If you are not Jewish or have only a rudimentary knowledge of Jewish customs, culture and religion, you may find this read an uphill battle. Jewish rituals, religious events, and ultra-Orthodox vernacular appear on almost every page. These are in italics, enabling the reader to research, or just ignore them and concentrate on the story. The battle is worth the effort.
In 1999 Melbourne, best friends Ezra and Yonatan attended an ultra-Orthodox religious Jewish school where a rabbi was accused of molesting some of his students, escaping to Israel before he could face trial. Twenty years later he remains in Israel.
This scandal resulted in the boys losing touch for 20 years as Ezra was removed from the school. They are reunited in the present at a rally to extradite the rabbi.
The chapters alternate between the two protagonists and the narrative is set mainly in the present, but flows back to various important times in the boy’s lives.
While both Ezra and Yonatan are Jewish, they are complete opposites. Ezra is an atheist now, living a secular life, while Yonatan is ultra-Orthodox and a rabbi. Yonatan seems to have all the answers and is content, while Ezra loathes himself, questioning his life and belief, struggling to remain faithful to his girlfriend. et Yonatan does not have all the answers, and is struggling with his own faith, a faith that, in this case, when followed to the letter, clashes with what he believes is morally right and wrong.
This novel reveals the life of an ultra-Orthodox rabbi and that sometimes everything is not black and white. Following doctrine and dogma blindly is not always the answer. It’s about the differences and clashes between secular and religious life, the law and morality, in a multicultural Australia. An enjoyable read.
Reviewed by Neale Lucas
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ashley Goldberg is a writer from Melbourne, Australia. His stories have appeared in New Australian Fiction 2021, Meanjin, Chiron Review, The Honest Ulsterman and Award Winning Australian Writing among others.
His work has been longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and has been the recipient of the KYD/Varuna Copyright Agency Fellowship and the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre Fellowship.
His debut novel, Abomination, was published by Penguin Random House Australia in May 2022 and won the Debut Fiction Prize at the National Jewish Book Awards in 2023 (USA).
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