Erika Dreifus

Toward the end of each week, the My Machberet blog presents a collection of links, drawn primarily from the world of Jewish books and writing. In today’s post, as I continue to observe an ongoing erasure of Jewish/Israeli perspectives within what might be called the “literary-trade press,” I’m going to highlight a few writers who have been taking to the page—or to the screen—to convey the experience of being in Israel during wartime. I’m also going to add some details about their work for the possible benefit of any editors or other literary professionals who may be curious enough to learn more about them—maybe even for commissions that might help redress the erasure problem. Please help amplify these literary voices as you may be willing and able.

• Vivian Cohen-Leisorek launched “The Little Things, A War Diary,” soon after October 7, 2023. Now, she’s writing about two wars, and titling each entry accordingly (yesterday, for instance, brought “Day 621/Day 6: Q&A”). About Vivian: “I’m a Guatemalan-Israeli writer with a day job in tech. My background is in journalism and business. I’m also a mother, runner, wife and community volunteer. Besides books, I’m addicted to coffee, dark chocolate and longform journalism.” And she shared some illustrative information about her writing practice back on Day 468.
• From another part of the country, Judy Labensohn (aka Judy Lev) also began writing a discrete series of “Epistles from Israel” about 20 months ago. As she has explained, “The Epistles began after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and continue to describe an inner life during the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Sporadic Epistles have become a coping mechanism, a tool of resilience against despair. No news politics or analyses, just a grandma pushing 80, trying to make sense of insane situations, writing as if her life depends on it.” Judy’s first book, a memoir titled Our Names Do Not Appear, was published in 2023. Bethlehem Road: Stories of Immigration and Exile, will be out in October.
• In her day job, Jessica Steinberg serves as Culture and Lifestyles Editor for The Times of Israel (hint: and therefore a fairly obvious resource for any “mainstream” U.S. literary outlets and organizations who just might be open to covering Israeli literature and writers with even a fraction of the non-tokenizing generosity/consideration that they routinely give to those from other countries and cultures). I read her Times of Israel pieces often; I also subscribe to her Substack, which features more personal insights into her journalistic work as well as her own experiences. Notable this week: “It’s Day Five of Life Around the Safe Room.”
• And in her literary Substack newsletter, Julie Zuckerman reported this week: “It’s been several months since I put out a ‘mid-month update’ — I seemed to lose a bunch of subscribers when I put out such a post, which made me think that more people are ‘here’ for the literary news (the book recommendations and literary events and selected stories/essays of the month, etc.) and less for my updates on life in Israel.” But with quite a bit of literary news to share—including links to two newly published short stories of her own—she went ahead with a mid-month update (let’s encourage her to keep them coming!). The author of novel-in-stories The Book of Jeremiah, Julie is also an extraordinary open-hearted and accomplished salonnière; as reported in the latest post, she’ll be hosting the next installment of the Literary Modiin series online this Sunday. (The series offers another wonderful resource for anyone seeking to become more acquainted with new Jewish literature in English from Israel and the Diaspora.)
• Finally, and moving away from Substack: I have yet to figure out if/how I can subscribe to the “Israeli Bytes” podcast on the platforms I favor, but I’m trying to catch up with the archived episodes on the Writing on the Wall podcast. I’ve begun with Episode 12, “a raw, unscripted conversation between two Israeli parents—William Kolbrener in Jerusalem and Ronit Eitan in Tel Aviv—recorded during the third day of the latest wave of Iranian missile attacks. We talk fear, faith, phones, bomb shelters, and the strange choreography of routine in crisis. This is what it sounds like when you’re trying to keep your kids calm, while your building shakes. No punditry. No spin. Just real voices, mid-sentence, mid-war.” Co-host William (Bill) is a professor of English Literature at Bar-Ilan University, and co-host Ronit is an Israeli novelist and a PhD student at Bar-Ilan. They “disagree on most everything, except that fighting antisemitism starts with joining our different voices together through poetry and art. Our diversity is our strength – giving voice to the complexity and layered reality of Israel today.” Bill and Ronit are also the Executive Director and Creative Director, respectively, of the entire Writing on the Wall project, which was founded “in the aftermath of the traumatic events of October 7th.”

And, again, updates have continued for both “After October 7: Readings, Recordings, and More” and “Writers, Beware.”

Shabbat shalom.