Key to the defense was locating the tall, gaunt man
sporting a maroon Basque-style beret who had allegedly been in the convenience
store at the time of the robbery. That man was said to have witnessed the three
teenagers hassling the cashier just after ten pm, forcing him to hand over the
few bills in the register, threatening to return and cause havoc to the place
if he called the police, before escaping down the windswept street.
If the tall man could be located, he could identify the
teenagers, who hadn’t bothered to wear masks or disguise themselves and should
therefore be easy to identify. The cashier couldn’t give the police any clues as
to where they had come from, and where they were going, their pockets full of
his evening’s hard-earned revenues.
But the man with the beret had seen everything. At least,
according to Philip, who had been loitering outside when the teenagers robbed
the store.
Philip, who planned to purchase a pack of cigarettes, claimed
the man had been standing at the back when the teenagers rushed in. The man
came down the aisle but did nothing to stop the teenagers or protect the
cashier, Philip said. The cashier had raised his hands in defense even before
the youths announced their intention to rob the establishment. But, as Philip
tried to explain, the tall man could certainly pick out the boys in a lineup.
That’s what Philip told the police officers who arrived
at the scene twenty minutes later, but they didn’t believe him.
Read the rest of the story on Written Tales Magazine.
If you are asking how we’re doing during this challenging
time, that’s the short answer.
Here’s the long answer.
We’re tired of being woken up by the blaring wail of sirens
at midnight, or at three in the morning, or at both hours.
We’re tired of running to our reinforced saferooms and our
public shelters, sitting on the floor uncomfortably as we all stare at our
mobile phones for the latest information about where the missiles struck.
We’re tired of hearing the boom of ballistic missiles
overhead as they are blown up by our anti-ballistic rockets.
We’re tired of returning to our beds, unable to fall back
asleep as we fearfully await the next missile attack.
We’re tired of turning on the television news to scenes of
the night’s destructive toll – people injured and killed, buildings bombed,
cars burnt, craters and piles of debris everywhere, homes lost, lives
interrupted.
We’re tired of being unable to go to work, unable to send
our children to school and to kindergarten, unable to go shopping even for the
most essential things without worrying whether the next missile attack will
catch us somewhere where there is no nearby shelter.
We’re tired of seeing our airport closed and international
airlines canceling all their flights to Israel.
We’re tired of canceling our weekend plans and our summer
vacations.
We’re tired of watching the bombing of Iran, even if it
means we’re taking out their nuclear sites and military facilities, because we
know it will result in further missile strikes against us.
We’re tired of the world dismissing our need to confront an
Evil that seeks to destroy us while it lies blatantly about enriching uranium
for peaceful research.
We’re tired of hearing that America bombed Iran because this
is Israel’s war, when it is the war of the entire civilized world against this
Evil.
We’re tired of seeing Iranian citizens fleeing Tehran,
unable to overturn their theocratic repressive regime.
We’re tired of all this, and more.
We’re tired that we still have 50 hostages held by
terrorists in Gaza, and whose freedom is not a priority of our government.
We’re tired that our prime minister refuses to take
responsibility for what happened on October 7, 2023, in the greatest tragedy to
befall the Jewish People since the Holocaust.
We’re tired that our soldiers are fighting every day in
Gaza, and we’re tired of seeing their young faces on the news, the latest
casualties of a seemingly endless war.
We’re tired of the entire world shouting cries of ‘genocide’
as we do our best to avoid civilian casualties.
We’re tired of fighting terrorists who dig tunnels under
hospitals, hide their weapons in schools, take cover behind civilians and steal
the aid provided by humanitarian organizations.
We’re tired of how Gazans are suffering.
We’re tired of our inability to throw out our corrupt,
right-wing, extremist government.
We’re tired of the government giving limitless funding to
the ultra-Orthodox and letting their young men avoid compulsory army service.
We’re tired of our right-wing government moving endlessly to
curb media freedom and overturn our judicial system.
We’re tired of our government allowing the establishment of
more and more settlements across the West Bank.
We’re tired of what we’re doing to the Palestinians.
We’re tired of regarding our Arab citizens as second-class.
We’re tired that the most corrupt prime minister we’ve ever
had is about to get credit for finally confronting the Iranian nuclear threat.
We’re tired that the most corrupt prime minister we’ve ever
had is allowing extremists to do anything they want, just so he can remain in
power.
We’re tired that the most corrupt prime minister we’ve ever
had is prolonging the trial that is meant to hold him accountable for his
corruption.
