Review by Dhahabu -- Keys to Tetouan by Mois Benarroch
[Following is a volunteer review of "Keys to Tetouan" by Mois Benarroch.]
3 out of 4 stars
Review by Dhahabu
“The Keys to Tetouan” is a novel by Mois Benarroch, an author from Tetouan. According to history, Tetouan is the closest to Spain the Spanish Jews settled after being sent away from Spain due to religious prejudice.
Mimon Benzimra left Tetouan to pursue his studies at University of Madrid. An olny child to his parents, a Spanish Jew – in pursuit of a better future for himself and his family. While in school, he meets a woman, a prostitute and he affords to have sexual intercourse and pays her. Latter on, Mimon marries this lady who, apart from being a prostitute, she is a Roman Catholic. The couple moves to Venezuela and have a mutual agreement to forfeit their religions and raise their child without any religious affiliations. The couple gets their first and only child – Fernando Benzimra. As fate would have it, later in life, Fernando would sire a child with a Jew woman who ironically, also happens to be a prostitute. Fernando isn't sure of how his father would take the news of him having a child- John Benzimra a Jew and decides to keep it a secret from his dad.
The story starts of with Mimon’s death wish. He is going to die, he is remorseful for renouncing his religion, of moving away from Tetouan and never returning. He regrets how he lived his life and mostly, how he raised his child Fernando.His relationship with Fernando wasn't great either but he feels obliged to write him about their ancestral home, their religion and if it will be of no interest to his son, he urges him to pass it on to his grandchildren. Mimon’s wife passed away but for Mimon’s case, his wish is to have his son go to Jerusalem, find his brother and ask him to say the Kaddish for him.
The Kaddish is said Aramaic a Semitic language used by the Hebrews 2000 years ago. The language is used because, according to the novel, the evil angels don't understand it. Fernando finds his father’s brother and latter, Moshe Benzimra who do not want to tell Fernando about his past or the past of the Jews, Tetouan and even encourage him to remain a Christian. Fernando embarks on a quest to find out about his past which distances him from his son and his son’s mother and finally, through his cousin Shmuel, he converts back to being a Jew and starts a family where all his children are Jews. He weeps for Johnny his son and prays that he grows up to be a Jew – which should be easy because his mother is a Jew. Finally, Mimon can be proud of his son Fernando who converts to being a Jew and can recite the Kaddish for him.
Prior to reading this book, I had read Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected) by the same author – Mois Bennaroch, comparing the writing technique between the two books, this book is easier to understand, the beginning of the story is very captivating and the author manages to maintain it throughout the whole book. I loved this book because it emphasizes on the loyalty of the Spanish Jews to their tribe, religion and their home Tetouan. The déjà vu people from Tetouan have about their home is really amazing and how Tetouan makes the people have a sense of belonging is second to none. The cohesive culture the people have is really admirable. The elder generation work so hard to write their memories down or have someone write it down for them so that everyone, including the coming generations can read about their ancestors. At the end, there is a reward which enables someone to unlock their ancestry through time traveling. Due to the reasons stated above and also due to the author’s creativity and zeal, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
I recommend this book to everyone who desires to learn about the history of the Jews.
******
Keys to Tetouan
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
3 out of 4 stars
Review by Dhahabu
Mimon Benzimra left Tetouan to pursue his studies at University of Madrid. An olny child to his parents, a Spanish Jew – in pursuit of a better future for himself and his family. While in school, he meets a woman, a prostitute and he affords to have sexual intercourse and pays her. Latter on, Mimon marries this lady who, apart from being a prostitute, she is a Roman Catholic. The couple moves to Venezuela and have a mutual agreement to forfeit their religions and raise their child without any religious affiliations. The couple gets their first and only child – Fernando Benzimra. As fate would have it, later in life, Fernando would sire a child with a Jew woman who ironically, also happens to be a prostitute. Fernando isn't sure of how his father would take the news of him having a child- John Benzimra a Jew and decides to keep it a secret from his dad.
The story starts of with Mimon’s death wish. He is going to die, he is remorseful for renouncing his religion, of moving away from Tetouan and never returning. He regrets how he lived his life and mostly, how he raised his child Fernando.His relationship with Fernando wasn't great either but he feels obliged to write him about their ancestral home, their religion and if it will be of no interest to his son, he urges him to pass it on to his grandchildren. Mimon’s wife passed away but for Mimon’s case, his wish is to have his son go to Jerusalem, find his brother and ask him to say the Kaddish for him.
The Kaddish is said Aramaic a Semitic language used by the Hebrews 2000 years ago. The language is used because, according to the novel, the evil angels don't understand it. Fernando finds his father’s brother and latter, Moshe Benzimra who do not want to tell Fernando about his past or the past of the Jews, Tetouan and even encourage him to remain a Christian. Fernando embarks on a quest to find out about his past which distances him from his son and his son’s mother and finally, through his cousin Shmuel, he converts back to being a Jew and starts a family where all his children are Jews. He weeps for Johnny his son and prays that he grows up to be a Jew – which should be easy because his mother is a Jew. Finally, Mimon can be proud of his son Fernando who converts to being a Jew and can recite the Kaddish for him.
Prior to reading this book, I had read Raquel Says (Something Entirely Unexpected) by the same author – Mois Bennaroch, comparing the writing technique between the two books, this book is easier to understand, the beginning of the story is very captivating and the author manages to maintain it throughout the whole book. I loved this book because it emphasizes on the loyalty of the Spanish Jews to their tribe, religion and their home Tetouan. The déjà vu people from Tetouan have about their home is really amazing and how Tetouan makes the people have a sense of belonging is second to none. The cohesive culture the people have is really admirable. The elder generation work so hard to write their memories down or have someone write it down for them so that everyone, including the coming generations can read about their ancestors. At the end, there is a reward which enables someone to unlock their ancestry through time traveling. Due to the reasons stated above and also due to the author’s creativity and zeal, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
I recommend this book to everyone who desires to learn about the history of the Jews.
******
Keys to Tetouan
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
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