Podcast Summary: New Books Network – Interview with Maya Arad on "The Hebrew Teacher"

Date: November 3, 2025
Host: Renee Garfinkel
Guest: Maya Arad, Author of "The Hebrew Teacher" (New Vessel Press, 2024)
Series: Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas

Episode Overview

This episode features a conversation with Maya Arad, widely recognized as a leading Israeli writer living in the diaspora. Arad discusses her acclaimed collection, "The Hebrew Teacher"—a trilogy of novellas exploring Israeli expat life in America, the immigrant experience, the complexities of generational and cultural dislocation, and the nuanced challenges of maintaining identity and language abroad. The episode delves into the personal, familial, and political dimensions embedded in her writing, as well as the impact of recent events on the Israeli-American community.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Genesis and Thematic Threads of "The Hebrew Teacher"

• Intentional Unity Across Stories
  Arad describes how the three novellas were written at different times yet assembled deliberately to reflect shared themes:

  "I wanted to have a collection of three novellas that have a common thread running through them...My initial thought was the women...But then other readers pointed out...the generational gap." (03:17)

• Interplay of Immigration and Womanhood
  Recognizes the universality of immigration while maintaining distinctly Israeli characteristics through characters, situations, and cultural expectations.

Personal Identification with Characters

• On Autobiography and Empathy
  Arad resists autobiographical readings but finds echoes of herself throughout her characters, particularly in the third novella's mother figure, Efrat:

  "She’s an Israeli abroad, and she’s raising an American child...immigration intensifies this gap..." (04:52)

• Challenges of Language and Profession in Diaspora
  Relates to Ilana, the eponymous Hebrew teacher, especially regarding the diminishing role of Hebrew and literary arts:

  "We make some sort of living off Hebrew, and it’s not a very good time for Hebrew...people read less and less." (06:30)

Universal vs. Distinctive Aspects of Family Estrangement

• Israeli Flavor in Family Narratives
  While family estrangement is universal, it resonates differently for Israelis due to cultural norms around close familial involvement:

  "Miriam feels the pain of being estranged from her son. But as an Israeli, there’s an extra shame...family ties are stronger than in America." (08:14–09:45)

Reflections on Recent Israeli History and Its Diaspora Impact

• Personal Effects of October 7, 2023 Attacks
  Arad speaks intimately on the impact as a former resident of Kibbutz Nachal Oz, which was directly affected:

  "I grew up in Kibbutz Nachal Oz, which is less than a mile from the Gaza Strip...Family, friends, and neighbors were affected, killed in one case, kidnapped. It was a shock." (11:18)

• Experiencing Antisemitism and Political Alienation Abroad
  Her daughter’s experience at Cooper Union and changing attitudes among progressives were highlighted as particularly painful:

  "...People who she thought were her friends...praised Hamas and called her...a colonialist when she was making art that commemorated the Kibbutz Nachal..." (12:03)

The Duality of Life and Language

• Living in Two Worlds
  Describes the ongoing negotiation of Israeli and American identities, both linguistically and culturally:

  "It’s really a dual existence. I’m an American, but I’m also very much an Israeli and a Hebrew speaker." (15:17)

• Language as Inner World
  Maintains Hebrew as an inner compass, writing and reading mostly in Hebrew despite decades abroad:

  "I guess I dream in Hebrew...we know our mother tongue in a way that we will not know any other language that we actively learned later in life." (16:25)

Writer’s Role and Cultural Criticism

• Story over Polemic
  Arad insists her primary purpose is storytelling, not direct cultural critique, though critical observation naturally permeates her work:

  "My main goal is to write a good story...the cultural criticism, it’s like an extra layer of realism." (19:08)

• Portraying Flawed, Human Israelis as Political Act
  Especially post-October 7, writing about Israeli characters with complexity and humanity becomes both meaningful and fraught:

  "...just writing a book about Israeli characters who are not perfect. In fact, they’re quite flawed. But showing them as human is already...a political act, in a way." (22:28)

Reception and Crossing Cultural Borders

• Changing Attitudes Toward Israeli Expats
  Notes a growing openness (and even curiosity) among Israelis to read expat perspectives, a shift from previous stigmatization:

  "...there was quite a stigma associated with not living in Israel...now Israelis are...even eager, they’re curious, they want to learn more about this experience of living abroad." (23:57)

• For American Jewish Readers
  Observes surprise and interest about the existence and nature of the Israeli-American expat community:

  "...Wow, there is this subgroup of American Jews, Israeli expats, and they have their own characteristics and...their own little circle." (25:00)

Literature’s Role in Ambivalence and Clarity

• On Ambivalence and Raising Questions
  Arad affirms that literature need not answer questions but can clarify them by raising new complexities:

  "For me, often literature open questions, new questions, instead of answering the questions that I already had." (21:13)
  Host Renee: "Well, raising good questions is a kind of clarity." (21:39)
  Arad: "Oh, that’s an interesting point...Yes, absolutely." (21:43)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On assembling the book’s themes:

  "These are not just, you know, leftovers that I had...I wanted to have a collection...that have a common thread running through them." — Maya Arad (03:17)

• Mother tongue as inner sanctuary:

  "We know our mother tongue in a way that we will not know any other language that we actively learned later in life." — Maya Arad (16:24)

• On Israeli fiction in translation:

  "Israeli writers are having a very hard time getting their books translated...specifically in the English speaking world." — Maya Arad (23:11)

• On literature’s mission in fraught times:

  "...writing about Israelis, giving them a human face is for me, you know, one of my missions right now." — Maya Arad (22:37)

• Dual identity’s pain:

  "Hebrew poet Leah Goldberg has a line...about the pain of having two homelands. So I think I feel, you know, right now I feel pain in both of my homelands, politically speaking." — Maya Arad (18:55)

• Host’s reflection on generational contrasts:

  "As an American who lives in Israel, it was quite eye opening to see how much is expected of grandparents...Very different than the United States." — Renee Garfinkel (10:16)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introduction to Maya Arad and Book Overview – 01:37
• Themes of Dislocation and Generational Gaps – 03:06 – 04:43
• Personal Connection to Characters – 04:52 – 06:45
• Israeli vs. Universal Elements in Stories – 08:14 – 10:16
• Impact of October 7 Attacks – 11:05 – 13:57
• Navigating Expat Identity Over Decades – 14:04 – 16:09
• Language and Inner World – 16:09 – 17:33
• Sense of Diaspora Identity – 18:02 – 18:59
• Writer’s Role – Storytelling vs. Criticism – 19:08 – 20:31
• Ambivalence in Literature – 21:13 – 21:43
• The Political Act of Portraying Humanity – 22:37 – 22:56
• Reception in Israel and America – 23:57 – 26:16
• Upcoming Work – 26:16 – 26:43

Conclusion

The conversation with Maya Arad provides a thoughtful exploration of what it means to live between worlds—linguistically, culturally, and emotionally. "The Hebrew Teacher" emerges as a collection rooted in specificity but resonant with universal questions of migration, generational change, and identity. Arad’s refusal to offer easy answers, her insistence on the story’s primacy, and her commitment to nuanced humanization in fraught times, all mark the episode as a vital listen for anyone interested in diaspora literature, Israeli-American experience, and the life of the writer in turbulent contexts.

Book featured:
The Hebrew Teacher by Maya Arad, translated by Jessica Cohen (New Vessel Press, 2024)

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