2023 winner of the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. Two novella length stories followed by eleven more traditional length short stories, they group around themes of struggles with the human brain (Gefen is a neuroscientist), human purpose and human connection. While the first few stories are the strongest, there’s maybe only one story I didn’t really like. Excellent characterization throughout.

1) The Geriatric Platoon. The protagonist’s grandfather joins a newly created army unit for the elderly, set up for obscure political reasons, shortly after his wife’s death. Sent to where they supposedly can’t get into any trouble, the men find camaraderie and renewed purpose (and daily nap permissions, walking cane allowances, etc.), while the protagonist deals with PTSD from his recent wartime service and the uncommunicative dysfunction of their family. 4.5/5

2) Exit. After moving from Tel Aviv to a rural farm in the Negev, a couple’s young daughter gradually becomes near catatonic for unknown reasons. Could a brain disorder related to remembering every single detail of her dreams, which she believes last for years, be the cause? And is it self-willed, exploring varied life possibilities, or not? 4/5

3) Jerusalem Beach. The day before going into a care home, an elderly woman with Alzheimers is brought to Jerusalem by her husband in search of “the snow covered beach in Jerusalem” which was her earliest memory and now is one of her few remaining. 4.5/5

4) Neptune. At a remote army outpost, a soldier who reminds me of Epstein from Neil Simon’s play/film Biloxi Blues challenges how the soldiers interact in the outpost’s circumscribed and rigidly hierarchical world. 3/5

5) The Girl Who Lived Near the Sun. In a future of easy interstellar travel, on a privately owned “planet” within Mercury’s orbit, two young adults struggle with the age old question of whether they can accept following the life paths expected of them, or somehow find their own. 3/5

6) Debby’s Dream House. In a secret job manufacturing dreams and nightmares for clients, a man gets his girlfriend as a subject and, fearing she may be considering leaving him, creates nightmares for her based on her body insecurities. He’s pleased it works and, disturbingly, believes it’s made them both happy. 4/5

7) 101.3 FM. An electronics repair tech comes into possession of a radio that picks up other people’s thoughts. It gives him the courage to start a new relationship and he believes he’ll always be able to give her what she wants, but, unsurprisingly, it leads to problems as well. 2.5/5

8) The Meaning of Life Ltd. A company promises to help clients find existential answers for their life in 30 days - primarily through a surprise sequence of experiencing different careers. If that doesn’t do it, there’s always the Diamond Plan upgrade! The protagonist finds there’s always something missing - until he finds a real connection with one of the company’s paid actors. 4/5

9. Three Hours from Berlin. Through his social media account a man has faked living a fabulous new life in Germany while he’s secretly been holed up in an apartment in Israel for a year avoiding anyone he knows. Lonely, he recruits a past acquaintance to join his deception. Unsure what kind of life she wants, she agrees, but he finds he can’t continue with it, and she goes off to Berlin alone… 3.5/5

10) How to Remember a Desert. A woman with a distant relationship with her son receives a memory of him from the mind of a family member thanks to a memory sharing technology that has been invented; this results in complicated feelings. 4/5

11)Anita Shabtai. She feels invisible to everyone except, she discovers, when shouting slogans at protests. To be noticed she therefore attends every protest she can, including ones both for and against the homeless refugees sleeping in a park in her neighborhood. When invited out by a fellow protestor, she cannot adjust and shouts political slogans through the restaurant. 3.5/5

12) Lennon at the Central Bus Station. His mother works at a jewelry stand in the giant Tel Aviv Central Bus Station and shopping mall, doesn’t send him to school, and they live in an abandoned store where his paranoid mother watches for people searching for them. A woman gives him a guinea pig, but he can’t feel anything for it. He bumps into Anita Shabtai from the previous story - two isolated individuals. 3/5

13) Flies and Porcupines. A boy’s older brother is killed by terrorists and as his family seems to have frozen in time he learns how to catch chunks of time in his hands, store it in bottles, and pour it over photographs to relive past moments. 3.5/5 ( )

I am pleased that I read this book of short stories by Rohr Prize windder Gefen. The author is only 31, and he portrays much interesting tales of life in Israel. He presents interesting psychological portraits of a variety of people. However, I found many of his characters unclear and the presentations containing many metaphors. The metaphors that were not easy for me to discover meant that I missed many of his points. I also found it very interesting that many of the characters showed up in more than one story. ( )

‘’A month and a half later, he packed a bag, stuffing it with four undershirts, five pairs of underwear, a flashlight, two cans of sardines, a biography of Moshe Sharett, and anti-chafing cream. Not because he thought he might be cold but because he continued to fear the woman he had loved ever after she had passed away.’’

