Israeli born author, Omer Friedlander, spawns literary magic in his anthology of short stories curiously titled, The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land. Difficult to choose a favorite among the eleven stories, each is a panoramic expression of Israeli culture, politics and history brought to life by a variety of indelible characters.
The Sand Collector is a poignant tale of “two desert dwellers” playing in the sand dunes. She, a fourteen year-old Jewish girl from Be’er Sheva, he a handsome Bedouin boy from a nearby village. Salim “collects memories in a jar.” He fills identical glass containers with sand then carefully labels each to recall special moments. One jar contains the memory of one kiss, between the novice lovers. There are no more kisses to collect. A chasm of cultural differences keeps them apart and separates a Jewish girl from her Bedouin heartthrob.
The Sephardi Survivor finds two boys with Spanish/Moroccan parents who want to participate in the Shoah Memorial Day at their school. They adopt Yehuda, an Ashkenazi Holocaust survivor. Unsatisfied with his undramatic story of survival the boys concoct a highly colored, sensational scenario for their class presentation. Their gambit produces unpredictable tragic/comedic consequences.
A particularity-compelling story, High Heels, is about Sroch a naïve shoemaker. Sroch makes highly desirable “bespoke” shoes during the day. In the evening, Sroch creeps into construction sites and climbs a ladder into cranes to relax in solitude. On one of his “rooftopping” evenings Sroch astonishingly notices and befriends a flamboyant couple. The three rooftop together and become fast friends. However the new friends have scant genuine interest in Sroch. Their nefarious motive is to feign friendship to get closer to the pair of “stilettos enshrined in Sroch’s workshop.” The precious shoes once belonged to former Polish-Jewish ballerina who blinded a Nazi official with the tip of her eight-inch heel. The short story brilliantly contrasts Israel’s powerful, highly-developed technology today with the plight of a fragile ballerina, her shoe, the only weapon to confront a lethal enemy.
In another story, Friedlander explores the tough life in a dusty Ma’abara, a Jewish refugee absorption center. He endows sentimental reverence for the past held by two boys who restore and sell Alte Sachen, (old things), in the ancient city of Tsfat and-- in the titular story-- he artfully explores the visits of a divorced father who amuses his daughter, Lali, by selling empty bottles, purported to contain Israeli air to “gullible American tourists.” Or masterfully depicts the affecting drama of Nurit Abramovich, an anti-war firebrand, activist whose son, a soldier, fell in action in the Golani Brigade.
Each story in the compilation holds a mirror up to contemporary Israel with a powerful appeal from the author: “Make Humus Not Walls.”
