Colors From a Zionist’s Palette by Ariel Larkey, Geffen Publishing (c) 2012; ISBN 978-965-229-605-4; 63 pages, retail price unlisted
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO –The colors referred to in this title probably are in pastel –very light shades, in fact — to match the story-telling style of author Ariel Larkey. His tales are pleasing, perhaps the kind one would enjoy over a steaming cappuccino at a favorite coffee house. Taken together, his short stories draw a picture of a man racked by guilt for having been born in the safety of America during the Holocaust.
The book starts with an account of Larkey’s childhood in suburban New Jersey–a nostalgic evocation of the late 1930’s and 1940’s–and tells of his later decision to move his wife and children to Israel over her objections. What motivated him to make aliyah, even at the cost of a subsequent divorce and separation from his children he doesn’t really say.
Next we learn of his experiences in the Sinai during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He is a secular Jew, whose interest in religion stopped with his bar mitzvah. An Orthodox Jew shares the trench with him, whom he learns immigrated as a child from Germany to South Africa.
Recounting their childhoods–while keeping their heads low– Larkey recalls that he received in advance of his November 9, 1938 birthday a new snow sled, upon which he happily sped down the embankment near his family’s three bedroom home. His trench mate, Amos, involuntarily winces — for him, November 9, 1938 is indelibly inscribed in his memory as the date of Kristallnacht, a night of terror for him and his family.
The contrast between their early childhood memories prompts in Larkey a series of guilty dreams in which he conflates his life with his comrade’s Holocaust era experiences. They include experiencing the terror of a burning town, a trip to Holland, a boat ride to Britain, and then an ocean voyage to a new life in South Africa.
Before long–this being a book that can be read in a single sitting — we are again on front lines in Israel, but this time they are on the Lebanese border, on a kibbutz where Lackey, having retired from his career as an architect, has taken up writing. Under rocket attack from the Hezbollah, he volunteers to serve in the kibbutz’s emergency communications center. He feels guilty that the Hebrew that soldiers fighting the war have to hear is so tinged with his American accent.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com