Ezekiel’s worldby Michael kovner

A GRAPHIC NOVEL

The story takes place mostly in Jerusalem in the winter of 1991 during the First Gulf War. Scud missiles are landing on populated areas in Israel on a daily basis, causing extensive damage. Civilians have been issued gas masks in case the missiles are equipped with chemical warheads. People carry the masks, in brown cardboard boxes, wherever they go. Jerusalem, however, is not targeted and, as a result, becomes a «city of refuge» for many Israelis.

p.283 5

Text and Paintings – Michael Kovner

Graphic Design – Anastasia Rubinstein

Illustrations – pp. 201-210 – Noah Snir

Translation from Hebrew to English – Jonathan Heinstein

Language editor – Evelyn Abel

Concept Development – Amikam Kovner

All rights reserved to the artist Michael Kovner

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Amy Kovner

Yuval Yavneh

Abraham Feder

Jessica Bonn

Yair Assaf

Daniella Fields

Rachelle Yair

Rami Fields

Michael Yair

Rachel Tzvia Back

Avi Pnini

Claire Gilead

Joshua Waletzky

Tamar and Menachem Ben Shalom

Roy Etinger

Ezekiel’s world

Part 1

February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Jerusalem, 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

...a few days later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

failed Ambush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

San Francisco, 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

The letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Noni and Yvonne are coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Balcony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Vilna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

The fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

16th of July, 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

AT Mount Zion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Part 2

March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

C’ella . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

The weekend

Thursday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Friday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

San Francisco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

friday evening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Saturday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

saturday evening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

The Ghetto is burning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

HISTORICAL NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

List of poems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

o

FOREWORD

The figure of Ezekiel is based on the real and imaginary character of my father, Abba Kovner, who passed away in 1987, just short of the age of 70. We meet him here at the fictitious age of 75, alone, suffering from chronic arthritis, and requiring medical care.

While set in the First Gulf War (1991), the book reveals Ezekiel’s true past in sequences of dreams and nightmares reflecting events documented in the historical footnotes at the end. The authentic voice of the poet, Abba Kovner, comes through in a number of his poems that appear at different junctures in the story. A resistance fighter and partisan in the Holocaust, a poet and historian, his multi-faceted personality impacted strongly on all around him. This novel is my attempt to conduct a posthumous dialogue with him, a dialogue that regrettably remained incomplete in his lifetime. I have tried to confront some of the issues that continue to absorb me from the visual perspective of an artist (landscapes, wildlife, female form).

I wrote and illustrated the book as a way of pursuing that dialogue. Each of us was preoccupied with our own inner worlds when he was alive, and the conversation we both sought never took place.

To many people my father appeared strong, aloof, and inflexible: a quasi-prophet castigating the world; a man outside of normal society, larger than life, to whom people turned with respect and even reverence, and occasionally also disdain for what they perceived as his arrogance. Poised at the crossroads of Jewish history, he grappled with the basic Jewish dilemmas life had brought his way. His own traumas informed his vision, but he always tried to see the broader picture of Jewish history and its mission in the world. It was important to me to provide a more complete picture of the man. I knew him as someone full of life, humor, doubt, and love. He lived with contradictions, searching for meaning as he fearlessly walked over life’s “narrow bridge”.

Ezekiel is a complex character, dragging the baggage of failures and broken dreams. He is torn by personal and national tragedies. The secret of his strength is his determination to live life fully – despite everything. He carefully tried to nurture and shield an optimism, which was expressed in his love for his son and his grandson, and in his attraction to beauty in the women who were part of his life. Beauty and pain merged in him to fend off surrender.

The readings in the book are meant to help delineate the boundaries between inner and outer, between dream and reality. There are descriptions of each character and the dialogue of each appears in a different color.Apart from the historical portions of the novel (denoted by the letter H), any resemblance between the characters described in this book and real persons is purely coincidental. The historical footnotes may be useful in mapping dates and geography. The poems, unless otherwise stated, were all written by Abba Kovner.

5

- Historical notes

* - Translations

- Explanation

- The angel’s voice

- Inner voice

- Outer

- Inner

- Flashback

- Dream

Ezekiel

Ezekiel is a lonely old man who lives on his own in a modest apartment in Jerusalem. His wife died a few years earlier, his son lives abroad, and his daughter committed suicide at the age of 26. Ezekiel was an important historical figure as a resistance commander in World War II and a political leader. He was also a respected poet and writer. These days,however, his poems, as well as his ideas, are less popular. To some extent, society has forgotten him. Ezekiel’s character is based on my father,

Abba Kovner

Noni

Amos and Yvonne’s only son. He’s about six years old.

