Rachel and Ezekiel

Rachel and Ezekiel are young Jerusalem newlyweds, but their marriage, arranged by matchmakers, has already run into trouble. When Ezekiel loses his job, their financial situation becomes critical and each withdraws into his own separate world. Ezekiel, an Oriental Jew who became devout after his marriage, begins to write poetry and is torn between religion and secularity. Just as the lack of communication between the couple deepens, Rachel falls pregnant. Rabbi Ovadia and his wife Mazal, who were responsible for the match, come to their help, but they too are on the verge of a personal crisis.

The novel moves toward the upcoming birth and toward a Passover seder that Ezekiel hopes will heal the spiritual and emotional rifts that are plaguing him. He also wants to get closer to his two brothers, one of whom lives in Arab East Jerusalem, the illegitimate son born to his father by an Arab woman. Almog Behar describes a young couple not often found in Israeli literature. Yet his novel depicts a highly contemporary reality and he handles the tensions between Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, Oriental and Ashkenazi, young and old with great courage and sensitivity.