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Light Fell
Awarded the 2009 Stonewall Prize for Fiction, the first and most enduring award for GLBT books, sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table.
Twenty years have passed since Joseph left behind his entire life—his wife Rebecca, his five sons, his father, and the religious Israeli farming community where he grew up—when he fell in love with a man, the genius rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig. Their affair is long over, but its echoes continue to reverberate through the lives of Joseph, Rebecca, and their sons in ways that none of them could have predicted.
Now, for his fiftieth birthday, Joseph is preparing to have his five sons and the daughter-in-law he has never met spend the Sabbath with him in the Tel Aviv penthouse that he shares with a man—who is conveniently out of town that weekend. This will be the first time Joseph and all his sons will be together in nearly two decades.
The boys’ lives have taken widely varying paths. While some have become extremely religious, another is completely cosmopolitan and secular, and their feelings toward their father range from acceptance to bitter resentment. As they prepare for this reunion, Joseph, his sons, and even Rebecca, must confront what was, what is, and what could have been.
Evan Fallenberg is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and has since 1985 lived in Israel, where he is a writer, teacher, and translator. His recent translations include novels by Batya Gur and Meir Shalev. He is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the Vermont College MFA program. He is the father of two sons.
Twenty years have passed since Joseph left behind his entire life—his wife Rebecca, his five sons, his father, and the religious Israeli farming community where he grew up—when he fell in love with a man, the genius rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig. Their affair is long over, but its echoes continue to reverberate through the lives of Joseph, Rebecca, and their sons in ways that none of them could have predicted.
Now, for his fiftieth birthday, Joseph is preparing to have his five sons and the daughter-in-law he has never met spend the Sabbath with him in the Tel Aviv penthouse that he shares with a man—who is conveniently out of town that weekend. This will be the first time Joseph and all his sons will be together in nearly two decades.
The boys’ lives have taken widely varying paths. While some have become extremely religious, another is completely cosmopolitan and secular, and their feelings toward their father range from acceptance to bitter resentment. As they prepare for this reunion, Joseph, his sons, and even Rebecca, must confront what was, what is, and what could have been.
Evan Fallenberg is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and has since 1985 lived in Israel, where he is a writer, teacher, and translator. His recent translations include novels by Batya Gur and Meir Shalev. He is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the Vermont College MFA program. He is the father of two sons.
229 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
20 people are currently reading
416 people want to read
About the author
Evan Fallenberg
19 books26 followersA native of Cleveland, Ohio, Fallenberg is a graduate of Georgetown University and the MFA program in creative writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts and has lived in Israel since 1985. He is coordinator of fiction for the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University; coordinator of literary translation in the Department of English Literature at Bar-Ilan University; and an instructor in the low-residency MFA program in creative writing at City University of Hong Kong. The recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Vermont Studio Center and the National Endowment for the Arts, Fallenberg serves as an advisor to several literary prizes, including the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. He is the father of two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
November 17, 2008
This was a very interesting book. A writer friend of mine (Debra Darvick) met the author at a recent Jewish Book Fair, and this is what she put in her blog:
http://debradarvick.wordpress.com/200...
To hear the women tell it, Joseph Licht, the protagonist in Evan Fallenberg’s first novel, Light Fell, is neither sympathetic nor likable. In fact, during the Q&A one of last night’s attendees put it pretty bluntly, “I didn’t like any of the characters in this book.”
Fallenberg, who is not only likable and sympathetic but was a terrific and engaging speaker (not to mention cute as all hell), stepped back from the podium, took a swig of water and laughed. “Wow. People have told me they don’t like Joseph. But no one’s ever said they don’t like anybody in my book. Let me think about this for a moment.” Earlier in the evening I’d answered a friend who had the same reaction to Joseph. Perhaps Fallenberg wanted the challenge of humanizing an unlikable character. Or perhaps he wanted to try on being an SOB.
Acknowledging the reader’s antipathy, the author said he set out to take people and put them in an impossible position. “I wanted to create a situation… you may not like him but can you sympathize with his predicament?” The predicament? Israeli scholar Joseph Licht leaves behind his entire life — wife, five young children, the religious farming community where he grew up — when he falls in love and has an affair with a man, a famous rabbi no less. Now that’s a predicament. Which, inadvertantly or not, extends to some of Fallenberg’s readers who found themselves enjoying his novel while disliking the driving character.
