Ingathering

Barefoot in the Sand – written by Hava Deevon, illustrated by Rotem Teplow, translated from the Hebrew by Gilah Kahn-Hoffmann
Green Bean Books, 2023

There is sand in this picture book about early immigration to the State of Israel, but there is no line drawn in the sand. Instead, two Jews, one from Romania and the other from Yemen, meet in the land they had dreamed and prayed about.  Maybe the reality they encountered differed somewhat from their long-held image, but they are both deeply grateful to their new home. 

Growing up in Romania, Saul could only wonder what it would be like to “walk barefoot on warm, golden sand.”  Rotem Teplow’s pictures gradually introduce a range of people and objects set carefully against white space (I’ve reviewed other books by her here and here). She depicts Saul in leather shoes and a belted coat, walking through snowy fields and pine trees.  On the facing page, he is still wearing his coat, but his shoes are gone and the pine trees have been replaced by the sea and an unfamiliar skyline.  Years of planning, visualized as a hand-drawn map, a pen and inkwell, and the money for his passage, finally become a reality. He boards a ship to Tel Aviv.  Hava Deevon chooses to omit details about Saul’s background or to the historical events that influenced the timing of his voyage.  The purpose of the book is not to narrate the complex history of Israel, but rather to encapsulate one person’s experience as his dream transitions to fulfillment.

When Saul encounters another refugee, he has a moment of almost cognitive dissonance.  The stranger, Solomon, is from Yemen, and appears almost a biblical figure from Saul’s perspective.  His skin color and clothing are completely different from Saul, who at first lacks a frame of reference for this encounter.  Then both men recite the Hallel prayer of thanksgiving; its solemnity is balanced by their laughter at the melding of contrasting accents intoning the same ancient words.  Israel is strange and yet fundamentally familiar to both of them. Barefoot in the Sand combines the tone of a fable with specific elements of the history that unites Saul and Solomon.  Children will understand its accessible message about persistence and hope, while adults may also read it with foreboding, against an unfolding scroll of recent events.  Both responses are equally meaningful ways to interpret Saul and Solomon’s barefoot trek across the sand.