Na’ama Amos

Ezekiel’s son, an architect. After a traumatic experience during army duty in the West Bank, he left Israel. He lives with his family in San Francisco.

Na’ama is a 25-year-old art student, who also works as a physiotherapist. She treats Ezekiel, who suffers from chronic arthritis.

Michal

Ezekiel’s daughter. She appears only in his dreams and memories.

Yvonne

Amos’ wife, a schoolteacher.

C’ella

Ezekiel’s neighbor. She sees to his daily needs.

Shlomo

Yvonne’s father. He lives in Ramat Gan, a small city near Tel Aviv.

1 p.282

222

Do we need anything else?

I think we have more than enough.

Sit down, please.

I heard you talking

with Amos last night.

You were eavesdropping.

No, no. I just couldn’t fall asleep.

Don’t worry, it wasn’t private

Whenever I talk to him

I get so upset.

Why is that?

223

Yvonne what’s the matter?

It’s complicated.

You know, it’s strange, we

never talk about the important things.

What exactly are you

referring to?

About love.

About love?

Yes, what is love?

224

Love doesn’t have a general definition.

Everyone finds their own definition of “love.”

Every relationship has its own kindof love. No two ways of love are alike.Even if someone has a number ofloves, each is unique.

What may strike you as a lovelessrelationship – between Amos and myself, is perhaps profound love, an opportunity for me to work on it. To repair, not to destroy.

225

For me, love comes from fullness, not from breakage.

That’s why repairs don’t work.

Maybe you’re right, but maybe not.

Who knows what love is? Na’ama, I’m sorry, I have

to finish this letter to Amos.

It won’t take long.

Love doesn’t have a general definition.

Everyone finds their own definition of “love.”

226

What’s love?

227

Did you bring sugar?

Sure. A little sweetness won’t hurt us.

228

Wow, Matisse! I’m crazy about him.

I also really like him.

His appreciation of beauty

is unmatched.

They look just like us.

Why do you always have to compare?

Aren’t we fine as we are?

229

230

Now we are going to organize the hardest

scene. The Actzia and the rebellion. To

make it easier to understand the situation,

we have to arrange the Lego people in

groups. German = black, Jews = yellow,

The underground fighters = blue. But there

is also another group. The Judenraat, the

Jewish police

Jewish police helped organize the life

of the Jewish communities under the

Germans.

How should we color them?

Why did they help them?

I don’t like them.

I’m going to make them ugly.

I will paint them

yellow and black.

What is that?

Why did they help Germans?

saturday evening

Some of them thought they could make things better for the Jews.

But they ended up working together with the German enemy in a cruel situation

that they didn’t even understand.

231

Yes

Here it comes

Do you remember you asked me what Actzia is?

I don’t like them.

I’m going to make them ugly.

232

The Jews are forced

out of their hiding places.

Why were they so cruel and mean?

Doing this to their own people?

Yes, you are right. But they were victims, too.

233

Where were you, Grandpa?

This was position No. 1

We saw everything. It was terrible to see it all and do nothing. I ordered our fighters to hold their fire and wait until the Germans entered the ghetto.

Why didn’t you call other Jews to help you fight?

They still believed the Germans weretaking them to a better place to live and work. All we had to offer them was an honorable death. Nobody wants to hear that. We were rejected by our own community.

This was position No. 2. The command position. I was the commander.

234

At the same time, the Germans moved theirtroops around the ghetto. We had a lookout.

Also, people on the Judenrat told us. The Germans started coming in. We had sowaited for that moment! It’s terrible to say that we wanted the ghetto liquidated - ended. But we were prepared for that. We took out our weapons. I wanted to wait as long as we could, and then open fire with guns and grenades from a short distance, especially from behind, which would have been more effective.

How did you

know about

that??

235

He could have been if he hadn’t disobeyed my order to hold his fire.

But he killed the commander.

The gate watchman shot Yasha in the head and killed him.

The Germans started to burn down the building from which the shots had been fired.Our fighters managed to escape and join us.Then something unexpected happened.The Germans retreated and left the ghetto.

The Germans left the ghetto

Yasha was on the porch in the advance position when he saw the German commander. He fired. The commander dropped down, dead.

Wow...

Yasha was a hero

How did you

know about

that??

236

Why did they agree?

What choice did they have?

They forced the Jewish police to finish the ghetto’s liquidation.

237

The Ghetto began burning house by house.

We had an escape plan and I gave the order to carry it out.

We argued about what to do next. Some wanted to stop the hunt at once even if it meant killing the Jewish policemen.Some wanted to break through the gate and kill as many Germans as possible.

What did you do?

I summoned our people to our main position.