Opening the folds of his writer’s cape, Fallenberg discussed the ins and outs of writing his first novel. A translator by profession, he was so overwhelmed by the idea of creating a novel that when he sat down each morning (4:30 - 6:00) he would tell himself, “Just write a scene Evan, just a scene.” Once the morning’s scene was done, he’d jot down a sentence or two of what came next, a lifeline of sorts. When 4:30 am rolled around again, he had something to grasp as he made his way.
Fallenberg discussed character development, which included giving one the birthday of February 22, 1922. He then visited an astrologer to learn what a person with a birthday of 2/22/22 would be like. “It was as if the [astrologer] knew my character.” He wrote them letters, talked to them until they became fully formed individuals, completely independent of the author. “I spent so much time with them,” he recalled, “that I could trust myself to run with them when they surprised me.” How often does a writer get that nuts and boltsy with an audience? One more reason why I live for Jewish Book Month.
http://debradarvick.wordpress.com/200...
To hear the women tell it, Joseph Licht, the protagonist in Evan Fallenberg’s first novel, Light Fell, is neither sympathetic nor likable. In fact, during the Q&A one of last night’s attendees put it pretty bluntly, “I didn’t like any of the characters in this book.”
Fallenberg, who is not only likable and sympathetic but was a terrific and engaging speaker (not to mention cute as all hell), stepped back from the podium, took a swig of water and laughed. “Wow. People have told me they don’t like Joseph. But no one’s ever said they don’t like anybody in my book. Let me think about this for a moment.” Earlier in the evening I’d answered a friend who had the same reaction to Joseph. Perhaps Fallenberg wanted the challenge of humanizing an unlikable character. Or perhaps he wanted to try on being an SOB.
Acknowledging the reader’s antipathy, the author said he set out to take people and put them in an impossible position. “I wanted to create a situation… you may not like him but can you sympathize with his predicament?” The predicament? Israeli scholar Joseph Licht leaves behind his entire life — wife, five young children, the religious farming community where he grew up — when he falls in love and has an affair with a man, a famous rabbi no less. Now that’s a predicament. Which, inadvertantly or not, extends to some of Fallenberg’s readers who found themselves enjoying his novel while disliking the driving character.
Opening the folds of his writer’s cape, Fallenberg discussed the ins and outs of writing his first novel. A translator by profession, he was so overwhelmed by the idea of creating a novel that when he sat down each morning (4:30 - 6:00) he would tell himself, “Just write a scene Evan, just a scene.” Once the morning’s scene was done, he’d jot down a sentence or two of what came next, a lifeline of sorts. When 4:30 am rolled around again, he had something to grasp as he made his way.
Fallenberg discussed character development, which included giving one the birthday of February 22, 1922. He then visited an astrologer to learn what a person with a birthday of 2/22/22 would be like. “It was as if the [astrologer] knew my character.” He wrote them letters, talked to them until they became fully formed individuals, completely independent of the author. “I spent so much time with them,” he recalled, “that I could trust myself to run with them when they surprised me.” How often does a writer get that nuts and boltsy with an audience? One more reason why I live for Jewish Book Month.
January 15, 2009
This is the kind of book I simply couldn't give enough stars to! Evan Fallenberg is a superb writer and a man with great insight into his characters. When they speak, they come alive. The book tells the story of an Israeli family man, Joseph Licht, who falls in love with his (male) rabbi. At first it looks as though it'll be a book about the struggles the two men face as homosexuals in the religious Orthodox community. But there's an early twist that sets up a wonderful family drama between Joseph and his five sons, with a wonderfully nuanced role for his ex-wife. Plotting, character and style all score maximum points. It's truly an inspiring work.
April 14, 2008
Joseph Licht is turning 50, and has invited his five sons to share a celebratory weekend. This will be the first time in the twenty years since he left them and their mother for brilliant young Rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig that all of them are together at one time. The years have been full of pain in many ways, yet his main regret has been the loss of his sons. Surprisingly they all show up, but the weekend is still full of judgment and recrimination, and forgiveness seems yet to be illusive. Sad, but ultimately hopeful, this book explores the fallibility of memory, the contradictory demands of religious life and fulfilling personal life, issues which turn out to affect not only Joseph but his sons in different ways.
