Italian news magazine L’Espresso published today, 09/15/2013, Interview with Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzburger, about their book Jews and Words.
From the interview::
This is the text, the word and not the blood to determine who we are, because the inheritance from fathers and mothers to sons and daughters is transmitted through the narrative and not through the genes. “We are all a literary invention”, say Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger. About their book, acclaimed by the philosopher Jürgen Habermas and the writer Jonathan Safran Foer, they say – “Our book is not only for Jews, but for anyone who loves to read.”
According to Amos and Fania, Judaism is actually a metaphor for the human condition: things that are in our hearts coming out of the ghettos of belonging, and remove the mindset that leads to fanaticism and obsessive identity struggle that spreads like an epidemic on a global scale, including in Israel. “Here in Israel we say that whoever did not visit the synagogue is not a good Jew. Rather, we think that a person can be good Jew without going to the synagogue,” says Amos Oz .
Oz explains the difference between identity and belonging. “… Belonging is given: You are a man or a woman, white or black. Therefore it is not interesting. Identity, however, is a matter of great attraction for a writer – in history, but also intriguing people.” He explains: “The identity of each person, if he chooses it at will , means that it is self-determinates. A person can be a socialist, fascist, nationalist or vegetarian. But the most important thing that makes us understand how we, humans, can be free, is that we have many identities and the ability to use the imagination. We can be dads, children, grandparents, husbands, lovers, fans of the football team, local patriots and so on.” Is there a hierarchy of these identities? “Yes. This is the order in which the person declares on his many identities. However, and it happens often to everybody, different identities can conflict with one another, and therefore the hierarchy can never be final… It explains our dreams, and great novels, and real life”, says Amos. Fania adds: “… Identity is an invention, like other elements of the tradition. “
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If Jews ‘ collective texts had not genetics, “as Amos and Fania claim, it is inevitable to ask: Who, then, is not Jewish? Amos responds: ” Reverse the question and I answer that a Jew is anyone who wants to be a Jew. “
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15 year old Amos rebellion of his father’s family, books, speeches and all related issues. He changed his name from the German Klausner to Oz, which in Hebrew means strength, and left Jerusalem to live in a kibbutz. He wanted to be a farmer: bare feet touching the ground. He wanted to be a Zionist pioneer, farmer and warrior, who despise the Jewish Diaspora brothers, “rootless and suspended in the air” as the Jews are depicted in certain paintings by Chagall. Now it seems that he changed his mind: “… The twentieth century has not been a century of farmers and soldiers. Rather, it was a century of intellectuals, traders and brokers. From this point of view, it was the century of the Jews. While expressing opposition and noting that his speech sounds Anti-Zionist, he smiles and says: “Zionism gave a too narrow word meaning to the word ‘Jew’.” Fania adds: “Our book is written not only against religious fundamentalists, but also against the Post-Zionist, who support the un-existence of the Jewish people.” Amos states: “Of course today, in Israel, a universal Diaspora is reborn, but Israeli Jews speak Hebrew and have direct contact with the original three-thousand years old text. The difference between the Diaspora and Israel is Hebrew knowledge or having not knowledge of Hebrew. And it’s Important. “
When Oz talks about the original text, he refers to the Bible. “Jews and Words” refers to the Bible because it “the mother of all texts”. But it comes as a literary matter, like Cervantes, or Dostoevsky. [ … ] Fania emphasizes the urgent need for the topicality, even when reference is the Bible: : “It was carved on tablets, today we can read on a tablet. Here, from tablet to tablet, the circle is closed. Amos adds: “However, for us the story, even the imaginary things, is more important than any archaeological discovery on enterprises of King David or theTempleofSolomon. There is more truth in historical novels than in the stones. The most important thing, beyond language itself, is words. Words that give meaning to our lives and our senses: sight, hearing, touch. By knowing the name of it, we know what we are looking at, listening to and touching.” He continues by quoting the beginning of the Jewish narrative, noting that “Adam inParadisegave names of all things and all animals.” In Jewish tradition, it was man, not God, who gave names: it means self-reliance and dignity that apply to all human beings.
For decades, Amos Oz has been calling for an agreement with the Palestinians, and has been trying to feel some empathy for the other side. The question then, whether the words help us to understand each other, is inevitable. He replies: “Without words there is no understanding no and empathy, which is the key to a good relationship between people – between a man and a woman, between father and son, between Israelis and Palestinians. But words are not always enough…” He raises his voice: “You ask me what does not work between us and them? Wrong question. During the years I’ve been arguing that there is no misunderstanding between us and the Palestinians. We understand each other very well. They want this country because they have no other country. And we want this country because we have no other country. We both have a reason. There’s an excellent level of understanding that becomes tragedy. “
[ … ] We need to ask what is the limit of interpretation. Amos responds with a treatise on tolerance which consists of two short sentences: “My interpretation limit is the interpretation of others. I can not impose my interpretation of another person.” [ … ] If the other person is a racist or a fascist, if a person thinks that a certain category of people should not have the right to live on earth? It has happened in history and is happening today. “When someone says that there is no room for discussion, there is a war. ” [ … ] And the memory of the Jews, what is it? The answer is surprising: “Food. In all of our celebrations we say, they tried to exterminate us, they did not succeed, and so let’s get to eat. That’s life, the joy, the satisfaction of needs and desires that prevails over death and gives hope and the idea of a shared future between generations.”
It ends with the return to the universal meaning of the words. Those preferred by the writer are: love, hate, tolerance, laughter, tears, “but I can not define it.” He thinks for a moment and then closes the conversation about words, reading and storytelling, “Sartre said that an engineer who reads poetry is a professional better than an engineer who does not read poetry.” And a good writer is the one who changes the life of the reader because he thinks that the world, including the past and the fate of each of us, is not a closed book but a text to interpret, invent, rewrite.