The novel tells the stories of four Jews during the Second World War, and what befalls them afterwards. In the story we meet four central characters - Leo Reisenberg, a Jewish dwarf. Before the Holocaust he was in the entertainment business together with three more dwarves. Although Leo survived the war, he was run over by a train after liberation from a concentration camp. The second character is the judge. Before the war he was a court judge and thus his nickname. After the end of World War II he came to Israel, lived in Jerusalem working as a lawyer, solving arguments between people.The third one is Max Himmelfarb. Before the war broke out he was studying history in university and was interested in astrology. After the war he came to Israel and also settled in Jerusalem, where he met the Judge. Max worked in various jobs and even spent time in a psychiatric hospital, but eventually found his calling as a tourguide in Jerusalem. The last character is Adam Vaughn. Adam's wife was murdered before his very eyes during the war, so after the war's end, his only goal was to find his wife's murderer and kill him. Adam didn't rest until he accomplished the task. During his travels Adam had many unusual experiences that affected him as a person - he became faithful and even ultra-Orthodox; following this Adam went to Israel, settled in Jerusalem and there he met Max and the Judge. At the end of the novel Adam is killed in a terror attack in the market. Throughout the book we follow each of the characters during World War II, how each struggled with it and how he was affected by it. During the war the four were used as jesters by a camp commander (explaining the title), and thus each was spared because of a special characteristic - the judge could see what was concealed, Max could predict the future through the stars, Leo could do somersaults and stunts, and Adam knew how to juggle. Thus they survived the war together, each supporting and helping another.
The story raises numerous existential questions with which the characters struggle, and that even force the reader to think. The story's main question is - Is there a purpose to our existence? Or are we God's puppets? The characters struggle with this problem a great deal, while in the end there is comprehension, that just like the sun shines and the blood continues to flow, we also have a purpose in this world.
(Note: this book has been published in English translation).