‘The dead are everywhere but the ground’: The vision of ‘Fugitive Pieces’

Anne Michaels' novel "Fugitive Pieces" is a beautiful and haunting treatment of one person's view of the world. The story follows the fictional character, Jakob, as he grows from a young Holocaust survivor into a mature intellectual. Michaels delivers the poetry of life and death as emoted by a person who has gone through severe trauma.

The book is filled with passages like this:

"The shadow-past is shaped by everything that never happened. Invisible, it melts the present like rain through karst. A biography of longing. It steers us like magnetism, a spirit torque. This is how one becomes undone by a smell, a word, a place, the photo of a mountain of shoes. By love that closes its mouth before calling a name."

Some readers are uncomfortable with such an abstract literary treatment, given that the real history of the genocide is all too concrete for Holocaust survivors. Indeed, those looking for a novel replete with historical details about the war will not find it here. This story, instead, follows a boy who is spirited away from the war-torn area and grows up in a relatively safe, idyllic area, raised by a scholar who teaches him to see the world through the lens of geology and Greek. He would be happy, if not for his traumatic memories.

Jakob is blissfully ignorant of parts of the war that continue to rage elsewhere. "While Athos," he says, referring to his savior, guardian, and tutor, "taught me about anabatic and katabatic winds, Arctic smoke, and the Spectre of the Bröcken, I didn't know that Jews were being hanged from their thumbs in public squares." Jakob is isolated from such terrible international news. To him, the war still consists of the violence he saw in his family's home, when they were stormed by surprise and he saw his mother's sewing box of buttons spill onto the floor, an image that stands in for the unspeakable violence that must have followed. Only as an adult does he realize the full extent of the horrors that continued to affect others.

The memory of his murdered family follows him. Over and over, wherever he goes, he feels their presence, particularly that of his sister. As he puts it, "the spirit in the body is like wine in a glass; when it spills, it seeps into air and earth and light," and therefore "the dead are everywhere but the ground." In his adulthood, the memory of his sister becomes an obsession. It interferes with his marriage. He wants to be happy, but he cannot forget the past. His loyalties are torn between the living and the dead.

This novel is well worth savoring for its unique voice and perspective.

Originally posted to Helium Network on Dec. 8, 2012.

Photograph: A river near a cave in Pottersville, New York. The rock suggests an interesting geological history. Photo by Tucker Lieberman.

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'The Veterans of History' is a bright new contribution to Jewish studies

A new book by Jewish educator Mitchell Silver presents a fresh, detailed history of Jewish people over the millennia. This article was originally posted to Helium Network on April 2, 2014. Image: Watchmaker, painted by Yehuda Pen, 1914. Megapolis.org. © public domain Wikimedia Commons.

The Veterans of History: A Young Person's History of the Jews is a new work by Mitchell Silver that gives a history of the Jewish experience, aimed at a young adult reading audience. As the author explains in the acknowledgements, he has long been interested in sharing "a secular interpretation of Jewish history shaped by progressive values," and in the preface, he describes his new book as "analyzing social, economic, and ideological forces into their simpler components".

He has accomplished this admirably as, in 336 pages, The Veterans of History wrestles with three or four thousand years of Jewish history. The result is appealing and informative to adults as well as to younger readers. Drawing from his decades of experience as educational director of the Y. L. Peretz School of Boston Workmen's Circle, and as cultural director of Camp Kinderland, Silver weaves old stories in a new way.

He begins by explaining that Jewish history is wide and varied, that history is selective storytelling, and that he has chosen to particularly emphasize the cultural detail that is most likely to be of personal significance to his American Jewish readership. In highlighting how he constructs his story, Silver prompts readers to imagine multiple possibilities for how they might choose to think about history.

The book's narrative begins with the Biblical era. The author does not run through a long list of Bible stories, but rather mentions a select few of historical relevance without delving into mythic or symbolic interpretations, paying greater attention to the politics and culture of that time. From there, he proceeds to Jewish life under Persian, Greek and Hasmonean rule in the last few centuries B.C.E., followed by Roman rule.

Some religious history buffs who are accustomed to reading about Christianity might be surprised that, from a section headed "The Beginning of Christianity," a scant five pages advances the reader to the second century C.E. But this is fitting, as Silver has chosen a distinctly Jewish perspective for the book. (For those who are interested, there is an abundance of other material on this influential window of time in religious history. Take, for example, the recent book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan, which focuses on Jewish sects.) Why, indeed, should this particular time period demand more attention for the study of Jewish life than other influential periods, such as the Muslim caliphates, or medieval Europe, for that matter? The section on medieval life includes a number of fascinating, little-known details, such as the introduction of a mandatory yellow badge for Jews in 1215 and the "court trial" of a Talmud (religious book) in 1240. Silver's history continues through the messianic aspirations of Sabbatai Zevi during the Renaissance; the growth of Reform Judaism in the United States in the 19th century and the peak of Yiddish culture there in the early 20th century; and the Holocaust and the founding of Israel.  

One key feature that is important to understand is that this is not really a history of Judaism, but rather of the Jewish people. That is, it is not limited to a theological or ideological analysis; it takes a broader view of the many forces that shape people's lives. It is about Jewish people in the many places and times in which they have lived, influenced by different cultures and languages, and how they have been affected by their interactions with people who are not Jewish as well as with Jews who live in other lands. It is about the experience of persecution and of living in the Diaspora (outside of Israel). Theology and ideology are only parts of this tapestry. Silver manages to shape the backbone of his narrative according to his beliefs and values without allowing his opinions to noticeably intrude on his presentation of the facts. He does not overtly pass judgment of right and wrong on subtle or thorny theological issues. He therefore does not attempt to define how "Judaism" ought to be understood.

The book has great value for anyone interested in an outline of the long history of Jewish life and thought - especially one that is delivered in accessible language and does not assume prior knowledge of its topics - or for anyone who is curious about what a humanist approach to Jewish history and culture can look like.

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If you'd like to learn more about my work, I've published books. Also, I write for Medium. There, readers with a paid membership don't have to worry about the paywall.