Editor's Note
Dear readers,
The first task of this new issue is to note the passing of the great Sephardi writer, Avraham B. Yehoshua, who over the decades has delighted and inspired a large readership of those fortunate to be able to read his work in Hebrew, and the many who have read his succession of fascinating novels in translation. He was known not only as a brilliantly creative novelist but also as a polemicist for whom Israel and Zionism came first. In the latter role he challenged and ruffled feathers often, though he enjoyed the intellectual challenges, and as an imaginative writer his feats were broadly admired, inspiring many younger writers, as Israeli fiction moved away from the early years of realism and Ideological conformity. Israeli literature has lost a giant. He is mourned by many who counted him as a friend, including in a humble way myself and my husband. For some items in Sephardic Horizons featuring his work, see the following (an interview, two articles, a translation, and a review):
- Interview with Israeli Novelist A.B. Yehoshua on his new novel Hesed Sefaradi. Interviewed by Judith Roumani.
- Where is the Sephardism in A. B. Yehoshua's Hesed Sefaradi? By Yael Halevi-Wise.
- Five Recommendations to Historians from a History Lover. By A. B. Yehoshua.
- The Rettrospective Imagination Of A. B. Yehoshua. By Yael Halevi-Wise. Reviewed by Philip Hollander.
- The multiple risks that A.B. Yehoshua takes in his novel Mr. Mani. By Judith Roumani.
This issue presents two items on another well-known almost-contemporary of Yehoshua’s: Albert Memmi of Tunisia and France. Guy Dugas, the preeminent Memmi scholar, presents an assessment of views of his work since his passing, while we present a never-before transcribed interview with Memmi in his mid-career days of the 1970s. The interview is by my late husband Jacques Roumani. Whether we realize it or not, Yehoshua and Memmi, both controversial thinkers who agreed on many things, have done much to shape our thinking on issues concerning Sephardim and Israel. Let us think of this issue as a conversation between them.
Israel Rodolfo (Rudi) Lichtner of Italy presents us with a memoir of his paternal Uncle from Hungary which reveals much about Italian Jewish life in the postwar years. David M. Bunis is interviewed about some problems in Judezmo linguistics, reviewing issues that he had raised in his early work of the 1970s and 1980s and revealing how his thinking may have evolved. And our review department, courtesy of Annette B. Fromm, presents a rich gamut of reviews for your enjoyment. With thanks to all our authors, interviewees and reviewers, to Chantal Assoulen and Gila Griner for their expert transcriptions, and to Vivienne Roumani-Denn for essential help with the Memmi interview, preserved for decades on an old audiotape that had previously looked impervious to modern technology, as well as her efforts in remembering family lore.
Our deepest condolences to our webmaster, Altan Gabbay, on the recent passing of his father, Moris Gabbay z"l in Istanbul, at the age of one hundred. He joined the Turkish Workers Party in the early sixties. He worked for many years with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, serving it in Turkey, Italy, Chad, Senegal and Mozambique, making his contribution to alleviating world hunger. After his retirement, back in Istanbul, he worked for the Nazim Hikmet Culture and Art Foundation in memory of the poet who died in exile. May his memory be a blessing for his family. Condolences to Altan, Ruth and Rachel, his granddaughter, from Sephardic Horizons.
Anyada Buena, Shana tova, a year of good health to all our readers,
Judith Roumani, Editor