They would have been killed. The Germans had tanks.

Yes, you are right.

The Jewish police started shouting and routing Jews out of their hiding places with shouts and blows.

How did they know where the hiding places were?

There were a lot of informers – people who told on others.

The ghetto began to burn – house by house.

238

Grandpa, what was your plan?

To leave the ghetto through the sewage tunnels.

Yuck... Why through the sewage?

It was the only way to avoid capture.

The ghetto continued to burn as one section after another went up in flame.

The fighters arrived at the sewage entrance one by one.Meanwhile, rumor of our plan had spread and more and more people began gathering around, demanding that we take them with us. Fighting broke out. I gave an order that we would not take anyone with us who had no weapon, including parents or siblings. It was the worst moment of my life.

My father had already passed away. Yes.

My mother came and asked: ”what

about me?” I told her I had no answer

for her.

What about your parents?

So you ran away and left all those people alone

against the Germans while the ghetto was burning down?

And all the people leftin the ghetto – where did they go?

while the ghetto was burning down?

239

And you?

Grandpa, why did you run?

We didn’t run. We left according to an orderly plan.

That was the end. There was no alternative.

Grandpa, why did you ran away?

Most of them were already gone.

240240

Why don’t you understand?

Why???

We didn’t run away.

Enough!

Grandpa,

enough!

We didn’t run away.

There is nothing to be found

but an abyss, perishing.

241

3 p.283

*It was decided to destroy the ghetto

242

*Yasha fired shots too soon. It seems that two or three Germans were killed. They blew up the house where Yasha was positioned. I think everyone there was killed.

The Ghetto is burning

*The Germans are leaving the ghetto. The Jewish police are replacing them.The BASTARDS. The hunt is on. From every hole they drag theJews to boxcars.

*I’ve got them in sight.

*Deckler’s guys.

*Deckler was the chief officer of the Jewish police.

*Nobody fires until I give the order! *What are we here for? *What are we wating for?

*Who?

243

Where is your family?

Are our people in position?

*Where are you hiding them?Think you’re some kind of hero? We’ll soon turn you over to the Gestapo and then we’ll see what you’re made of.

Everything’s falling apart. The whole plan is

collapsing. Our struggle has failed.

The situation has changed. There’s nothing we

can do. We can’t kill our own people even if

they’re in the devil’s service. They are victims like

us. The Jews believe they’re heading for work

camps, not for liquidation.

For them it isn’t extermination, maybe it even

seems like rescue. They won’t revolt... can they

possibly be right??? I’ve made my decision.

What’s holding us up?

244

*I’ve made my decision even though it’s

tough. Tomorrow evening we’ll organize

to leave the ghetto. WE’LL MEET THE

PARTISANS IN THE FOREST. Yulik will

meet us at the appointed spot. We’ll have

ample opportunity to take revenge on the

Germans and we will do so HEROICALLY.

Don’t give in to despair.

*It would be senseless and suicidal to resist.

*I think our commander is right and we should obey his order. And anyway, maybe they are taking them to work camps.

*Let’s break through the gates.At least we’ll die while killing Germans.That’s the reason we stayed behind.Until the end. To fight for our people’shonor. Isn’t that what we toldourselves? “We won’t go like sheep to the slaughter.”Isn’t that right?

245

Please, answer me, please...

*Don’t fall apart.

Maybe

they were right

and we were wrong

When I asked my soul to die

in sickness, isolation,

in a hopeless war:

when I asked my soul to die

what did not stop flowing

in my shrinkig veins was

you and

you.

You

In a thousand reflections, my

love,

I atone for you.

246

What is going on here?

Good evening.

Ezekiel!

What happened?

Noni, my dear, what happened?

Don’t cry, everything

will be all right.

Grandpa went crazy.

I’m afraid of Grandpa...

Come, let’s

pull up the blanket.

247

I’ll sing you a lullaby,

Do you know the hyacinth song?

The full moon gazes night after night

at the garden flowers all suddenly abloom;

night after night it watches the hyacinth

in our little garden and its white-tasseled swoon.

In the morning we'll all go out to the garden

to see the white bloom, lush and round;

for the hyacinth there my son will sing

until great joy in our garden abounds.

Lea Goldberg

Translated from the Hebrew

by Rachel Tzvia Back

248

Now what

am I to do

with Ezekiel?

Ezekiel –

speak to me.

It is me, C’ella.

I don’t understand.

I don’t understand.

What don’t you understand?

Look at me, it’s me, C’ella.

Come let’s get you to bed.

You will rest and

I’ll make us both tea...

Lean on me

That’s it... Good...Everything will be alright.

249

That’s enough! You’re overdoing it.