July 23, 2013
I was prepared to hate this book because of the premise, but I could not put it down. The combination of character-driven fiction and aspects of Israeli culture made it a great read. The only character I felt was not fully developed was Ethan, but that may also be an aspect of the family dynamics. The story centers around a Sabbath meal, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the food and the preparation. When they finally get together, for Joseph's 50th birthday and their first union in 20 years, I expected some level of drama. But the tender way in which Joseph hopes to reconcile with his sons, without anger or blame, made this a very touching book, despite the explicit homosexualtiy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2025
I can't fault this novel on its writing or storytelling, it is brilliant but, and this is a big but, I cannot abide those who attempt to reconcile being gay with any of the various religious/cultural traditions that have spent millennia not simply hating and persecuting us, but making us hate ourselves. That the main character is a man who abandons a wife and five young children is something I abhor and I don't sympathise with him because leaving a marriage is one thing but abandoning children is beyond the pale.
So I can't review the novel because I hated too much of it, though I understand what the author was trying to do. But no matter how well he did it I don't want to read it again and would never recommend it.
So I can't review the novel because I hated too much of it, though I understand what the author was trying to do. But no matter how well he did it I don't want to read it again and would never recommend it.
September 18, 2013
What would you do if, midway into your life, you realized that the choices that you've made in your life were the wrong ones? Would you continue acting, pretending that everything is fine while longing to live differently, or would you make a drastic change, leaving behind and cruelly disregarding the people, beliefs and community that have always defined you? Although Joseph Licht's dilemma revolves around issues of homosexuality and religion, there is much in this book that will speak to anyone wrestling with the problem of how to be true to oneself, and the price paid in the wake of that choice.
December 21, 2007
I read this the other day but forgot to blog about it. It's about an Israeli man who left his fairly religious family for another man, and twenty years later he's about to reunite with all five of his sons for the first time in those twenty years. The sons are a weird microcosm of Israeli society and the end felt pretty pat, but it was a pretty good read anyway. B.
March 31, 2009
There's nothing terribly wrong with this novel, but I found that a quarter of the way through the book, I was bored & didn't care about the characters. Life is too short...
October 4, 2023
Joseph is a Jewish man who comes to realize as an adult and a father that perhaps there is more to life than what he has always believed. Though religion, in this case Judaism, plays a part in the story it is not a book about religion. All the characters in the story are trying to adapt their beliefs to a family situation, some more easily than others. You could substitute any "fundamentalist/literal" dogma of any faith and the story would still be applicable. I'm a recovering catholic and I still was able to appreciate the author's insights.
July 1, 2024
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. The lead character is not a nice person but he is trying to make amends to his 5 sons, having left them 20 years earlier for a charismatic rabbi. The book is a fascinating study of the modern land of Israeli and the different paths people take in Judaism- most of the sons veer ultra-orthodox while the leading character is living in luxury with a non-Jewish partner in a penthouse in Tel Aviv. Terrific writing and well done characterizations of difficult people.
April 15, 2019
Found it a little too slow moving at times.
September 22, 2021
What a difficult book to read and feel. A damning look at fundamentalism and society's inability to let people be who they are ... And the waves of suffering that results. Absolutely heartbreaking.
September 26, 2022
Finished reading. 4 Stars.
September 6, 2025
The most beautiful story I've ever read.
March 30, 2010
This was incredibly interesting read and one exquisite debut novel. Evan Fallenberg has indeed created (as the blurb say as well) “a uniquely drawn protagonist”. The book tells the story about Joseph, an educated Israeli man, professor of literature Harvard graduated, a husband and father of five … who fells in love with a rabbi.
Now, this novel indeed won several literary awards reserved for GLBT literature such are 2009 Stonewall Prize for Fiction or 2008 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction ( besides those it was also 2008 National Jewish Book Award Finalist) and somehow it is expected that the story fill follow love and struggle of those two men in highly traditional, Orthodox Jewish society (especially since one of them is nothing less but rabbi!) and that would probably be an interesting story. However Fallenberg decided to jump of the stereotypes and leave them to others. His novel has erased that frontier that divides literature (in this case GLBT from … I don’t know, “hetero” I guess). With one quite unexpected twist, story that might have been more less predictable becomes one incredibly unique reading experience. I’m really against those separations in literature (and art generally) and I believe those GLBT awards are disserving this great novel because many wouldn’t even consider reading book that won some gay lit award. But this is certainly NOT gay novel (here I must admit I’m not what gay novel suppose to mean by default. Hopefully the only criteria is not to have main character homosexual)
This was enormously thought provoking story. You’re feel empathy and understanding towards one character and then the consequences of those actions would strike you and in the very next moment you’ll start asking yourself “What are you talking? This can’t be right!” until you realizes “there is no right and wrong! That’s human nature, such an unpredictable burden or jewel we all have”. And that’s what novel is all about: Human nature!
