A Tale of Love and Darkness (2015) - full transcript

Go to sleep.

I'm not tired.

Alright.

Let's make up a story.

Shall I start?
Yes.

Uh...

Once upon a time
there was a village,

abandoned
by all its inhabitants.

Even the rats left.

Even the rats left.

The village stood silent and
abandoned, year after year.



Rain pounded the streets,

washing away any human trace.

When the rain cleared,

birds swarmed over the village.

There were so many, they
almost blocked out the sky.

It was night, all day long.

But then,
from one small house...

A little boy opened the door.

He was the only one left behind.

My mother was 38 when she died.

At my age today,
I could be her father.

Many things have happened
in Jerusalem.

The city was destroyed, rebuilt,
destroyed, and rebuilt again.

Conqueror after conqueror
came, ruled for a while,



left behind some walls, some
towers, some cracks in the stones,

and then disappeared, like the
morning mist down the hill slopes.

Jerusalem is a black widow,

who devours her lovers while
they are still inside her.

We're late.

The boy, Arieh.

My mother grew up
in the town of Rovno,

which was then in Poland
and is now in Ukraine.

Her childhood there
was made up of words like...

chandeliers, servants,

mystery,

romantic melancholy...

As anti-Semitism
spread across Europe,

my mother dreamed of Israel,

as the Land of Milk and Honey,

where pioneers
made the desert bloom.

She imagined the pioneer as a
poet, worker, revolutionary,

born for fields
and battlefields alike,

but also emotional and in intellectual.

After my mother
and her family fled Europe,

back in Poland's Sosenki Forest,

where my mother and her sisters

once loved to pick
mushrooms and berries,

and sleep in sleeping bags on the
riverbank, beneath the stars,

Germans, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians
opened fire with sub machine guns,

and killed 23,000 Jews
in two days.

They killed almost everyone
my mother had ever known.

A million kiddies...

A million kiddies...

They killed
a million kids like you!

Jerusalem, 1945,
under the British Mandate

Good day, ma'am. May I
please have Tel Aviv 648?

Please wait a moment, sir.

Mr. Nashashibi
is on the line now.

Of course I'll wait, but people
are waiting on the other end too.

It's too early, Arieh.

It will take time
to get a connection.

What if they connect us right
away, and nobody is there yet?

Hello? Tsvi?

Speaking.

It's Arieh, from Jerusalem.

Yes, Arieh, Hello.
This is Tsvi. How are you?

Everything is fine here.

We're calling from the pharmacy.

Ask my sister how she is.

How's it going in Tel Aviv?

Everything's fine.
Nothing special.

Life.

No news is good news.
There's no news here either.

We'll write and set
a time for the next calf.

Take care of yourselves.

Be well.
You too.

They weren't actually
sure if they'd talk again or not.

There could be riots or a pogrom.
The British could betray us.

The curfew will start soon.

Hello.

Good evening.
Good evening.

Close
the windows. Close the doors, please!

Stay inside now!

They're all gone now.

It's like Rovno
was just a dream.

It's here!

A new book, fresh off the press.

My first book.

THE NOVELLA
IN HEBREW LITERATURE

It's like having a new baby.

I'll invite your parents.

"To my brother and teacher, David,
whom I lost in the Darkness."

Who said your uncle would be

the only important
academic in the family?

Well, it's only
my first publication.

And not the last.

Huh!

The borscht is good.
Not bad...

almost tasty.

But even Gentile servants
in Jewish homes

knew that borscht should be
sour and just slightly sweet,

never sweet
and just slightly sour.

Like the Poles,
who always add sugar,

with no rhyme or reason.

They even ruin horseradish by
adding jam to it.

Let's raise a toast in honor
of the new book. Mmm-hmm.

Lehayim.
Congratulations!

If you have to choose between
telling a lie or insulting someone,

choose to be generous.

I'm allowed to lie?

Sometimes... yes.

