A Beggar in Jerusalem
In 1967, Israeli soldiers reached the Western Wall, and a dream became
reality. Dreams, hallucinations and visions weave through Elie Wiesel’s literary response to Israel’s Six-Day War. An encapsulated portrait of Jewish history, a quilt of first-person narrative, self-reflection and Talmudic wisdom, “A Beggar in Jerusalem” swings from fantasy to reality. The
novel’s non-linear timeline is somewhat difficult to follow, sometimes diluting the power of its prose. Yet, from its illustration of the despair felt by Jews in Europe, to its portrayal of the euphoria resulting from a unified Jerusalem, the novel sustains interest. Elements coalesce, becoming the tale of David, a naïve yet knowing young man. This survivor of Nazi atrocities, perhaps a fictionalized Wiesel, leads the reader on a path of memory and discovery. Childhood, adolescence and adulthood represent parts of the mosaic of David’s life. As a child, David’s teacher, rabbi and mother sensed the coming danger, asking him to remember them and other victims. In his adolescence, David and a
friend searched for security within moral absolutes. The Holocaust illustrated the absence of such definitive models. Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, gives those who perished a role, supporting the living as an unseen but palpable force. When an adult visiting his still-thriving hometown, David finds few Jewish survivors where there once was a vibrant Jewish community. Reality and fantasy blend as visions of places and people from David’s past preoccupy him. Tales are told and recounted. Some of the novel’s passages achieve a supernatural, ethereal level, while the battle’s descriptions remain grounded. Katriel, David’s friend, represents uncertainty. Katriel’s widow, Malka marries David, becoming symbolic of all women to her second husband. As a ten-year old, the narrator remembers listening to a storyteller describe Israel. The words describe a mystical, unreachable land to the boy. When David joins others in battle, Israel morphs from an epic ideal to a grand reality. The Eastern European village of David’s past links with Jerusalem, the Israeli city of David’s future. Wiesel’s novel combines the mystical and material to create his memorable account of Jewish history.
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