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Issue

38

December 2024 / Chanukah 5785

Preface

Welcome to our Chanukah issue! Here you’ll find 12 splendid works of fiction, originally written in 5 languages: Serbian, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, and English. The one translated from German, “Alfred Menazbach, Subletter” (which is often humorous), is excerpted from one of the first novels in German by a Jewish author about the events surrounding the Holocaust.

We hope that this excerpt and all the stories in this issue bring you delight, spark new ideas, and add to your celebration of the upcoming holiday. Wishing you and those you love a very happy Chanukah filled with miracles and light,

Chag urim sameach! from all of us at

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Alfred Menazbach, Subletter

by M.Y. Ben-Gavriel

by M.Y. Ben-Gavriel

Alfred Menazbach, Subletter

Alfred Menazbach was a somewhat complicated person. That is to say, he was not complicated in the manner of a unique phenomenon...

21m read Translated from German by Thomas Peyser

AntisemitismDiasporaHolocaustWWII

A Pogrom

by Žak Konfino

by Žak Konfino

A Pogrom

I’m sure you’ve heard of the city of Leskovac and its inhabitants. We’re very hard-working people...

12m read Translated from Serbian by John K. Cox

AntisemitismChildhoodNon-Jews

At the Well

by Rivka Rubin

At the Well

On Wednesday at dawn, she left her village for the neighboring one, in order to figure out when and how to escape...

8m read Translated from Yiddish by Sandra Chiritescu

DeathHolocaustMourningRebellionWWII

Under the Influence

by Esti Halperin-Maymon

by Esti Halperin-Maymon

Under the Influence

The bag stood by the bed. Ready. I had prepared it a month ago, following the recommendations...

9m read Translated from Hebrew by Yaron Regev

ChildhoodDeathIsraelKibbutzLoveMourningYom Kippur

The Anatomy of Exile

by Zeeva Bukai

The Anatomy of Exile

Early one Sunday morning in late July, Salim flung the front door open and shouted, “Get up, get the hell up.”

23m read

ChildhoodDiasporaLoveMarriageMizrahi

Lost in Mesopotamia

by Maurice Labi

by Maurice Labi

Lost in Mesopotamia

Outside Newport Market, the wheels of the shopping cart rattled under Mr. Brodsky’s grip...

16m read

Mainly Against Forgetting

by Rinat Harel

Mainly Against Forgetting

In contrast to the sun-beaten streets, their house was thick with dimness all summer...

11m read

AgingChildhoodHolocaust

Ready on the Firing Line

by Alice Shechter

by Alice Shechter

Ready on the Firing Line

I own four graves at the Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, Long Island. My father and his two brothers were in their thirties...

25m read

AgingChildhoodDeathMourning

The Adventures of Freydel the Meydel

by Judith Sanders

by Judith Sanders

The Adventures of Freydel the Meydel

The men will assemble in the clearing tonight to celebrate the full moon. Now it is still dusk...

26m read

FeministSecularShabbatShtetl

A String of Pearls

by Susan Alpert

by Susan Alpert

A String of Pearls

On Saturday night in the George Washington High School gymnasium, the local Jewish Senior Center holds its summer dance...

19m read

AgingFeministLoveMarriage

Becoming Julius

by Burt Rashbaum

by Burt Rashbaum

Becoming Julius

He remembered rain, and Budapest as a dim gray shape beyond his view, the rooftops in the distance hidden by a dense wet fog...

18m read

AdolescenceDiaspora

The Glazier

by Pete Levine

The Glazier

We knew from Current Events that the African nations were becoming independent...

26m read

AdolescenceAntisemitismChildhoodMourning