It's better to be sensitive
than to be honest.

Come. Hold the peg.

We'll make our own
little kibbutz,

and by our own efforts, "bring
forth bread from the earth."

Forward!

You know the word
"Lehayim" means forward,

but...

the word actually derives
from the word "Lehayim,"

which refers to "ancient
times."

So the Hebrew speaker actually
looks forward to the past.

Interesting, isn't it?
Yes.

Are you hurt?

Arieh?

Can you even recognize me
under all this sweat?

Watch this.

Ooh! That's it!

My father once told me,

”Amos, consider the etymological
link between the words...

earth

earth - man

earth - man - blood

earth - man - blood - red

earth - man -
blood - red - silence."

You write a new novel
every six months,

and right away, all the pretty
girls grab you off the shelf

and take you straight to bed.

At least my books have some fun.

If you're trying to get girls,

maybe you should
write romance novels.

All I'm saying is, don't rush.

Ask your sisters.

Your life is only your own
for a very short time:

from the time you leave home,
until your first pregnancy.

Even when your child grows up,
you don't get your life back.

You go from being a mother
to a grandmother.

But everybody says children are the
best thing that can happen to you.

Who's everybody?

Remember what happened
to our neighbor?

Ira?

Steletsky's wife.

Yes, the alcoholic husband,

who ran our father's flour mill.

He would bet on her
at cards and lose her.

Each time for one night,

until finally she left him
for the coachman's son.

Anton!

From his hut,

she could see her children
playing in the distance.

Then, one day, she decided
to go see her daughter.

As she approached,

her daughter called her a whore,

and refused to speak to her.

That night, Ira gathered
whatever strength she had left,

went into the little hut
with a can of petrol,

and lit a match.

Our children don't realize
how much they can hurt us.

I just can't understand why...

Why no one warned you?

What did you expect?
A warning in fine print?

That you're only food?

That you're what the chick
eats to grow strong?

No one warns us

because every mother thinks she's
the only one who feels that way,

and every mother cries into
her pillow, alone at night.

Except for our mother, who
just curses us.

TARZAN THE INVINCIBLE

Stay out of trouble.

Just be a good boy, okay?

Okay.

My parents' friends,
Staszek and Mala Rudnicki,

had no children of their own,

so sometimes my parents
would let them borrow me.

My father said that the
Hebrew word for childlessness

is related
to the word for darkness,

and that the word for darkness
is related to forgetting.

Lack of memory.

Lack of children.

Lack of light.

My mother would
go off on her own.

To where, I could only imagine.

When visiting an Arab home,

it's especially important
to remember your manners.

Children are expected to stay
out of adult conversation.

Only if spoken to directly,

may you answer briefly
and very politely.

If refreshments are served,

don't choose something that
might make crumbs or drip.

If they still insist
you have something,

just refuse, but delicately,
like a gentleman,

even if you can't resist
the sight of sweets.

We were only invited because
your Uncle Staszek...

took care of
Al-Halwani's son.

If, on this occasion,
in such tense times,

we behave like animals,

not only will it
be sheer insolence:

it could cause enormous damage to
the future of our two peoples.

Jacket? Jacket?

Ah! Ah, Stav, my friend.

Come, come, come.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Pleased to meet you, madam.
Hello.

Please, everybody,

I would like you to meet my
friend, the great Mr. Stav.

Mr. Stav helped
to clear my son Edward,

from that unfortunate incident
at the beginning of the summer.

Thank you for coming.
Please, come in.

Maybe the young sir would like
to go and play in the garden.

Please. Please, madam.

Good morning, Miss.

My name is Amos. And you?

My name is Aisha.

This is my brother, Awwad.

Your father...

Your honored father suggested that
I come here to play with you.

He's not my father.
He's my mother's uncle.

I don't live here.
I live in Talbieh.

How do you know Hebrew?

I've been studying piano in
Rehavia for three years now.