The characters in these beautiful stories are faced with issues that would weaken the strongest of us. The loss of a child, the loss of a spouse, the awareness that your time is ending, the feeling of being helpless and trapped, the burden of memories, the inevitability of disaster, the pressure that comes with being in love. And yet, this is the force that keeps everything together. Love creates problems and love solves them. In a collection that is as vivid and melancholic as the afternoons during late summer, Iddo Gefen creates a treasure to be felt deeply in our hearts and a very special journey within the heart of Israel.

The Geriatric Platoon: An elderly man enlists in the Golani infantry brigade, trying to recover from the death of his wife. A moving, tender story of fatherhood, old age, independence and the cruelty of being selfish.

"Next to a red hill in the desert, our only daughter wandered and disappeared into the thicket of her dreams, leaving us blind—as we heard the thud of her fall without knowing in which direction to turn."

Exit: A young girl seems to live inside her dreams and her parents are doing their best to cope with this extraordinary situation. A beautiful story about the bond between parents and children, between spouses, between plans and life as we get it. A tale about dreams, reality, love

"When did she tell him about the snow on the beach? He wasn’t sure. But it happened here, during one of their first encounters, when she arrived to buy challah at the bakery and then slipped away with him into the nearby alley. That was where she told him about her very first memory. About children playing in the snow, digging with bare hands in search of the sand that had disappeared."

The Jerusalem Beach:An elderly couple arrives in Jerusalem in search of a first memory made of snow and sea. A very emotional story about the strength of love that cannot be defeated by disease and time.

Neptune:The visit of a military journalist in a god-forsaken camp causes all Hell to break loose with tragic consequences.

The Girl Who Lived Near the Sun:A tale of intergalactic relationships, enterprises and a very special girl.

Debby's Dream House:A man starts working in a company that constructs dreams. But nightmares are also dreams and things become worse when his girlfriend is about to slip away from him. Manufacturing dreams becomes a superpower. Elegantly dark and profound.

101.3 FM: Fixing a radio becomes a telling metaphor for the paranoia that comes with falling in love.

The Meaning of Life Ltd. : Two people understand that finding the meaning of life means absolutely nothing when compared to the joy of experiencing the moments that really matter.

Three Hours From Berlin:In one of the most moving stories I've ever read, a young couple is trying to create the perfect experience in the perfect virtual world. But what happens when everything becomes a race and a struggle? A poignant remark about the lies that hide behind ideal smiles and happy statuses in our "beloved" social media...

How to Remember a Desert:We all have memories we try to forget and memories we wish never faded. But do we really need someone else's memories implanted in our brains?

"For some, this thing called living is just a bit too much. I, for instance, can tell you that I missed out on life by just a few feet. What can I say, it started out so fast that by the time I noticed, it was speeding ahead without me. You probably think this is just a bunch of hooey. That I didn’t really make an effort. But trust me, I tried, I tried harder than anyone, it just didn’t work. Nope, no two ways about it; there’s always someone who misses the last bus, and in this lifetime it happens to be my turn."

Anita Shabtai: Another gem, another moving story of motherhood, fatherhood, the difficulty of being a sceptic, the agony of daily life. I was particularly moved by the references to Thessaloniki and the song "Jerusalem of Gold" that always brings me to tears.

Lennon at the Central Bus Station:A melancholic story about an overprotective, overreacting mother and a child who just wanted to have a pet.

Flies and Porcupines: The loss of a son turns the life of a family upside down in a heartbreaking story.

One of the finest books of the year, exceptionally translated by Daniella Zamir.

”But I’m starting to think it isn’t the country that keeps us rooted. Nor our education, friends, or family. It’s something a lot more specific, much more precise. A spot in the world that pulls us in like a magnet. ”

Many thanks to Astra House Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ ( )