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אמת מארץ תצמח
אמת מארץ תצמח הוא סיפור בלשי על גלגולו המסתורי של כתב־יד מופלא. אולי יתברר הסוד בסוף הסיפור ואולי לא, אבל סערת הנפש ועוצמת הקנאות שבדרך אל הגילוי אינן מרפות מן הקורא.
שברי לוחות הוא קינה מעודנת על שיברונו של דור העולים המפואר בשנות החמישים. את קהילותיהם שם הפסידו ואל נחלתם כאן במעברה לא הגיעו. וכפי שזכר המחבר, הילד שעלה ארצה מקהיר, כשביקש סבא שלו לדרוש כמה מילים לפני קהל של רבנים וראשי ישיבות בארץ ישראל, כך נאמר לו: "נכדו של החכם אתה? אדם גדול הוא סבך ודרשן מופלג הוא, אבל כאן אין מכירים מעלתו".
אל שני הסיפורים נוסף במהדורת היובל הזאת הסיפור על המורה רווח. כמו בכל סיפורי סבּתוֹ, שוב אנחנו בערש ילדותו, היא מולדתו החדשה במעברה בבית־מזמיל. המורה רווח וחברו המורה הרב קאופְטֵייל מצרפים את אהבתם לילדים ואת כישרונם המוזיקלי לכלל ניגון שיש בו כדי להציל נפשות רבות, שאם לא כן עלולה היתה דרכם להיות אחרת.
כמו בכל הכרכים של מהדורת היובל הזאת צירף סבּתוֹ אחרית דבר, ובה הוא משתף את קוראיו במחשבות על דרכו בשפה העברית.
חיים סבּתוֹ נולד בשנת 1952 בקהיר ועלה לארץ בשנת 1957. הוא גדל ולמד בירושלים. היה ממקימי ישיבת ההסדר במעלה אֲדוּמים, ובה הוא מלמד עד היום.
שברי לוחות הוא קינה מעודנת על שיברונו של דור העולים המפואר בשנות החמישים. את קהילותיהם שם הפסידו ואל נחלתם כאן במעברה לא הגיעו. וכפי שזכר המחבר, הילד שעלה ארצה מקהיר, כשביקש סבא שלו לדרוש כמה מילים לפני קהל של רבנים וראשי ישיבות בארץ ישראל, כך נאמר לו: "נכדו של החכם אתה? אדם גדול הוא סבך ודרשן מופלג הוא, אבל כאן אין מכירים מעלתו".
אל שני הסיפורים נוסף במהדורת היובל הזאת הסיפור על המורה רווח. כמו בכל סיפורי סבּתוֹ, שוב אנחנו בערש ילדותו, היא מולדתו החדשה במעברה בבית־מזמיל. המורה רווח וחברו המורה הרב קאופְטֵייל מצרפים את אהבתם לילדים ואת כישרונם המוזיקלי לכלל ניגון שיש בו כדי להציל נפשות רבות, שאם לא כן עלולה היתה דרכם להיות אחרת.
כמו בכל הכרכים של מהדורת היובל הזאת צירף סבּתוֹ אחרית דבר, ובה הוא משתף את קוראיו במחשבות על דרכו בשפה העברית.
חיים סבּתוֹ נולד בשנת 1952 בקהיר ועלה לארץ בשנת 1957. הוא גדל ולמד בירושלים. היה ממקימי ישיבת ההסדר במעלה אֲדוּמים, ובה הוא מלמד עד היום.
- GenresJewish
142 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
8 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Haim Sabato
16 books11 followersHaim Sabato is an Israeli rabbi and author.
Haim Sabato was born to a family of Aleppan-Syrian descent in Cairo. In the 1950s, his family immigrated to Israel and lived in a "ma'abara" (transit camp) in Kiryat HaYovel, Jerusalem. He studied at a Talmud Torah in Bayit Vegan, in the vicinity, and after it attended the "Netiv Meir" yeshiva-high school, also in Bayit Vegan. Rabbi Aryeh Bina, Rosh Yeshiva of "Netiv Meir", was one of his key influences.
After graduation, he joined the "Hesder" program at Yeshivat Hakotel, in the old city of Jerusalem, which combines yeshiva studies with military service. His experiences during the Yom Kippur war, at the age of 21, led him to write Adjusting Sights.
After the war, Sabato spent the next few years at Yeshivat Mercaz Harav, the spiritual home of religious Zionism. After receiving rabbinical ordination, Sabato co-founded Yeshivat Birkat Moshe in Ma'aleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, in 1977.
Sabato's lyrical writing, with sentences studded with phrases drawn from, and referring to, passages in the Bible and Talmud has won him numerous fans and made him a symbol of the "pitfalls" of translating literary works form one language to another. He has published four novels in addition to Rabbinical works.
Sabato's first book, Emet Mi Eretz Titzmach, (published in English as Aleppo Tales), is a collection of short stories relating to his family's ancestral home and community of Aleppo, Syria.
Sabato was awarded the Sapir Prize for Literature in its inaugural year, as well as the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize, for his second work, Teum Kavanot (Adjusting Sights in the English translation), a moving account of the experiences of a soldier in the Yom Kippur war. The book has also been made into a film.
His third publication, Ke-Afapey Shachar (published in English as Dawning of the Day: A Jerusalem Tale), tells the story of Ezra Siman Tov, a religious Jerusalemite coming to terms with a changing world.