It's a beautiful language...
and Rehavia is beautiful too,

so well-kept and quiet.

Talbieh is also
well-kept and quiet.

Would you mind
if we talked for a bit?

Aren't we talking already?

There's enough room in this
country for both peoples.

We just need to learn to live
together in peace and mutual respect.

I have a big brother in London.

He's studying to be a lawyer.

What do you want to study,
when you grow up?

What about you?

You'll be a lawyer too,
based on how you speak.

What makes you think that?

I'm going to write a book.

Really? What kind of book?

Poems.

Poems?

Yes, in French and English.

I also write in Arabic,

but I never show it to anyone.

Is there nice Hebrew poetry?

Of course.

Levin Kipnis, Rachel,

Vladimir Jabotinsky,
Tchernichovsky...

"A generation of gods
walks the Land,

A generation drunk on life!

Estranged from a sick people,

And the tribe of sufferers!"

Can you also climb trees?

Rest a minute,

just a minute.

Rest a minute,

just a minute.

This is the father of Amos.

May I please speak
with Mr. Al-Halwani?

Well, could you please tell him

how very truly sorry
about what happened.

We are anxious for the
health of the dear child.

We will pay any of the child's medical
expenses, of course, in full.

And we sincerely wish to effect
a meeting at an early date

to clarify and try
to right the wrong.

Once there were two monks...

who imposed all sorts of
restrictions on themselves.

Among other things,

they resolved to cross
all of India on foot.

They also took a vow
of complete solitude.

Even in their sleep,
they would not speak

a single word throughout
their years of travel.

But once...

while they were walking
along the bank of a river,

they heard a drowning woman
crying for help.

Without a word, the younger
monk jumped into the water.

He bore the woman on his back

and laid her on the ground.

The two monks continued
their journey in silence.

Six months later,

the younger monk suddenly asked,

Tell me...

Do you think I sinned, when I
carried that woman on my back?

His friend
answered with a question,

What? Are you still
carrying her on your back?

Amos, when I was a student, I loved
to read here among the flowers.

And one day, after class, she
met your future father here.

Do you remember what I told
you about the word flower?

Flower is a combination of the
words "bull" and "scent."

"Bull" has the same root
as "fertility,"

and "scent" lures the insects
that fertilize the plant.

He took advantage
of my weakness for words.

What could I do? All the
boys were courting her.

I had to make myself stand out.

That's what happened.

Remembering is like
trying to restore an old building

with the stones from its ruins.

And the stones have memory.

May I please have some APC?

I have a headache
that won't go away.

I don't believe them. I
don't believe anyone anymore.

It's just a big conspiracy.

What do you think? That
our boys will fight for you,

that they'll risk their
young lives for you,

when you say
it's all a conspiracy?

Yes, because it is
all one big conspiracy!

It's like theater!

Ben-Gurion secretly agreed to
sell Jerusalem to King Abdullah,

so that he can
keep his kibbutzim.

They don't care if they
slaughter and burn us all.

What's wrong with you?
How can you say that?

A million kids...

If there is a war, when there
is a war, we will win.

Our state is standing
right at the gate.

It's not standing.
There is no gate.

There's an abyss.

Not in front of the child!

Nothing grew!

Come here.

You know...

that if you open up someone's
head and take out their brain,

you see that our brains
are nothing but cauliflower,

a cauliflower this size.

What a miracle it is
that this small cauliflower

can hold the sky and the land,

the sun and all the stars.

It can hold Plato's ideas,
and Beethoven's music,

and Chekhov's plays,

all the dinosaurs,

and the whales,

and the hopes and passions
and mistakes and fantasies...

and that's it.

Amos!

Come play with us!

I can't!
My grandma is coming today!

Kids!
What are you doing?

You've abandoned me.

I have no life here.

You spit on me, your own mother,

the only person
who will ever care for you!

Just look at you.

How can you stand it?