It’s not easy to comprehend that one would decide to leave his life and all those people that was part of it (including their own children) because they realize they aren’t what they thought the were. That’s not right, right? Well wrong! But when I say that “wrong” I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just refuse to judge. Of course there is a little bugger named responsibility but then what about responsibility to ourselves? There is another bugger named consciousness but then how can you be scrupulous with others if you’re betraying yourself? And of course there is, usually enormous price that you have to pay whatever decision you made.
Joseph left his wife and five sons but not to live happily ever after with rabbi he loved (who was as well a husband and a father). Truth that love was a trigger but that wasn’t a reason. He firmly didn’t want to come back in his past life even when he had a chance in spite the price he and the ones he love had to pay and horrifying consequences he had made them to face and live with. So it really is hard to understand his decision. But in the end, you’re not even asked to understand or approve or even be sympathetic. There are no easy resolutions here. [by the way what I wrote is not a spoiler whatsoever!:]
I said this is very thought provoking story. It was interesting to think how religion (or for that matter anything else) can influence ones sexuality. I guess everyone knows in the puberty whether they are attracted by opposite or same sex (or both). Is it possible that one can convince her/himself they are what they’re not and even spend big part of their life thinking wrongly without being aware they’re faking? And if it is, what a hell of life that must be! There is one character in the book that asks the very same question:
“What if you’d ignored it, just buried it? What if you’d prayed and repented your evil thoughts and made pacts with God to ease the burden? Couldn’t you just have controlled your feelings? Couldn’t you have lived from day to day, promising yourself that today, just like yesterday, you’d be good?”
How enormously desperately one can be if one puts all her/his hopes into the power of will, faith, whatever … hopes to be something s/he is not.
Yup, human nature is really tricky little thing that is very hard to comprehend and even harder to restrain yourself from judging it.
Do read this book, it’s really a good one.
Now, this novel indeed won several literary awards reserved for GLBT literature such are 2009 Stonewall Prize for Fiction or 2008 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction ( besides those it was also 2008 National Jewish Book Award Finalist) and somehow it is expected that the story fill follow love and struggle of those two men in highly traditional, Orthodox Jewish society (especially since one of them is nothing less but rabbi!) and that would probably be an interesting story. However Fallenberg decided to jump of the stereotypes and leave them to others. His novel has erased that frontier that divides literature (in this case GLBT from … I don’t know, “hetero” I guess). With one quite unexpected twist, story that might have been more less predictable becomes one incredibly unique reading experience. I’m really against those separations in literature (and art generally) and I believe those GLBT awards are disserving this great novel because many wouldn’t even consider reading book that won some gay lit award. But this is certainly NOT gay novel (here I must admit I’m not what gay novel suppose to mean by default. Hopefully the only criteria is not to have main character homosexual)
This was enormously thought provoking story. You’re feel empathy and understanding towards one character and then the consequences of those actions would strike you and in the very next moment you’ll start asking yourself “What are you talking? This can’t be right!” until you realizes “there is no right and wrong! That’s human nature, such an unpredictable burden or jewel we all have”. And that’s what novel is all about: Human nature!
It’s not easy to comprehend that one would decide to leave his life and all those people that was part of it (including their own children) because they realize they aren’t what they thought the were. That’s not right, right? Well wrong! But when I say that “wrong” I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just refuse to judge. Of course there is a little bugger named responsibility but then what about responsibility to ourselves? There is another bugger named consciousness but then how can you be scrupulous with others if you’re betraying yourself? And of course there is, usually enormous price that you have to pay whatever decision you made.
