Israeli author Aharon Megged's novel Foiglman chronicles the friendship between Zvi Arbel, a historian living in Tel Aviv, and Shmuel Foiglman, a Yiddish poet living in Paris, and how that friendship led to tragedy. The novel opens nine months after the suicide of Arbel’s wife and five months after Foiglman’s death. The novel jumps back and forth in time, relating how Arbel and Foiglman first met, how Foiglman and his twin brother survived the Holocaust and how the friendship between the two writers drove a wedge between Arbel and his wife.
In Israel Insider magazine, critic Ellis Shuman described Foiglman as a book about "the confrontation between Hebrew and Yiddish, between Israel and the Diaspora, and between the old world and the new."
DISCUSSION TOPICS AND QUESTIONS
1. "Foygl" is Yiddish for "bird." How is Shmuel Foiglman like a bird? Why do you think Megged chose "Foiglman" as this character's name? The cover art for the English-language edition of Foiglman features a painting of a flying dove. Is there meaning to the choice of a dove as the telling metaphor? Is it significant that the bird is in flight?
2. In many ways, Foiglman is a parable describing the tension between Hebrew and Yiddish. On the top of page 33, it is suggested that Hebrew is the "father" of Jewish culture, and Yiddish is its "mother." Yiddish, through the character of Foiglman, also represents poetry, while Hebrew, personified as Arbel, represents history. Discuss these analogies. Are they accurate? Fair? Can you suggest others?
3. On page 201, the following quotation is cited, "Hebrew is the language of time. Yiddish is the language of place.” What is meant by this?
4. For many contemporary Jews, the Holocaust remains an ever-present specter. In the opening chapter of the novel, Foiglman's son Irving suggests that among Jews there is a feeling of nostalgia for the Holocaust. What does he mean? Is the comment paradoxical or blasphemous? Does it contain some truths?
5. What is the role of Nora, Arbel’s wife? How can you explain her animosity toward Foiglman? Her infidelity? Her suicide? Compare her role to that of Henrietta Fogel, Foiglman's wife.
6. Make a list of the various gifts and favors Arbel bestows upon Foiglman. How can you account for Arbel's affection for the poet? What did he see in Foiglman? Why was Arbel compelled to show such kindness and generosity, though it ultimately led to his downfall?
7. How does the author use names as tools to advance the storyline? Why does Foiglman retain the Yiddish spelling of his name, rather than change it to "Fogelman" or "Fogel”? How do the characters use the names "Nora" versus "Nurit" and "Henrietta" versus "Hinda?"
8. Compare the relationship between Arbel and Foiglman to that of the relationship between the Foiglman brothers, Shmuel and Katriel. If Arbel and Foiglman represent the tension between Hebrew and Yiddish, what comes to mind when comparing the Foiglman twins?
9. Read the description of Foiglman on page 71. What feelings does this description evoke?
10. Zvi Arbel expounds upon the theories of his archeologist father, that the ancient Hebrew population also was composed of Phoenicians and other Semitic groups. How might this theory influence Israeli self-identity? What does it suggest about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
11. In the novel, Arbel's masterwork, entitled "The Great Betrayal," describes the historical Chmielnicki pogroms of 1648. Bogdan Chmielnicki (1595-1657) was an expert at exploiting the Jews and using them as a target of hatred. Under Chmielnicki's leadership, more than 100,000 Jews were massacred.
What other betrayals occur in this book?
Steven E. Steinbock is the author of several books published by the URJ Press, the most recent being These Words Upon Our Heart, A Lexicon of Judaism and World Religions. Steve is a graduate of the HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School of Education.
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