Review
of ג€Eskimos of Jerusalemג€ in the New York Jewish Week, by Steve Lipman
One
of the best guides to another culture is its local columnists. Jimmy
Breslinג€™s and the late Mike Roykoג€™s colorful legends in New York and
Chicago served as social barometers. But they are a dying breed. Fortunately,
Israel has Sam Orbaum.
He is best known for ג€But Seriously,ג€ his satirical column
in The Jerusalem Post Magazine. Though it is fiction, it is a vehicle
for expressing Orbaumג€™s take on national politics and history and
his own life, and it has earned a loyal readership.
ג€Not Page Oneג€ is non-fiction, profiles of quirky, gripping,
sometimes unforgettable personalities.
Orbaum writes about the character and characters of Israel,
introducing Sabras and emigres, seculars and haredim, Jews and non-Jews.
The bookג€™s title refers to the first column in this collection of
116, about Eric Knutsen, ג€a dyslexic Eskimo harbormasterג€ who settled
in Jerusalem and observes that ג€living in Alaska, strange as it seems,
was excellent preparation for living in Jerusalem.ג€
Technically, not everyone in Orbaumג€™s book is Israeli. Thereג€™s
Aaron Feuerstein, the Massachusetts industrialist who rebuilt his
burned-down plant, saving 200 jobs; Judy Carr, the Toronto housewife
who anonymously saved Syrian Jewry; and Batia Schmidt, whose stirring
story of Holocaust survival did not emerge until after her death.
But Orbaum writes mostly about Israelis off the beaten track.
He finds the Cactus King of Israel and the Palestinian newspaper editor
whoג€™s become a star actor at the Jerusalem English Speaking Theater.
His columnג€™s collective message: Israel is more than the blaring
headlines, more than the peace negotiations and threats of war. Itג€™s
the Jews and Arabs and Christians who quietly live extraordinary lives.