This place is disgusting!

Oh! I'm not good enough
for you to answer?

I should have left you in Rovno!

I would have been better off!

Fanitchka!

Fania!

Amos, where's your mother?

Fania!

You won't believe it! My book is sold out!
All five of them!

He said he'd order more.
He already did, by phone!

Five more!

He says this is
just the beginning.

Let's go to the Edison
and see a film.

Zarchi will watch you, okay?

For us.

You can find hell
and paradise in every room.

A little meanness, and people
are hell to each other.

A little compassion,
a little generosity,

and people find paradise
in each other.

Congratulations again.

I still can't believe it.

Give my love to Garbo.

Amos, behave yourself.

Want a book?

Tchernichovsky.

It seems like your
patience has helped our plants.

Why don't you go
see for yourself?

When my family moved to the
house on Dubinska Street,

we inherited some tenants
from the previous owners.

A Polish officer named Jan
lived in the front room.

Every Friday,
my mother would send one of us

with a tray of hot biscuits,
straight from the oven,

to wish him a good Sabbath on
behalf of the entire family.

Shabbat shalom!

He would stroke my head,

call me Cyganka,

a GYPSY'

and promise
he would wait for me,

and marry me when I grew up.

But,

one day,

a Sunday morning,
before the sun came up,

the colonel decided
to try out his pistol.

He fired two bullets through the
closed window into the garden.

By chance, he hit a pigeon,

which was found wounded
in the garden the next day.

Then he fired one shot
at a bottle on the table,

two more at the chandelier...

and then...

Once, I found a note
in a crack in a desk drawer.

It was written in
a woman's handwriting.

"To my precious little wolf cub.

In all my life I've never met a
better, more generous man than you.

I am not worthy to kiss
the soles of your shoes."

There were
two spelling mistakes.

It was signed with an N,

and she sketched lips below it.

Nobody knows
anything about anyone,

not even about
the person you marry,

and not even about ourselves.

We know nothing...

And if we sometimes imagine
that we do know something,

that's even worse.

It's better to live
without knowing anything,

than to live in error.

29-Nov-47

Tonight...

at Lake Success, near New York,

the General Assembly of
the UN will vote on what?

Adopting the UNSCOP proposal.

And what's the proposal?

To create two states
out of the British Mandate:

one Jewish, and one Arab.

Who opposes it?

The Muslim bloc and Britain.

And why?

They want an Arab state
under British protection,

like Egypt,
Transjordan, and Iraq.

Well done!

You know,
the name Lake Success...

is the opposite of
the Sea of Tears,

which symbolized the fate of our
people for the poet Bialik.

It's interesting.

Interesting.

Norway-Yes.

Pakistan - No.

Panama - Yes.

Paraguay - Yes.

Could you please help me?

Philippines - Yes.

Poland - Yes.

Saudi Arabia - No.

Siam - Absent.

Sweden - Yes.

Syria - No.

Turkey - No.

Ukraine - Yes.

South Africa - Yes.

Soviet Union - Yes.

United Kingdom - Abstained.

United States - Yes.

Uruguay - Yes.

Venezuela - Yes.

Yemen - No.

Yugoslavia - Abstained.

The resolution

of the Ad Bialik Committee
for Palestine,

was adopted by 33 votes...

13 against, 10 abstained.

The Jewish nation lives!
The Jewish nation lives!

Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Everything is about to change.

I told you it would.

We brought peace unto you!

You can't imagine what the
Gentile boys did to me

in my school in Vilna.

Then, when my father,
your grandfather,

came to the school to complain,

they attacked him too.

They threw him to the ground

and removed his pants
in the middle of the yard.

All the children laughed.

And the teachers watched
and were silent.

Some of them also laughed.

Bullies may well
bully you someday,

in the street or at school.

They may do it just because
you're a bit like me.

But from now on, now that
we have our own state,

you will never be bullied
just because you are a Jew.

