expected to learn along the way, and it’s making my life and my understanding richer, no matter how long the journey takes”.
The best of courses. There is always something to learn, no matter how difficult, as long as you are willing. Nicely done as always Rachel.
Thank you!
One of our daughters has a gift for languages.
I’m always jealous of the people who have that kind of gift!
Me too!
I can’t read it in Hebrew (I’m lucky if I can read my own name) but I’m going to check out his short stories in English. Thanks for the recommendation!
You’re welcome!
You deserve a medal for your dedication to learning to read in Hebrew and also for educating yourself non-stop.
I love it!
Good for you, Rachel!
I think learning Hebrew would be daunting because the letters don’t look like anything I would relate to in English
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It definitely helps to start young, but I know people who have been able to pick it up later in life.
Writing from the point of view of someone you’re angry with is an interesting way of putting yourself in someone’s shoes. I always enjoyed learning languages, so I enjoy reading about your progress in learning Hebrew.
Thank you!
Would using Google Lens to translate whole pages make the vocabulary translation much faster? I agree that studying languages in adulthood is a tedious task for most of us.
Great idea!
I applaud you for using contemporary writings to practice Hebrew. It’s difficult enough to understand words, but you have to understand the concepts that inspired those words to make the stories come alive as they were intended. I wouldn’t be so concerned if you “lose some in translation.” It’s difficult, even in your native language, to understand what a writer, particularly a writer of personal stories really means with those words. James Thurber is one fAmerica’s great humorists and essayists, but his writing is so spot on to the era it was written, that unless you lived through the early 1900’s, a lot of his nuance is easily lost. Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing great with it!!
Thank you!
My dog just told me that pee notes and tags are universal.
And you know that with great cuteness comes no responsibility (to learn stuff etc.) but a lot of free treatos, regardless in what country the cuteness holder lives in.
Good to know!
Interesting post, Rachel. I read this last night and then I looked into the author you linked in the post.
I’m not learning any more languages but it’s a fascinating topic and we all learn in different ways.
Absolutely!
My library has several of Etgar Keret’s works, one of them in book form (“Fly already” – also a collection of short stories), so I look forward to meeting a new author, albeit in translation. I’ve always been completely hopeless at learning new languages, and I’ve tried several. Maybe I wasn’t willing to work hard enough? It’s been a source of shame to me; I grew up in a multilingual country, and my husband is fluent in several languages, but although I’m fairly gifted in English I have had no success at all in learning another language. So well done you for pushing through the difficulty, Rachel! Your life will be so much richer for it.
Also, I’ve read “Yeshiva Girl” (posted a positive review on Amazon years ago). I hope you’re working on something else!
There’s no shame in having one talent instead of another!
If Etgar Keret’s stories are popular, it is because the emotions they evoke are what many people are experiencing today. Sadly, this is a result not only of their isolation w/i society, but their detachment from God. That you describe this as an an extended state of post-trauma is very apt.
I think a lot of what we tend to name as character disorders are really the result of untreated trauma.
I always learn from you, Rachel. This is a most thoughtful essay, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read the Keret interview. It’s encouraging to know that Keret remains an optimist, as do his Holocaust-surviving parents. The fact that you’re seriously considering studying Arabic is encouraging too.
Speaking of optimism, Tzipporah seems to be thriving; she looks terrific. Dedication and love can help us all overcome darkness and despair.
Absolutely! Thank you!
Thank you for liking my post. I like your post. Some of my family members know Hebrew. They know how to speak in Hebrew. They know how read Hebrew. They know how to write Hebrew. They are Messianics. I hope you have a great week this week.
Thank you!
You can talk to me anytime.
Well done with reading Hebrew! It’s not easy. I used to be able to read and write it but it’s been far too long for me to remember much at all. My grandfather was a rabbi so I should feel guilty but I don’t. My son teaches a Jewish Studies class in addition to Germanic Languages and Literatures. He wants me to study Hebrew again to refresh all I’ve forgotten so I told him I’d think about it. Haha. Probably not.
I you go towards whatever gives you joy, you’ll be not he right path!
How cute your little girl is! 💕
Thank you!
I wonder how many other religious adherents would be willing to consider both Hebrew and Arab viewpoints and refrain from being cultural biased?
You’d be surprised how many people in Israel speak both languages, especially from the many Jewish families who lived for millennia in different parts of the Middle East. But most American Jews can barely speak Hebrew, let alone Arabic, and I think there’s a lot to be gained from the study.
Interesting to know Rachel. Think global is one idea I embrace.