We’re tired of inflation, of the lack of affordable housing,
of the traffic jams on the highways, and the crowded national parks.
We’re tired of all this, and more.
Yet, despite being tired, we love Israel. We love its religious
importance, its amazing history, and its colorful traditions. We love its high-tech,
its stunning nature, its beaches, and its nightlife. We love its youth and its
hope and promise for the future.
We’re tired, but we will continue to fight for our country
because this is home.
Originally posted on The Times of Israel.
The sky was blue and promising, the early morning air crisp and
refreshing. A perfect day for the Jerusalem Marathon. The main event, 42.2
kilometers long, would take the runners through downtown Jerusalem and north
all the way to Mt. Scopus. The race circuit snaked through the Old City’s Jaffa
Gate and along the narrow alleyways of the Armenian Quarter. Out Zion Gate,
around Mt. Zion, up a steep hill to the old train station, and through the
German Colony. South to the Arnona neighborhood, back towards the city center,
and down the home stretch to the finish line at Sacher Park.
Read the rest of the story on JUDITH MAGAZINE.
We are
writing to you on behalf of our client, the Estate of Kevin Gladstone, who
passed away on March 2, 2023. Please accept our condolences during this
difficult time.
The estate. The family estate. Martin knew all about estates.
The letter was just a formality. He was familiar with its
contents, knew what it would say in advance. He had been waiting for this
moment. The Gladstone inheritance would soon be his.
Read the rest of the story at New English Review.
Yuvi’s alarm goes off and he wakes to find his father
standing outside his door, offering to drive him to the office. In this Groundhog
Day scenario, Yuvi has a chance to reverse the bad outcome of the previous
day’s tragedy. But will his fortunes be better this time around?
‘Autocorrect’ is one of the 33 short, short stories in Autocorrect
by Etgar Keret, translated by Jessica Cohen and Sondra
Silverston (Riverhead Books, May 27, 2025). Readers familiar with
Keret will be entertained by more examples of his creative imagination, while
those meeting him for the first time will encounter his original humorous insights
into Israeli culture and modern life, with a touch of science fiction thrown in
for good measure.
Time travel, aliens, and alternative realities all make
appearances in the stories, while others mirror our lives, showing imaginative
reflections of Israel and Israelis. Each of the stories satisfies in its own
unique way.
I had previously read many of the book’s stories in the
original Hebrew, but translators Cohen and Silverston do an excellent job of
showcasing Keret’s humor for English readers. No matter what the language, his
stories leave one eager to start the next one. Here are brief descriptions of
some of my favorites.
‘A World without Selfie Sticks’ - a life-changing reality
show from another world.
'Point of No Return' - the thin line between real life and
simulated real life.
'Genesis, Chapter 0' - beyond pain, and boredom, and fear,
everything becomes light.
‘For the Woman Who Has Everything’ - for the reader who has
read everything, something different.
The stories of Autocorrect are extremely short, but
they’ll leave you wanting more. We’re sure to meet the boundless creativity and
humor of Etgar Keret again very soon.
Etgar
Keret was born in Tel Aviv in 1967. His books have been
translated into 37 languages, and he has been published in the New York Times,
the Guardian, the New Yorker, Le Monde and other periodicals. Keret has written
a number of screenplays; “Jellyfish”, his first film as director alongside his
wife Shira Geffen, won the Caméra d’Or prize for best first feature at Cannes
in 2007. Keret has received the Chevalier Medallion of France's Ordre des Arts
et des Lettres (2010); the Charles Bronfman Prize (2016); and the Sapir
Prize for Literature (2018). His short story collection Fly Away
won the 2019 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction.
Jessica Cohen is a British-Israeli-American literary
translator who shared the 2017 International Booker Prize with author David
Grossman for her translation of A Horse Walks into a Bar.
Sondra Silverston is a native New Yorker who has
lived in Israel since 1970. She has translated works of Etgar Keret, Ayelet
Gundar-Goshen, Zeruya Shalev, and Savyon Liebrecht. Her translation of Amos
Oz’s Between Friends won the 2013 National Jewish Book Award
for fiction.
Originally posted on The Times of Israel.
As someone who knows little about the Bulgarian culture or the history, I was
enchanted by the stories. I was also intrigued by the foods, drinks, mountains,
and churches. By the time I was finished with the collection, I wondered if a
trip to Bulgaria might be in order!
As an author, I was fascinated with how the author weaved these tales into a
cohesive whole - and loved how a character from one story would inevitably end
up in another. Despite being a series of short stories, it reads far more like
a novel, with Bulgaria as the main character. It's a great read.
