I was very curious about Alef by German-born, Israel-relocated Katharina Höftmann Ciobotaru, as, based on the book descriptions. I feel for a long time that the German- - as well as Hebrew- - speaking literary realm is missing stories reflecting a reality my generation is experiencing: the relationships between young German and Israeli, both on generally human, but also very personal level. Given the complicated historical background, such interactions, particularly the ones involving relationships and love, could offer a very interesting source of literary creativity. Plus, it reflects an enfolding reality both in Israel and Germany for over a decade.
Maja, a 21-year old German from Rostock, meets during a backpacking trip Eitan, a decade older Israeli. The womanizer with a mixed Iraqi and Romanian heritage is falling in love and they start writing their own love story. First, long-distance, after he joins her in Berlin, feels unhappy and following a 6-year break-up, she moves to Israel. His grandparents are Shoah survivors, her relatives do have open Neo-Nazi allegiances and who knows what her granpa did during WWII. She takes a giur (conversion) classes, after many hesitations, and after some personal hardship in accepting religion she is becoming Rivka and is supposed to give birth to a Jewish child to her husband.
Alef is both a love story and a story of belonging. What one may expect from such topics. Sometimes it may be exactly like this in real life. The love story in itself, the idea of two random people from two remote corners of the world meeting and falling in love is beautiful and this is what alef - beginning, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet - can be all about. The poetic ending of it - Höftman Ciobotaru is also a poet - was for me one of the best parts of the story. The fact that love - in any kind of story, but especially a German-Israeli one - comes with a heavy historical burden is also properly represented in the book.
However, there are some aspects that did not impress me greatly. For instance, the fact that 48 hours after their meeting, Eitan is asking Maja to convert really made me laugh very hard. Seriously, who will ever do this, especially an Israeli hanging around in India? It sounds so cliché that practically made for me the rest of the story largely and annoyingly unlikely. In general, I´ve found all the part regarding Eitan´s observance as well as Maja´s encounter with Gd largely unrelatable and too much cliché, although I am sure it relates to some of the German readers with an experience of a certain extent. However, it would have been so much place for a more ´natural´ approach, especially because being and becoming Jewish can happen in so many beautiful and non/anti-stereotypical ways.
Another details that did not satisfy my literary tastes at all were related to the projections of the characters´ encounters. For example, when the focus is on one cast of characters and assumed that the other cast may have a certain involvement as well. It makes everything so predictable, although one may already expect that a love story happens anyway.
The fact that diferent part of the story are in a complex way developed but without ever coming together it is a minus as well, as it would have make the story even more complex and relatable.
Alef adds testimonies to the German-Israeli collection of common stories, in a similar vein with Mirna Funk´s books. Still, there is so much yet to be told, maybe in a more natural, Israeli-relaxed kind of way. Looking forward to more such books though.
Rating: 3 stars
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