Joseph left his wife and five sons but not to live happily ever after with rabbi he loved (who was as well a husband and a father). Truth that love was a trigger but that wasn’t a reason. He firmly didn’t want to come back in his past life even when he had a chance in spite the price he and the ones he love had to pay and horrifying consequences he had made them to face and live with. So it really is hard to understand his decision. But in the end, you’re not even asked to understand or approve or even be sympathetic. There are no easy resolutions here. [by the way what I wrote is not a spoiler whatsoever!:]
I said this is very thought provoking story. It was interesting to think how religion (or for that matter anything else) can influence ones sexuality. I guess everyone knows in the puberty whether they are attracted by opposite or same sex (or both). Is it possible that one can convince her/himself they are what they’re not and even spend big part of their life thinking wrongly without being aware they’re faking? And if it is, what a hell of life that must be! There is one character in the book that asks the very same question:
“What if you’d ignored it, just buried it? What if you’d prayed and repented your evil thoughts and made pacts with God to ease the burden? Couldn’t you just have controlled your feelings? Couldn’t you have lived from day to day, promising yourself that today, just like yesterday, you’d be good?”
How enormously desperately one can be if one puts all her/his hopes into the power of will, faith, whatever … hopes to be something s/he is not.
Yup, human nature is really tricky little thing that is very hard to comprehend and even harder to restrain yourself from judging it.
Do read this book, it’s really a good one.
January 15, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I did his later work The Parting Gift. So may good reviews have been written about this book that I'm not entirely sure what new to say at this point. It is refreshing to read about a gay man in middle age and a gay story that focuses on the attempt at reconciliation with a family, rather than the oft-told stories of young gay men being estranged from their families. I hope for m ore literature like this; it shows a maturing of the genre as all of us, G-d willing, will mature.
April 30, 2012
Half-way through this novel I almost gave up on it. It was hard to meet on its own terms, its plot turns a bit melodramatic, its tone almost operatic. An Israeli scholar, married with five young sons, becomes enamored of a charismatic rabbi, and after a four-month affair leaves his family. Taking place as it does within the context of religious beliefs that condemn what he has done, this turn of events creates a tidal wave of ramifications that grow and converge years later at a fiftieth birthday dinner, where long buried secrets and resentments are finally voiced. Father and sons are then left to mend a lifetime of disappointments and grievances.
The book represents on one level a kind of microcosm of points of view among Israelis about Israel - from a zealot founder of a settlement on the West Bank, to an ultra-Orthodox young couple, to reformed and secular Jews. On another level, it is a fierce domestic drama, rich with guilt, recriminations, petty cruelties, and other sorrows. Finally it is an extended meditation on the conflict between truth to oneself and what is owed to others. To what extent, the author wants us to ask, is being true to one's nature merely self-indulgent hedonism? The answer does not come easily, and when they get to the last page, readers of this novel will find the question not completely answered. There is more to the story to be told, and we are left with any number of clues about what lies in store for all of the characters we have come to know.
The book represents on one level a kind of microcosm of points of view among Israelis about Israel - from a zealot founder of a settlement on the West Bank, to an ultra-Orthodox young couple, to reformed and secular Jews. On another level, it is a fierce domestic drama, rich with guilt, recriminations, petty cruelties, and other sorrows. Finally it is an extended meditation on the conflict between truth to oneself and what is owed to others. To what extent, the author wants us to ask, is being true to one's nature merely self-indulgent hedonism? The answer does not come easily, and when they get to the last page, readers of this novel will find the question not completely answered. There is more to the story to be told, and we are left with any number of clues about what lies in store for all of the characters we have come to know.
July 8, 2016
A VERY Jewish story, able to be understood by nearly everyone -- and I'm not Jewish.
Joseph Licht, in Isreal, married to Rebecca, (a nice Jewish wife), with five young sons, is attracted to Rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig, also married, who "had read every volume of the Talmud a few times . . . and can quote just about everything that ever been written about Jewish law." Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in their religion. Forbidden: and yet, "God has three ways of letting two people know they are divinely suited to one another ,. , ,. by a written word that appears to them both and has meaning only to them." and Yoel had given Joseph a card on which Joseph's initials had (magically?) appeared.
So they fell into love. It nearly killed Joseph, and it did kill Yoel. Now it is 30 years later, Rebecca has raised their sons, with a little help from Joseph, who has acknowledged his homosexuality to himself. He has carefully planned a holiday dinner / get together for all of his boys, and also planned to tell them the truth. He hopes for their understanding and forgiveness, but does not require it.
A story of truthfulness and kindness in a Jewish setting, and above all, love. I remember someone once told me, two people are born zipped up their spines, but are separated at birth. When you finally find your other half, that other person, that's who you spend your life with. I'm convinced good people come in all colors and shapes.
The reason / story of "light fell" is a powerful one. You can read it in this book on Page 36.