Never again.

A few hours later,
at seven that morning,

while we were all asleep,

shots were fired on Jewish
vehicles in Jerusalem,

which turned into riots
across the country.

My code name is Garibaldi.

I'll be instructing you how to help
in our patriotic wartime efforts.

You will help...

You will search all the
storage yards and sheds

for empty bags
to fill with sand,

and empty bottles
to make "cocktails"

that will be very tasty
for the enemy.

You also will gather edible
greens from empty fields,

to help relieve
the hunger in Jerusalem.

And we'll also
serve as look-outs,

to observe any movement
by the Brits.

Now go!

How beautiful.

Wash them off and I'll
cook them right now.

You must be hungry
after all your foraging.

Put some water in this.

Fania...

I joined the National Guard.

Don't you have anything
to say about that?

What do you want me to say?

Congratulations.
You're very brave.

The war infiltrated our home.

Life became rations, sandbags,

mourning.

In the lives of individuals,

and in the lives of nations,

the worst conflicts erupt
between two persecuted peoples.

Only in the imagination do the
persecuted unite in solidarity

to fight together against
their ruthless oppressor.

In reality,

two children of
the same abusive father

will not necessarily
become allies.

Often each sees in his brother

their father's threatening face.

Europe abused the Arabs,
humiliating them with colonialism,

and the same Europe persecuted
and annihilated the Jews.

But the Arabs see us
as an arrogant new branch

of European colonialism
and exploitation,

and we do not see Arabs
as brothers in adversity,

but rather, as anti-Semites,

Nazis in disguise.

After 30 years
of the British Mandate...

the new state was born

with David Ben-Gurion's declaration
in Tel Aviv just hours earlier.

For weeks,
our basement apartment

was turned into
a kind of bomb shelter

for the residents
of the apartments above us.

You're pulling.
It hurts!

What is this?
Crumbs everywhere!

You can't make such a mess here!

A hundred Jews were burned alive
yesterday near Sheikh Jarrah.

They were in a convoy going up
to the hospital and university.

A hundred people!

Doctors, nurses, students.

Why didn't we save them?

The British wouldn't let us.

Who can even stomach
this chicken,

when horrors like that
happen right in front of us?

The children haven't eaten
meat in two months.

Here you go, ma'am.

Who's next?

When her friend died,

when real tragedy landed outside
the pages of my mother's novels,

the suffering
wasn't romantic at all.

There's an armistice
agreement with Egypt.

Next will be Transjordan,
and then Syria and Lebanon.

When the British left,

the Green Line
was drawn around Israel.

Our neighbors moved back to their
own homes, euphoric and optimistic,

and left us alone, to ourselves.

The improbable creation
of the new State of Israel,

extinguished thousands
of years of Jewish longing

for a homeland of its own.

Maybe my mother felt the loss
of this passion, this dream,

because suddenly, she stopped
telling her stories.

What do my eyes see?

A boy, about three, standing
in the middle of the street,

and a military vehicle
rushing toward him.

I mustered all my strength.

I yelled to him,

"Boy! Boy!"

It seemed my shout reached him,

because he quickly jumped aside.

Who knows? Maybe his
mother left him alone,

or maybe she's poor
and can't support him,

and can't stand
to see him starve,

or maybe he's an orphan.

Yes, there are children
like that in our world too.

Give me your sandwich!

Give me your sandwich!

OUR BLOOD
WILL NOT BE SPILLED IN VAIN!

ABANDONED PROPERTY

I'll be back in 15 minutes.

Can I go with you?

I need to be alone for a bit.

You can be alone too.

I'll be back soon.

Maybe you can finally tell me.

What is it about you that
makes me love you so much?

More than anything...

More than anything,
I love your innocence.

I've never encountered
anything like it.

Even after you live out
your entire life...

and have all kinds
of experiences,

your innocence
will never abandon you.

