The Hebrew Teacher - by Maya Arad (Paperback)

About the Book

"Three Israeli women adjust to life in the United States. In the title story of Arad's latest book, an older Israeli woman reflects on nearly half a century spent in the American Midwest, where she teaches Hebrew at the local (unnamed) university. It's been a quiet life spent scrupulously building up an academic program in Hebrew and Jewish studies. Lately, however, enrollment in Ilana's classes has fallen: "What will happen," she wonders, "if Hebrew ends up like Hindi or Polish, with just a beginners' class offered every two or three years?" Just then, a flashy young professor--also Israeli--is hired, and Ilana is caught off guard: Yoad, with his complicated critiques of Israeli politics, seems intent on undermining not just Ilana's work, but also the comfortable assumptions on which she's based her life. It's a quiet, novella-length story, meticulously observed, with remarkable shades of subtlety and nuance. What could have easily become a political screed is, instead, a gentle inquiry into aging, what it means to be relevant, academic ambition, and, most particularly, the morality of Zionist politics. The other two novellas that make up this volume are just as intricately realized. In A Visit (Scenes), Miriam visits her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson in Silicon Valley, where she quickly discovers fault lines in her son's apparently stable family. Make New Friends tackles the insipid--and occasionally insidious--world of social media when Efrat tries to help her daughter adjust to middle school life. Each story is marked by the meticulousness of Arad's observations and the depth of her insights. While her stories follow traditional forms, unmuddied by narrative experimentation, the wisdom she culls from them is tremendous. The quiet subtlety of Arad's prose only pulls the strength of her insights into higher relief."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

"Intensely readable and beautifully observed . . . full of wisdom, generosity, humor, and sharp insights."-Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or and The Idiot

NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR HEBREW FICTION IN TRANSLATION

Three Israeli women, their lives altered by immigration to the United States, seek to overcome crises. Ilana is a veteran Hebrew instructor at a Midwestern college who has built her life around her career. When a young Hebrew literature professor joins the faculty, she finds his post-Zionist politics pose a threat to her life's work. Miriam, whose son left Israel to make his fortune in Silicon Valley, pays an unwanted visit to meet her new grandson and discovers cracks in the family's perfect façade. Efrat, another Israeli in California, is determined to help her daughter navigate the challenges of middle school, and crosses forbidden lines when she follows her into the minefield of social media. In these three stirring novellas--comedies of manners with an ambitious blend of irony and sensitivity--celebrated Israeli author Maya Arad probes the demise of idealism and the generation gap that her heroines must confront.

Reading group guide to The Hebrew Teacher is available for download free of charge at newvesselpress.com.

Review Quotes

"This disturbing and beautiful book concerns itself mostly with Israelis living in America, and Arad has brought her characters and their stories to life in meaningful and unforgettable ways."-The Arts Fuse

"Pitch perfect . . . A poignant, almost elegiac feeling imbues each of Arad's novellas . . . The particulars of language and culture and place set Arad's work apart."--Allegra Goodman, The Jewish Review of Books

"Meticulously observed, with remarkable shades of subtlety and nuance. What could have easily become a political screed is, instead, a gentle inquiry into aging, what it means to be relevant, academic ambition, and, most particularly, the morality of Zionist politics . . . The quiet subtlety of Arad's prose only pulls the strength of her insights into higher relief."--Kirkus Reviews (Starred review)

"Arad makes her English-language debut with an intelligent triptych of novellas that showcase Israeli women navigating their professional and family relationships in the U.S. . . . Throughout, Arad offers an astute and heartfelt look at what brings people together and what drives them apart. Readers will be rewarded by Arad's keen insights."--Publishers Weekly

"Expertly observed . . . More than deserves an American audience . . . For a work first published in Hebrew in 2018, its timeliness is eerie."--Carlin Romano, Moment Magazine

"Stunning . . . Passages like these had me tearing up . . . Demonstrates both the author and the translator's gift for language."--Martha Anne Toll, Lilith Magazine

"It's a story of the moment, when among the many divides in the United States caused by the war in Gaza is a yawning chasm between a baffled Zionist old guard and young anti-Zionist activists . . . a generational clash that seems very relevant and very prescient."--Jewish Telegraphic Agency

"Offers many rewards . . . Arad wrote this story well before the current Israel-Hamas war, but she is strikingly prescient in her understanding of contemporary issues, particularly as they pertain to Israel. Ample credit should go to award-winning translator Jessica Cohen for her seamless work. She has helped make The Hebrew Teacher a must-read."--Hadassah Magazine

"Maya Arad's trio of widely feted novellas examine the familial and professional challenges facing Jews in California and in the Jewish state . . . These stories ask big questions about the future of Israel and of Jews in the English-speaking world."--The Jewish Chronicle

"It is a very good time for Hebrew when the language can produce a writer with the evocative power of éeacute;migrée Maya Arad."--Arts Alive San Antonio

"Sharp, intelligent, full of insights--Maya Arad's writing penetrates the heart and excites the mind."--Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, author of Waking Lions

"An intensely readable and beautifully observed novel of manners, full of wisdom, generosity, humor, and sharp insights into academic and expatriate life."--Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or and The Idiot

"Arad's portraits of contemporary life achieve that rare bala

About the Author

Maya Arad is the author of eleven books of Hebrew fiction, as well as studies in literary criticism and linguistics. Born in Israel in 1971, she received a PhD in linguistics from University College London and for the past twenty years has lived in California where she is currently writer in residence at Stanford University's Taube Center for Jewish Studies.

Jessica Cohen shared the 2017 Man Booker International Prize with author David Grossman for her translation of A Horse Walks into a Bar. She has translated works by Amos Oz, Etgar Keret, Dorit Rabinyan, Ronit Matalon, Nir Baram, and others.