I’m not an invalid yet.

250

Whatever you say.

I’m going to make tea.

How much sugar?

Three.

Three?

Where does the pain came

from?

Like a worm into the heart?

* H.N.Bialik

251

You’re retreating into your books again?

Why call it retreat?

I find consolation in them.

C’ella... Why don’t you join me for tea?

Don’t you see I brought two cups?

Why can’t I see what’s in front of me?

252

Medieval liturgical poems - piyyutim.

What are you reading?

C’ella, why don’t you take off your strange hat?

Don’t you like it?

You look better without it.

Is that better?

So, what happened between you and Noni

that he’s so frightened and upset?

253

You know how children are. They can unintentionally

touch a raw nerve. How do you explain something to a 6-year-old

when sometimes you can’t explain it to yourself?

I really regret what happened. I lost control.

Maybe you can explain it to me.

I’ll quote to you from a poem

I wrote. That will help you understand.

254

Is that about leaving your mother behind?

Yes. And I was the one who gave the order.

On the River's Shore

The shore clamored and roared, it seemed with thousands,

then a thousand more.

Shadows rose up on each wrestled wave that pulled then pushed away

I'll cross over beside you, my daughter,

by your side, I'll cross over the water.

But how can we cross over, Mother,

how, when you hair is white with age?

I'll wear your shawl, my daughter,

and this ribbon in my hair.

But, Mother, your face is aged and graying too.

Speak no weeping words, daughter. Dress me,

beloved child, in my wedding gown

and beside you, to redemption

I'll cross over, daughter of mine.

The others saw the daughter. They saw the mother too.

Their hands were tight-fisted, their silent voices unmoved.

Thus the assembled stood crowded. Their gaze long

and dark. Look –

they called out in a voice of thousands, an Old Woman!

Come out, the crowd commanded.

The face a washed boulder. Razor eyes to the shattered tribe.

Between each rising and falling wave,

a mother suspended in her daughter's wake:

At a time like this, how can you cast me out

(daughter, daughter)

when just yesterday in my arms I held you

(daughter, daughter)

my breasts still full with milk –

(daughter, daughter).

People! We are all brothers, and she

is my only one.

And the shores filled up with people. Only their gaze long and dark.

The mother retreated, the daughter as though rope-tied followed,

though with faltering steps.

If I follow you, Mother,

(the mother stands

a petrified-tree at water's edge)

I walk not toward life.

(the mother at water's edge)

Do you wish us to die together, tell me.

(a mother at water's edge)

Mommy! See –

the bridge is before me, the boys wait in the forest.

The mother spoke

her eyes bereft:

My curse is not upon you. Go.

In my purse I keep a knife.

Then the shore leveled. Each person

afraid of the next. And a wall fell.

Too late.

255

What

are you

doing?

What you see.

C’ella, please...

Don’t..

The mother spoke

her eyes bereft:

My curse is not upon you. Go.

In my purse I keep a knife.

Then the shore leveled. Each person

afraid of the next. And a wall fell.

Too late.

256

There is pain which perhaps only

the body can heal.

Touch my heart.

257

There is pain that has no relief.

258

Dear Mossi,

How are you?

It was very nice t o get a phone cal l fr om you, but again, I fe lt t he disappointment in your v oice. I was also

left wit h a bitter taste in my mout h. It's hard for me t o say what I want , especial ly on t he phone. I am

returning t o pen and paper, which I hand le better. I fee l and understand your pressur ing me t o make a

decision. I know how dif f icult it is t o l ive wit h uncertainty. It's what I hate most. So, t his is my decision.

Noni and I are coming home. It might take two weeks t o arrange some t hings and say good-bye t o t he

fami ly and some fr iends (especial ly gir l fr iends) I st i l l have left. But most important ly, I am at peace

wit h my decision. After t he telephone cal l fr om you, I hard ly slept , and sudden ly I fe lt re l ieved, and t hen

happy at t he t hought t hat we would be t oget her again. Y ou and me. Y ou, me and Noni. I don't want t o say

more; we' l l have enough t ime t o discuss t hings when we meet. I now understand t hat t he decision t o l ive far

away fr om you is mine, and t hat I didn't do it f or you. So, everyt hing is f or t he best (as t hey say). Times

of dif f iculty are an opportunity for impr ovement. That's what happened t o me. It's possible t hat meet ing

Na’ama (Ezekie l 's physiot herapist) helped me understand t hings about myself.

I can't wait t o ho ld you and t o l ook int o your intel l igent eyes. I always knew, and now more t han ever, t hat

your just being, gives me fait h bot h in myself and in l ife.

Y ours,

Yv onne