The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/28770
Book Talk with Anne Van Deusen ‘All Other Nights’ by Dara Horn It is traditional that during the Passover Seder, the young- est child at the table recites The Four Questions, lines sung in the celebration of the Jews’ Exodus from Egypt. The first line of the song asks the question, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” It is meant to help the child understand the meaning of the Pesach Seder and explain the specific meal and celebration characteristics. “All Other Nights,” the new historical novel by Dara Horn, begins on the night before Pass- over in 1862. It is the story of Jacob Rappaport, a Union Soldier and Jewish American during the Civil War, who is the epitome of the conflicted protagonist. From the beginning pages of this novel readers are swept up in a chain of events that carry them along like a roller coaster. From New York City, where Jacob is enticed by his superior officers into murdering his uncle (rumored to be planning an assassination of Lincoln), to Vir- ginia, where he is ordered to moni- tor a Confederate spy by marrying her, Jacob is beset by one moral dilemma after another. It is obvi- ous that he is being manipulated by his superiors because of his ethnic background and its relationship to Jewish American Judah Ben- jamin, the Confedera- cy’s secretary of state. It is the particular flaw of not being able to say no that catches him in incredible and convoluted circumstances, as well as introduces him to a vast range of characters who all become catalysts for Jacob to rediscover himself and help define what loyalty really is. Horn consistently poses the ques- tion, “What is most important; loyalty to one’s self, one’s family, one’s religion or one’s country?” What we glean from Jacob’s odys- sey is that the answer isn’t always easily understood. Horn does an excellent job of juxtaposing Jacob’s odyssey across the war-torn landscape of the American Civil War with the ancient Jews’ Exodus from Egypt. The story is rife with images of being confined as he almost is by an arranged marriage, or while hiding in a barrel on his long ride down the river to murder his uncle, or when he must stay secretly in a hole in the earth in the Jewish cemetery after he is found out by the Levys. This is equally matched by images of escape as he flees the control of his family, when he must travel back and forth over enemy lines or constantly stay ahead of his enemies. During the Civil War, Jewish Americans were divided between the Confederacy and the Union. Before the Civil War, Jews had not taken a stand against slavery. Many Jews volunteered and died on both sides during the war (about 8,499 Union soldiers and 10,000 Con- federate soldiers). Rabbi Morris Raphall of New York supported slavery, quoting “Slavery has existed since the earliest time ... Slave holding is no sin since slave prop- erty is expressly placed under the protection of the Ten Command- ments.” In contrast, Rabbi David Einhorn felt that it was the “duty of the Jews to fight bigotry since, for thousands of years, Jews have consciously and unconsciously fought for freedom of conscience.” This is a can’t-put-down novel, and I highly recommend it for its entertainment value as well as for its ability to make you really think about issues that we continue to face today. — Anne Van Deusen Anne Van Deusen is the children’s book buyer at the Green Toad Bookstore in Oneonta. The story is rife with images of being confined as he almost is by an arranged marriage, or while hiding in a barrel on his long ride down the river to murder his uncle, or when he must stay secretly in a hole in the earth in the Jewish cem- etery after he is found out by the Levys. April 7, 2011 O-Town Scene 13