Joseph Licht, in Isreal, married to Rebecca, (a nice Jewish wife), with five young sons, is attracted to Rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig, also married, who "had read every volume of the Talmud a few times . . . and can quote just about everything that ever been written about Jewish law." Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in their religion. Forbidden: and yet, "God has three ways of letting two people know they are divinely suited to one another ,. , ,. by a written word that appears to them both and has meaning only to them." and Yoel had given Joseph a card on which Joseph's initials had (magically?) appeared.
So they fell into love. It nearly killed Joseph, and it did kill Yoel. Now it is 30 years later, Rebecca has raised their sons, with a little help from Joseph, who has acknowledged his homosexuality to himself. He has carefully planned a holiday dinner / get together for all of his boys, and also planned to tell them the truth. He hopes for their understanding and forgiveness, but does not require it.
A story of truthfulness and kindness in a Jewish setting, and above all, love. I remember someone once told me, two people are born zipped up their spines, but are separated at birth. When you finally find your other half, that other person, that's who you spend your life with. I'm convinced good people come in all colors and shapes.
The reason / story of "light fell" is a powerful one. You can read it in this book on Page 36.
June 20, 2011
The word that mostly drifts to the surface while thinking about this book is "pathetic". Mostly because I thought the main character was pathetic, despite his brave choice. He's just an all around unpleasant character, mopey and unsatisfied and because he tells his children why this is, rather than let the reader see it without wording it explicitely, it doesn't really sink in. It's like I'm hovering on the outside of a glass bottle, trying to taste the contents.
The story was slightly pointless, but then I prefer entertaining fast paced plots so that's not really the novel's fault. Only at the end it had some kind of bearing and message. Because I am not Jewish and have never been exposed to anything but a handful of Yiddish words, it read like a badly introduced fantasy-novel with all the alien words and rituals. That didn't exactly help immerse myself in the story and the characters.
Despite the obvious "choose your own path"-moral of the story, I saw it more as a "(Jewish) religion will fuck up your life, whether you're gay or not" novel. None of the characters were really happy and that was all because of the strict rules.
I gave it two stars because it's not a bad book, it's just not for me.
The story was slightly pointless, but then I prefer entertaining fast paced plots so that's not really the novel's fault. Only at the end it had some kind of bearing and message. Because I am not Jewish and have never been exposed to anything but a handful of Yiddish words, it read like a badly introduced fantasy-novel with all the alien words and rituals. That didn't exactly help immerse myself in the story and the characters.
Despite the obvious "choose your own path"-moral of the story, I saw it more as a "(Jewish) religion will fuck up your life, whether you're gay or not" novel. None of the characters were really happy and that was all because of the strict rules.
I gave it two stars because it's not a bad book, it's just not for me.
July 22, 2008
As posted in [http://www.amazon.com]:
For his 50th birthday, Joseph Licht is making special recipes for one big dinner for his sons. However, Joseph has an ulterior motive and that is to ask his sons for forgiveness for what happened 20 years earlier.
20 years earlier, Joseph, a literature professor, meets Rabbi Yoel Rosenznweig, who is something of a genius/prodigy of the Torah. Something connects between the two of them. Almost without a second thought, Joseph abandons his faithful wife and 5 sons...only to discover that Yoel has committed suicide.
I felt that *Light Fell* was a frustrating book because Joseph works hard in preparing the arrival of his sons. His sons are spoiled, judgmental and unappreciative. In addition, Fallenberg doesn't give the sons any depths as he has given to Joseph. Perhaps if we knew more about the sons' views, we might be able to understand their position with their father.
For his 50th birthday, Joseph Licht is making special recipes for one big dinner for his sons. However, Joseph has an ulterior motive and that is to ask his sons for forgiveness for what happened 20 years earlier.
20 years earlier, Joseph, a literature professor, meets Rabbi Yoel Rosenznweig, who is something of a genius/prodigy of the Torah. Something connects between the two of them. Almost without a second thought, Joseph abandons his faithful wife and 5 sons...only to discover that Yoel has committed suicide.
I felt that *Light Fell* was a frustrating book because Joseph works hard in preparing the arrival of his sons. His sons are spoiled, judgmental and unappreciative. In addition, Fallenberg doesn't give the sons any depths as he has given to Joseph. Perhaps if we knew more about the sons' views, we might be able to understand their position with their father.