I think you'll
grow up to be a man...

who is open and enthusiastic
like your father,

but you'll also be a man who's
quiet and closed and full...

like a well
in a deserted village.

You can be both.

I felt a terrible dread,
as if on the distant horizon,

a vague disaster
was taking shape.

My mother started having
frequent headaches.

Her migraines gave her insomnia.

The doctor prescribed
sleeping pills and sedatives,

but nothing helped.

Please don't be
angry with me, Amos.

It's a little hard
for me right now.

You see how much I'm trying
to make things right.

Thank you, Amos.

I know I can
rely on you completely.

Good night.
Good night.

Papa?

Sleep... sleep.

I'm so lucky.
I'm so lucky...

It's 7 o'clock,
and these are the headlines.

This year too, there is an
urgent need to find homes

for immigrant children,

with foster families
across the country.

Last year alone, 50,000
children were placed in homes.

Despite this achievement, there
are still 20,000 children,

who will have to spend
the winter months in tents.

10,000 children ages 5-12,

need temporary housing this
winter across the country.

The Roofs for Children project
appeals to every home in Israel

to host a child
from the camps...

She's punishing herself

just to punish me.

{have done.

I have done.

I have been doing.

I have been doing.

I should have done.

I should have done.

I should have been doing.

Go...

Go play a little outside.

But be careful.

There are all sorts out there.

Not all women are as kind
and honest as you are.

You can come home
whenever you like.

Do you need anything?

Amos is here.

My father and I told
people that she had the flu

or a particular
sensitivity to daylight,

or that she was very tired.

We didn't tell anyone
what we both knew.

The only one who knew
was my mother's best friend.

Amos.

You're a ray
of sunshine, you know?

Your mother says
that you're her light.

You're such a clever,
sensitive child.

You know,

I have a feeling...

that when you grow up,
you will be a writer.

I won't be a writer.

I'm not sensitive!

I'm going to be a farmer

or a dog-poisoner with a
syringe full of poison.

Have a good day.

You too...

Do you know what happened when
Tarzan met the cowboys and Indians?

What happened?

Tarzan watched from a tree as the
cowboys and Indians fought below.

A cowboy caught a snake
by the throat

and poured its venom
into the Indian's mouth!

So the Indian
grabbed a thorny cactus

and stabbed...

the cowboy in his blue eyes.

Tarzan watched from above

and thought about what to do.

And then what?

I'll tell you tomorrow.

That story was great.

Where did you hear it?

Hey... isn't that your dad?

Where?

Amos...
you're being very good.

Your mother has
a terrible headache.

Keep your voice down.

And no running around, okay?

Get the door.

Do you need anything?

No, thank you.

Then why don't you lie down?

I'm fine like this, thank you.

Did you see a doctor?

I don't need a doctor.

Mother, leave her alone.

Don't interfere, Arieh.

She's being so dramatic,
as if she deserves the moon.

So what? Moods. Melancholia.

It just shows that her
heart is still young.

As if she's the
only one having a hard time here!

That the rest of us
are living in luxury!

Behold, I ca}! Heaven
and Earth today to bear witness

that! have set
before you life and death,

the blessing and the curse.

Therefore choose life,

so that you
and your descendants may live.

Did you finish your homework?

Fania?

How did you sleep?

Well, I finally slept well.

The new pills must be working.

I had so many dreams.

One was about someone I hadn't
thought about in years.

In Rovno,
there was a rich fur trader,

who even got orders from Paris,

because he had a rare type
of fur, the silver fox.

Furs that sparkled like
frost in the moonlight.

But one day...

the merchant became
a strict vegetarian.

He left his home and built
a small cabin in the woods,

because he felt sorry

for the thousands of foxes
hunters had killed for his furs.

And then
he disappeared completely.

When my sisters and I
wanted to scare each other,

the three of us lay on
the carpet in the dark

and took turns telling...

how the man who was
once a rich furrier

now roams naked
through the forest.

