AmosL
08-27-2006, 07:03 PM
***
*
"SECRET ANNIVERSARIES OF THE HEART"
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
Raphael, Lev. "Secret Anniversaries of the Heart". Leapfrog Press, 2006
One of the most prolific gay writers working today is Lev Raphael. He has 17 books to his credit spanning the spectrum of literature--novels. short stories, non-fiction, etc.
Lev Raphael broke onto the literary scene when he published a controversial short story collection entitled "Dancing on Tisha B'Av". For the first time, an author dealt with two major issues in society--homosexuality and the Jewish religion. He showed that homophobia and anti-semitism which had never been linked before had commonalties. Together with that he dealt with those that had survived the greatest disaster after known to the world--the Holocaust. And he went even further by including the children of Holocaust survivors when he told their stories. This book showed the world a new kind of fiction. We had had American Jewish fiction but American Jewish gay fiction became a new topic. "Dancing on Tisha B'Av" is out of print now but Lev's new book, "Secret Anniversaries of the Heart" includes twelve of the stories from that collection along with twelve new stories. Naturally the theme has not changed; anti-semitism is the overriding background of this new collection.
These are not easy stories to read: for me as a Jew who lost family to the holocaust, who came face to face with Holocaust survivors on a daily basis when I lived in Israel, who grew up in the anti-semitic deep south and who is gay--these stories pained me deeply. Yet the beauty of the book is the catharsis I felt after reading it. When I read "Dancing on Tisha B'Av' when it was first released, I was just as pained. Until you live in a gay Jew's skin, you cannot not know what he has felt, not once, but over and over again. The beauty of Lev's work lies in the truths he expounds and those truths hurt.
The characters you meet in his work are not just characters, they are thinkers and doers. They are logical and they make no value judgments. They watch life as it passes them by. They live and breathe as we do--they love with passion and are hurt with passion. I was once told by a friend that being Jewish and gay made me "twice blessed". I many times felt "twice cursed". Being Jewish in the South, or for that matter anywhere, is a complex issue. Being Jewish and gay is twice as complex. If you have read my article, "A Piercing Thought". you will understand.
The tension that I felt in reading these stories took me back into those compartments of my heart that I thought had healed. The characters that Lev paints are not everyday men and women; their lives are complicated, in disarray and infused with desire which burns to the core of their beings. The memories of my own life flowed like tears as I read "Welcome to Beth Homo" and "Betrayed by David Bowie". Only those of you who have never fit anywhere can understand how real that pain can be. Raphael fills his work with compassion as he paints pictures of people who are hard to deal with the pressures of modern society, who in their own way are also fighting for that little plot where they can be who they are. These stories burned a place in my heart and I am that much wiser for having read them. The struggle for love and acceptance is a hard road and the struggle to make peace with God is that much harder.
There were times I had to stop reading, sit back, ponder a thought, empathize with it and then remember that I had been there myself. Even with the humor and the sex which are both abundant, the pain was there. But it was good pain and I am so glad that Lev Raphael gave me that opportunity to hurt. His characters, like all of us, are flawed. But the flaws they have and share are what make them who they are. They are not flawed alone, they are part of a world which is flawed as well. All the issues that are dealt with in this book--religion, sexuality, family tradition and history, faith in God and each other--these are issues we all face almost daily. His prose is so poetic, so tender, so beautiful........
The collision of Judaism and homosexuality finds some resolution and in doing so provide a new kind of fiction--very personalized fiction.
I had hoped that Lev would join us for the Arkansas Literary Festival but he will be in Germany for the publication of his new book in German. In the correspondence between the two of us, he expressed a desire to visit at some other time and that is one of my priorities for the year. I think he could help a great deal to help us instill self pride as well as be an honored guest. He would be so beneficial to those of us who are gay and Jewish, to those of us who are just Jewish, and the those of us who are just gay and to those of us who are just people.
*
"SECRET ANNIVERSARIES OF THE HEART"
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
Raphael, Lev. "Secret Anniversaries of the Heart". Leapfrog Press, 2006
One of the most prolific gay writers working today is Lev Raphael. He has 17 books to his credit spanning the spectrum of literature--novels. short stories, non-fiction, etc.
Lev Raphael broke onto the literary scene when he published a controversial short story collection entitled "Dancing on Tisha B'Av". For the first time, an author dealt with two major issues in society--homosexuality and the Jewish religion. He showed that homophobia and anti-semitism which had never been linked before had commonalties. Together with that he dealt with those that had survived the greatest disaster after known to the world--the Holocaust. And he went even further by including the children of Holocaust survivors when he told their stories. This book showed the world a new kind of fiction. We had had American Jewish fiction but American Jewish gay fiction became a new topic. "Dancing on Tisha B'Av" is out of print now but Lev's new book, "Secret Anniversaries of the Heart" includes twelve of the stories from that collection along with twelve new stories. Naturally the theme has not changed; anti-semitism is the overriding background of this new collection.
These are not easy stories to read: for me as a Jew who lost family to the holocaust, who came face to face with Holocaust survivors on a daily basis when I lived in Israel, who grew up in the anti-semitic deep south and who is gay--these stories pained me deeply. Yet the beauty of the book is the catharsis I felt after reading it. When I read "Dancing on Tisha B'Av' when it was first released, I was just as pained. Until you live in a gay Jew's skin, you cannot not know what he has felt, not once, but over and over again. The beauty of Lev's work lies in the truths he expounds and those truths hurt.
The characters you meet in his work are not just characters, they are thinkers and doers. They are logical and they make no value judgments. They watch life as it passes them by. They live and breathe as we do--they love with passion and are hurt with passion. I was once told by a friend that being Jewish and gay made me "twice blessed". I many times felt "twice cursed". Being Jewish in the South, or for that matter anywhere, is a complex issue. Being Jewish and gay is twice as complex. If you have read my article, "A Piercing Thought". you will understand.
The tension that I felt in reading these stories took me back into those compartments of my heart that I thought had healed. The characters that Lev paints are not everyday men and women; their lives are complicated, in disarray and infused with desire which burns to the core of their beings. The memories of my own life flowed like tears as I read "Welcome to Beth Homo" and "Betrayed by David Bowie". Only those of you who have never fit anywhere can understand how real that pain can be. Raphael fills his work with compassion as he paints pictures of people who are hard to deal with the pressures of modern society, who in their own way are also fighting for that little plot where they can be who they are. These stories burned a place in my heart and I am that much wiser for having read them. The struggle for love and acceptance is a hard road and the struggle to make peace with God is that much harder.
There were times I had to stop reading, sit back, ponder a thought, empathize with it and then remember that I had been there myself. Even with the humor and the sex which are both abundant, the pain was there. But it was good pain and I am so glad that Lev Raphael gave me that opportunity to hurt. His characters, like all of us, are flawed. But the flaws they have and share are what make them who they are. They are not flawed alone, they are part of a world which is flawed as well. All the issues that are dealt with in this book--religion, sexuality, family tradition and history, faith in God and each other--these are issues we all face almost daily. His prose is so poetic, so tender, so beautiful........
The collision of Judaism and homosexuality finds some resolution and in doing so provide a new kind of fiction--very personalized fiction.
I had hoped that Lev would join us for the Arkansas Literary Festival but he will be in Germany for the publication of his new book in German. In the correspondence between the two of us, he expressed a desire to visit at some other time and that is one of my priorities for the year. I think he could help a great deal to help us instill self pride as well as be an honored guest. He would be so beneficial to those of us who are gay and Jewish, to those of us who are just Jewish, and the those of us who are just gay and to those of us who are just people.