For more or less clear reasons, I avoided this book for quite a long time, as I had a bad thought that in fact it is a book about fantastic Israeli life in Berlin, far away of that...and this...and that...About how beautiful and free and attractive Germany is compared to the realities back home. Nothing bad with the freedom of choosing your own country, but expat exhibitionism in this case may reach some levels close to the kitsch. So, again, I avoided the book.
But at the end of the last year I changed my mind and ordered a copy from the local library. The book is available only in the German version and it is a good and quality writing. More than a careful account of adventures in Berlin - living in this city is an adventure anyway - the book is the story of connecting with the German roots, reading old family diaries and tracing down less known personal histories. After the dark nostalgic episodes of the lecture of the family stories, the 'balagan' of the daily life and journalistic requests from Israel are welcomed encounters. From hysterical laughing to tears of regret and inter-religious passions, this book is an interesting read, outlining episodes of Jewish history in Germany. It is worth reading if interested to know the old and new Germany and its Jewish histories.
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