Maybe he has rabies?

Maybe he howls
bloodcurdling cries?

But anyone who meets the fox-man
in the forest at night...

his hair instantly
turns white in terror.

Excuse me.
What is that supposed to be?

An allegory?
An old-wives' tale?

Sorry.

Don't be late
for school or work, boys.

What's the matter with you?

What's your problem?

I'm sorry...

It's all my fault.

Today I decided to invite
the two men in my life

to lunch at a restaurant.

Does Dad know?

We'll surprise him.

Let's go to his office

and drag him out
like a moth from a book.

Come.

Today you'll be my cavalier.

What's a cavalier?

A cavalier is a knight.

Cheva! is French for horse,

and chevalier is
a knight on horseback.

Thank you.

Arieh.

Excuse me for a minute.

What happened?
Are my parents alright?

Your parents?
Is everyone alright?

Yes, everyone is fine.

We're surprising you.

We're taking you out to lunch.

Sure. Why not?

Today I'm hosting,

and I'd love if you ordered the
most expensive items on the menu.

Are you ready?

Yes.

Vegetable soup...

and chicken with
mashed potatoes, please.

The same for me, please.

Fania?

Fania?

Just some white rice, please,

and a cup of black coffee.

Thank you.

Fania?

Fania?

Fanitchka?

Mommy, are you alright?

She needs total rest.

I'll take care of it.

Thank you, Doctor.

These are the new pills.

They'll help you sleep.

Have some more water.

I don't know how to help you.

I'm not your responsibility.

Fania,
I don't know how to help you.

Maybe I'll take you to Tel Aviv

to be with your sisters
and get some fresh air.

Yes, fresh air.

It's not reparations. They
can't keep what they stole from us.

And we need the money
to absorb the survivors.

What are you talking about?

It's blood money. We can't
sell them forgiveness.

A few days in Tel Aviv,
and you'll be as good as new.

No wonder you're miserable.
You live in Jerusalem.

We're going to pamper you...

All you have to do is rest.

Fania,
maybe you'll try some cake?

I'm not hungry.

You're not eating at all.

You sound like Mother.

The change of scenery
will do her good.

She's from Jerusalem. She doesn't
even know what a beach is.

Summer here would be too much.

It's true.

That night, the Ayalon River

overflowed its banks
and flooded part of Tel Aviv.

My mother grew up in an ethereal
culture of misted beauty,

whose wings were finally dashed

on the harsh Jerusalem stone,
hot and dusty.

Twenty years after completing
her studies in Rovno,

that romantic schoolgirl
was confronted by daily life,

the heat waves,
poverty, and violence,

diapers, migraines,
ration lines, marriage.

The promise of her childhood
was trampled underfoot,

and ridiculed by
the monotony of life itself.

Perhaps when life failed to fulfill
the promises of her youth,

my mother began
to envision death

as a protective, soothing lover.

My version of her story,
would have ended differently.

But it was her story to tell.

Is your father home?

There's a call from Tel Aviv.
It's urgent, please!

A few years
after my mother's death,

I left my father
and all of Jerusalem,

changed my name,

and went to
Kibbutz Hulda on my own.

My mother's dream:

milk and honey,

make the desert bloom,

pioneer.

Hello.

Amos?

Hello!

You're taller than me!

Can you hand me
my suitcase, please?

Thank you.

Though I forced myself
to learn how to drive a tractor,

lay irrigation hoses,

hit the target
with a Czech rifle,

I still did not manage
to transform myself.

No one was taken in
by my suntan.

They all knew perfectly well,
and I knew it myself,

that even when
my skin was bronzed,

I would still be
pale on the inside.

This is my school now.

The only way
to keep a dream whole,

hopeful and not disappointing,

is to never try to live it out.

A fulfilled dream
is a disappointing dream.

This disappointment
is in the nature of dreams.

MOTHER