Sabato's next work, Boyi Ha-Ruach (published in English as From the Four Winds), describes his experiences as an "oleh chadash" (a new immigrant) in the Israeli "ma'abarot" (typical transit camps of the 1950s).
In his most recent book, Be-Shafrir Chevyon, Sabato returns again to his childhood in "Beit Mazmil", Jerusalem, as a newcomer, with memories from Cairo intermingling with adventures in the monastery of Ein-Karem, and the annual Independence Day exhibition in Jerusalem. Again we meet both the Piutim (religious poetry) and Torah study that dominate Sabato's spiritual world, along with his Yom Kippur War memories, all tied together in a constant search of God, Who often hides from the human eye, when the latter needs him most.
Haim Sabato was born to a family of Aleppan-Syrian descent in Cairo. In the 1950s, his family immigrated to Israel and lived in a "ma'abara" (transit camp) in Kiryat HaYovel, Jerusalem. He studied at a Talmud Torah in Bayit Vegan, in the vicinity, and after it attended the "Netiv Meir" yeshiva-high school, also in Bayit Vegan. Rabbi Aryeh Bina, Rosh Yeshiva of "Netiv Meir", was one of his key influences.
After graduation, he joined the "Hesder" program at Yeshivat Hakotel, in the old city of Jerusalem, which combines yeshiva studies with military service. His experiences during the Yom Kippur war, at the age of 21, led him to write Adjusting Sights.
After the war, Sabato spent the next few years at Yeshivat Mercaz Harav, the spiritual home of religious Zionism. After receiving rabbinical ordination, Sabato co-founded Yeshivat Birkat Moshe in Ma'aleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, in 1977.
Sabato's lyrical writing, with sentences studded with phrases drawn from, and referring to, passages in the Bible and Talmud has won him numerous fans and made him a symbol of the "pitfalls" of translating literary works form one language to another. He has published four novels in addition to Rabbinical works.
Sabato's first book, Emet Mi Eretz Titzmach, (published in English as Aleppo Tales), is a collection of short stories relating to his family's ancestral home and community of Aleppo, Syria.
Sabato was awarded the Sapir Prize for Literature in its inaugural year, as well as the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize, for his second work, Teum Kavanot (Adjusting Sights in the English translation), a moving account of the experiences of a soldier in the Yom Kippur war. The book has also been made into a film.
His third publication, Ke-Afapey Shachar (published in English as Dawning of the Day: A Jerusalem Tale), tells the story of Ezra Siman Tov, a religious Jerusalemite coming to terms with a changing world.
Sabato's next work, Boyi Ha-Ruach (published in English as From the Four Winds), describes his experiences as an "oleh chadash" (a new immigrant) in the Israeli "ma'abarot" (typical transit camps of the 1950s).
In his most recent book, Be-Shafrir Chevyon, Sabato returns again to his childhood in "Beit Mazmil", Jerusalem, as a newcomer, with memories from Cairo intermingling with adventures in the monastery of Ein-Karem, and the annual Independence Day exhibition in Jerusalem. Again we meet both the Piutim (religious poetry) and Torah study that dominate Sabato's spiritual world, along with his Yom Kippur War memories, all tied together in a constant search of God, Who often hides from the human eye, when the latter needs him most.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 7, 2014
Wonderful stories- well, of course, with R Sabato as a guide into the world of Alleppo and its people, what can be wrong?
May 23, 2021
I read this many years ago, and somehow did not get into it. I am so glad I re-read it again. Sabato is just a masterful storyteller, and he skillfully conveys both the human frailties of his characters, as well as their deep and true belief and religiosity. The tales in this book are a triptych that weave together. The second story, in particular, moved me to tears. Much food for thought here!
April 19, 2021
I wish this book was more organized. I found it hard to follow even though it is not long and does not contain so many characters.
But it was a beautiful read about a fascinating culture and the history of several generations of a community and its exile.
But it was a beautiful read about a fascinating culture and the history of several generations of a community and its exile.
April 11, 2012
A wonderful couple of stories about life in Aleppo for Syrian Jews - family descriptions are poetic and the authors love of his family and history shine out in every detail.
July 4, 2025
My copy of "Aleppo Tales" has a quote from a reviewer on the cover: "Sabato writes with a music that slowly filters through to the soul of the reader." I barely noticed it when I started reading, but as I got deeper into the stories, I kept coming back to it; it's a perfect description of this book.
Aleppo Tales, written by the descendant of an Aleppo Jewish family, tells a series of stories that slowly immerse you in the history, worldview, and flavor of Aleppan Jewry. If I'm being honest, I usually tend to lose patience with books that are this literary -- the focus is on language and atmosphere, not on a fast-moving plot -- but I found myself enraptured by this book. And I can tell, from the couple of allusions I caught, that it's even richer in the original Hebrew. (The translator clearly did a fantastic job.)
Aleppo Tales, written by the descendant of an Aleppo Jewish family, tells a series of stories that slowly immerse you in the history, worldview, and flavor of Aleppan Jewry. If I'm being honest, I usually tend to lose patience with books that are this literary -- the focus is on language and atmosphere, not on a fast-moving plot -- but I found myself enraptured by this book. And I can tell, from the couple of allusions I caught, that it's even richer in the original Hebrew. (The translator clearly did a fantastic job.)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews