Issue

15

Apr 2015 / Pesach 5775

Preface

Welcome to this wonderful new issue of Jewish Fiction .net! Here you will find 20 first-rate works of fiction, originally written in Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew and English. These include a new translation of Isaac Babel’s Red Cavalry, four novel excerpts by Israeli writers, a story translated from Yiddish, and from the Netherlands, United States and Canada, 14 terrific stories. Also, in keeping with the Pesach holiday which starts this Friday night, several of these 20 stories relate to the themes of servitude and freedom.

With this, our 15^th issue, we proudly reach the number of 225 (15 squared!) stories published so far in Jewish Fiction .net — 225 works of fiction never before published in English. For helping us to reach this exciting milestone, we thank our fantastically devoted volunteers, our generous donors, and you, our excellent readers.

We hope you enjoy these wonderful stories. And we wish you and those you love a joyful, meaningful, and liberating Pesach! Chag sameach v’kasher! from all of us at

Jewish Fiction .net

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Red Cavalry

by Isaac Babel

Red Cavalry

The sixth division commander reported that Novograd-Volynsk was taken today at dawn.

13m read Translated from Russian by Boris Dralyuk

AntisemitismHasidicRebellionShabbat

The Sand Dunes of Paris

by Edna Shemesh

The Sand Dunes of Paris

Albert first became aware that Anais existed before he'd seen either her face or her body.

44m read Translated from Hebrew by Charles Kamen

DiasporaLove

One Night, Markovitch

by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen

One Night, Markovitch

Yaacov Markovitch wasn't ugly. Which is not to say he was handsome.

32m read Translated from Hebrew by Sondra Silverston

IsraelLoveRebellion

Chameleon and Nightingale

by Benjamin Tammuz

Chameleon and Nightingale

After lunch they called me into the office and put me on the scales.

18m read Translated from Hebrew by Philip Simpson

AntisemitismHolocaust

Red Shoes for Rachel

by Boris Sandler

Red Shoes for Rachel

If they were trying to account for their meeting and acquaintance, they could probably have done it with a single statement...

71m read Translated from Yiddish by Barnett Zumoff

AgingLove

Hunger – Ra’av

by Ruth Knafo Setton

Hunger – Ra’av

Hebrew moves from right to left, forces a complete re-orientation to the page.

29m read

AdolescenceDeathIsraelJerusalemMizrahiMourning

Roza Naumovna’s Recipes: Sour Cabbage Soup

by Maria Bloyshteyn

Roza Naumovna’s Recipes: Sour Cabbage Soup

So now you come. Nu, better late than never.

9m read

AgingAntisemitismNon-JewsWWII

Gimpel of Surfside

by Thane Rosenbaum

Gimpel of Surfside

When walking upright began to define the human species, running—with fleetness and determination—was the mode of action that signaled urgency

39m read

AgingChildhoodHolocaustMarriage

The People, Food for Kings

by Yitzhak Laor

The People, Food for Kings

For soldiers the world is open but the country is shut and locked.

67m read Translated from Hebrew by Dalya Bilu

Israel

America for Breakfast

by Olga Klinger

America for Breakfast

We left it all back there at the airport gate, behind the cage-like bars that separated those who said goodbye from those who left.

15m read

ChildhoodDiaspora

Drowning

by Shoshana Razel Gordon Guedalia

Drowning

It's 5:00 pm on a Saturday when the drowning incident transpires.

27m read

AntisemitismChildhoodShabbat

The Tenth Man

by Gerald Tulchinsky

The Tenth Man

Of course, it was entirely my fault. I should have known what was likely to happen.

7m read

AgingRabbiSynagogue

A Brief History of A Long War

by Chester Aaron

A Brief History of A Long War

Yesterday afternoon, after the longest break in our phone conversations in more than fifty years, I called Chetan.

20m read

DeathHolocaustLoveNon-JewsWWII

Soldiers on Crystal Horses

by Nathalie Alyon

Soldiers on Crystal Horses

Everything changed that summer, all at once, and without warning.

22m read

AntisemitismChildhoodMizrahiSephardic

The Disappearance of Mr. Harry Golden

by Patricia Greene

The Disappearance of Mr. Harry Golden

Of course, he should have taken the elevator.

41m read

AgingChildhoodMarriage

What They Knew

by Eric Dreyer Smith

What They Knew

Mrs. Petersen knew what they were doing up the road.

7m read

AntisemitismHolocaust

Chanukah

by Mackie Levine

Chanukah

It was the twenty-fourth of December and it was snowing.

27m read

AntisemitismChanukahRighteous Gentiles

Blue Suit

by Abby Rosenthal

Blue Suit

The day my father died, I was a long way from home.

24m read

DeathMourningShiva

Mick Revises A Love Story

by Rebecca Klempner

Mick Revises A Love Story

Michelle dumped me the third week of August.

31m read

LoveShabbat

Underground in Amsterdam

by Mary Dingee Fillmore

Underground in Amsterdam

As she scanned the faces of the other five workers she'd been trained not to recognize, Rachel was sure she'd seen the old man.

22m read

AntisemitismHolocaustRighteous Gentiles