April 21, 2011
Joseph Licht, who lives on a religious moshav in Israel with his wife and five sons, is drawn into a close emotional and physical relationship with his idol, a serious and highly-regarded religious scholar, himself married and a father. The repercussions on both their families form the focus of this story of facing your sexuality.It is interesting to see how Josesph battles to maintain a good relationship with his sons as they are growing up, with very limited success until their renewed gathering at Joseph's 50th birthday celebration dinner in their honor. Very detail oriented main character.
Read
November 16, 2011This book about an Orthodox Jewish man who falls in love with another Orthodox Jewish Rabbi and then must leave his family walks a little too far on the side of melodrama but still is an engrossing story of struggle with tradition and sexual inclinations. The depiction and description of the Israeli Orthodox characters includes a lot of very realistic details about the day-to-day considerations Orthodox Jews take in order to be observant, like preparations in the home for Shabbos. The reference to homoerotic Medieval Jewish Poetry was nice and I wish the language in the book could have included some of that beauty. The plot and theme was engaging but the style was too plain.
December 29, 2009
Joseph was an Israeli professor with five young sons who left his wife because he was in love with an Orthodox rabbi. Twenty years later he’s invited his estranged adult sons for his 50th birthday. Suddenly on his birthday, he becomes a wise man, when he was often an idiot before, dispensing excellent advice to his sons. “He tries to remember which prophet said, ‘Many shepherds have ravaged my vineyards and made my pleasant field a desolate wilderness; the whole land is waste and no one cares.’”
June 2, 2012
Joseph, an Israeli scholar, falls in love with an Orthodox Rabbi and leaves his wife and five children after a four month affair.
I give Fallenberg major props for being willing to tackle a main character who isn't precisely likeable. Joseph, while oftentimes unlikeable, remains finely drawn and ultimately human, while on the eve of his 50th birthday he reflects back on his life and relationships -- with lovers and his children. The novel occasionally veers towards melodrama, but remains gorgeously written and engrossing.
I give Fallenberg major props for being willing to tackle a main character who isn't precisely likeable. Joseph, while oftentimes unlikeable, remains finely drawn and ultimately human, while on the eve of his 50th birthday he reflects back on his life and relationships -- with lovers and his children. The novel occasionally veers towards melodrama, but remains gorgeously written and engrossing.
October 26, 2009
Twenty years after leaving his family for the rabbi he loves, an Israeli literature scholar calls his five sons together to celebrate his 50th birthday. Flashbacks into the main character's life, glimpses of the lives of his sons, and, eventually, dramatic hijinks ensue. Some characters/plotlines were a bit cliched and others were insufficiently developed. But I can't help thinking that this could be a fantastic movie, if only someone would make it.
February 27, 2011
I'm always interested in coming out stories among different cultures and this is the story of a Jewish Torah scholar who leaves his family for a teacher. What I liked about this book is it was not always flattering to the protagonist which gives way to moral ambiguity on his actions. A little soap opera-ish at the end, otherwise a good examination of the complexities of families and cultural expectations.
May 25, 2011
Joseph is a religious scholar who lives on a Moshav in Israel with is wife and five sons. When Joseph is in his late thirties he meets and falls in love with Rabbi Yoel Rosenzweig. Joseph leaves his family to pursue a new life and spends the rest of his life coming to terms with his decision and the effect it had on is family. This book is very well written and to me is about acceptance, taking responsibility and ultimately the ability to forgive and move forward.
December 14, 2020
This is an award winning novel about being gay in Israel. It is about family relationships strained and repaired--some of them in any case. It is about the perceptions and misperceptions of Jewish law. It is elegantly written--and translated. The first part of the book I thought was better. The middle was not as well done but the ending made up for the middle. And a very interesting read for a fairly conservative (small c) synagogue book group. The discussion might be heated.
March 10, 2008
A Isreali man leaves his family for a rock star rabbi. Now, after twenty years of estrangement, his children are traveling to their father's house in Tel Aviv for Shabbat.
Althought the book's premise is slightly unusual, anybody who has a complex family relationship---which is basically everybody---will relate to this book.
Althought the book's premise is slightly unusual, anybody who has a complex family relationship---which is basically everybody---will relate to this book.
August 26, 2011
Very lyrically written and beautifully rendered story about one man's choices and the pain caused by those choices. It had some of the most stirring and lovely sex scenes that I have ever read. I also learned about the different segments of Israeli society as represented by his 5 sons.
A really good book.
A really good book.
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