Books Set in Lithuania and Israel

Sea of Lights by Yael Remen (2009)

Sea of Lights is the account of the author's father, Avraham Binder, who was a book binder and artist. He was born in Vilna, Lithuania in 1906 and died in 2001 in Israel. The book is billed as a work of fiction. During his lifetime period, Binder survived pogroms, the Holocaust and the creation of the Land of Israel. Unfortunately, this book could have used a good editor. It is over 600 pages long and seems to record every detail of Avraham Binder's life. I felt like it was recorded in real time.

When I got my copy of the book, I was excited about reading a saga about a Jewish family spanning the century. After reading the first few chapters, I thought that perhaps the book was originally written in Hebrew, and this was simply a poor translation. Then I realized that the author, although born in Israel, had actually been living in the United States for years. Sea of Lights is a self-published book. There are numerous typographical errors, including the inexplicitly misspelling of a charactor's name. There were also too many extraneous details that seemed to have no place in this book.

That said, Sea of Lights follows the life of Avraham Binder from his birth to his death, seemingly recording every minute detail and memory. His father was a book binder in Lithuania and he was expected to follow into the business, which, as a good son, he did. In his spare time, he and dreams of being a painter to his life. He left Hebrew school to enroll in art school, which was run by the Germans before the start of World War II.

He becomes involved in the Zionist movement and as a young man immigrates to Eretz Yisrael, which is under the British Mandate. He enrolls in the prestigious Bezalel art school in Jerusalem, but artistic differences force him out. He moves to Tel Aviv where he opens a bookbinding business, while continuing with his painting.

World War II breaks out and some of his family members join him in Tel Aviv. His younger sister, Tzila Binder, is a painter in her own right. She meets and falls in love with the married Israeli poet, Natan Alterman. They have a long-term relationship, which is wife is apparently aware of and does not actively disapprove.

Avraham was madly in love with the beautiful Rachel, however, she marries his close friend. This devastates him. He begins a relationship with his landlady, who is considerably older than him. When she becomes possessive and jealous, he leaves her. She later commits suicide. Avraham eventually meets and marries Sara. His wife and mother do not get along. The author's depiction of Sara is not kind. She seems like a selfish woman.

The author seems to want to provide, in addition to her father's story, the history of modern Israel. Unfortunately, this does not work well. Events are described without a clear connection to the characters. It is too bad, because there is probably a very interesting story about Avraham Binder.


Read: April 3, 2010