A great article! I read Exodus years ago, when supposed to be revising for final exams, and later headed off to a kibbutz because of it. I re-watched the film yesterday on Amazon Prime, and I've been thinking today about did they get married and did Kitty convert? I imagined yes to both, and that they'd have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls. I didn't think about the children's names but I did wonder what Hebrew name Kitty would choose. Like you I didn't like her much, and "Kitty" is a ridiculous name for the wife of a Haganah commander! It was amazing to find your article today - thanks so much for writing it. And I so agree that no sane woman would kick Ari Ben Canaan out of bed....
Hi Diana! Thank you so much for reading and commenting! Let's think of names for the kids. I can only think of English versions, but I'm thinking we need a Jacob and a Joshua, two of my favorite Biblical heroes, and how about a Rachael and a Rebecca? What Hebrew name would the stubborn Kitty choose... chatool means "cat" in Hebrew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f76kQvBPT2Y. Not exactly a religious name but she wasn't religious. Maybe some version of Mary just to be annoying. And seriously, kicking Ari out of bed??? She literally kicked him out of bed. Then she was such a blank when she pulled the bullet out of him. But... he did come crawling to her eventually. On the second to last page of my copy. That is awesome that you headed to a kibbutz because of it! We thought that the copy my Dad had sent me last year, a replacement for the old one I gave away some thirty years ago, had gotten stolen off my porch in West Philly. I imagined a young kid in a predominantly black neighborhood getting a hold of a copy of Exodus by mistake, becoming a Zionist and leaving to join the IDF. My mom, a way more peace loving person that I am, hoped he would become a rabbi. Why not do both? So fun to chat about Ari Ben Canaan like he's a guy we have a crush on in middle school! Well, for me he was!
Great post. As noted below, Kurt Vonnegut was not Jewish. He did say that he had always been part of the publishing world, "so all of my friends are Jewish." He was also in Dresden as POW during te bombing. He was captured at the Battle of the Bulge. A German soldier commented on his name and wanted to know why he was fighting his brothers. He said "What kind of brothers? I was born in Indianapolis."
Underlining was the typewriter-replacement for printed Italics. (Remember typewriters?)
I nominate Issac Asimov. Jewish, brilliant, polyglot, creator of the 3 laws of robotics. He wrote so much stuff that there has to be something that fits the bill. Second nominated is Kurt Vonegut, also Jewish. Fiction, but still based on history. One novel featured the bombing of dresden and the planet Trafalmadore. There are plenty on our greats like Einstein, but I don't have any particular books to recommend. Bring Kfir Bibas home! Now!
Kurt's still solid with me. I'm pretty sure that Woody Allen is Jewish, but I'm going to pick the Fonz, Henry Winkler to play safe as my designated writer.
A great article! I read Exodus years ago, when supposed to be revising for final exams, and later headed off to a kibbutz because of it. I re-watched the film yesterday on Amazon Prime, and I've been thinking today about did they get married and did Kitty convert? I imagined yes to both, and that they'd have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls. I didn't think about the children's names but I did wonder what Hebrew name Kitty would choose. Like you I didn't like her much, and "Kitty" is a ridiculous name for the wife of a Haganah commander! It was amazing to find your article today - thanks so much for writing it. And I so agree that no sane woman would kick Ari Ben Canaan out of bed....
Hi Diana! Thank you so much for reading and commenting! Let's think of names for the kids. I can only think of English versions, but I'm thinking we need a Jacob and a Joshua, two of my favorite Biblical heroes, and how about a Rachael and a Rebecca? What Hebrew name would the stubborn Kitty choose... chatool means "cat" in Hebrew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f76kQvBPT2Y. Not exactly a religious name but she wasn't religious. Maybe some version of Mary just to be annoying. And seriously, kicking Ari out of bed??? She literally kicked him out of bed. Then she was such a blank when she pulled the bullet out of him. But... he did come crawling to her eventually. On the second to last page of my copy. That is awesome that you headed to a kibbutz because of it! We thought that the copy my Dad had sent me last year, a replacement for the old one I gave away some thirty years ago, had gotten stolen off my porch in West Philly. I imagined a young kid in a predominantly black neighborhood getting a hold of a copy of Exodus by mistake, becoming a Zionist and leaving to join the IDF. My mom, a way more peace loving person that I am, hoped he would become a rabbi. Why not do both? So fun to chat about Ari Ben Canaan like he's a guy we have a crush on in middle school! Well, for me he was!
Great post. As noted below, Kurt Vonnegut was not Jewish. He did say that he had always been part of the publishing world, "so all of my friends are Jewish." He was also in Dresden as POW during te bombing. He was captured at the Battle of the Bulge. A German soldier commented on his name and wanted to know why he was fighting his brothers. He said "What kind of brothers? I was born in Indianapolis."
Underlining was the typewriter-replacement for printed Italics. (Remember typewriters?)
I nominate Issac Asimov. Jewish, brilliant, polyglot, creator of the 3 laws of robotics. He wrote so much stuff that there has to be something that fits the bill. Second nominated is Kurt Vonegut, also Jewish. Fiction, but still based on history. One novel featured the bombing of dresden and the planet Trafalmadore. There are plenty on our greats like Einstein, but I don't have any particular books to recommend. Bring Kfir Bibas home! Now!
Dont't hold it against him, but Kurt Vonnegut was not Jewish. But he was a great writer.
Kurt's still solid with me. I'm pretty sure that Woody Allen is Jewish, but I'm going to pick the Fonz, Henry Winkler to play safe as my designated writer.
Haha. George Lucas was Jewish. Star Wars everyone.
Doesn’t bother me - I’m not Jewish can’t hold that against anyone. It probably gave him good insight into the ways the non Jews in the book thought.