Amos Oz, Israel’s celebrated author, has died at the age of 79. He was an outspoken critic of Israeli politics who called himself a “traitor” for his often extreme opinions. But in a lifetime that spanned the modern state of Israel, Oz wrote 40 books about his beloved country, painting it in tones both tender and harsh.
Born in Jerusalem in 1939 as Amos Klausner, Oz later described his home as intensely intellectual, filled with books. He was an only child and his parents gave him every chance they could, even sleeping in the living room so young Amos could have the one bedroom to himself. Despite this, his childhood was unhappy. Oz’s mother had fled rising anti-Semitism in Ukraine, and her family was wiped out in the Holocaust. Oz’s father fled Jew hatred in Lithuania and his family was murdered. Oz’s mother suffered from depression and she killed herself when Amos was 12 – a life-shattering experience that he explored in many of his works.
In his literature and many interviews, Oz described the terror he felt as a child during Israel’s War of Independence, when the tiny, besieged Jewish country wasn’t sure it could survive. Both of Oz’s parents realized that building a Jewish state in the land of Israel was their only chance of survival. “I was a kid in Jerusalem in ‘48 when the city was besieged, shelled, starved, the water supply cut off. And I know the horror, and I know the despair, and I know the hopelessness, and I know the anger, and I know the frustration,” Oz recalled. Two of his earliest words were “British out!”
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to establish the State of Israel. That night, Oz’s father Arieh Klausner climbed into bed with his young son and held him. He was usually a stoic, restrained man, beaten down by the realization of what had happened to his family. But this night was different. Holding his son, he whispered words that Oz never forgot: “From now on, from the moment we have our own state, you will never be bullied just because you are a Jew. Not that. Never again. From tonight that’s finished. Forever.” Oz recalled that night was the only time he ever saw his father cry.
Oz went on to reject his father and everything he thought that his family had stood for.
Oz went on to reject his father and everything he thought that his family had stood for. When he was 14, he ran away from Jerusalem, moving to a kibbutz and changing his name from Klausner to Oz, which means strength in Hebrew. Oz later wrote of his decision: “I killed my father” by rejecting everything, even his surname. “When I left home,” Oz later recalled, “I decided to become everything (he) was not, and not to be anything that he was.” For a teenaged Amos Oz, that meant becoming a “left-wing socialist...tractor driver.” He even tried to become tall, because his father was short. And he started to write, often exploring themes of kibbutz life in his work. His early novels were published by the Israeli Labor Party’s publishing house, including Where the Jackals Howl (1965) and My Michael (1968).
As he aged, Oz became ever more strident in his political views, yet his books remained tender and profound. I first learned about Israel through Oz’s works, and many of them affect me profoundly to this day.
Black Box (1987) was the first Oz novel I read; a worldwide bestseller, it established Oz as a major literary name outside of Israel. It’s an epistolary novel, telling its story through letters between Alec Gideon, an Israeli academic living abroad, his ex-wife Ilana, their son Boaz, Ilana’s second husband Michael, and Gideon’s old friend and lawyer Manfred. The title refers to the black box of recording devices contained on airplanes and analyzed after a crash to establish the cause of a disaster. Years after their divorce, Alec and Ilana are sifting through the wreckage of their marriage.
Containing a plethora of voices from different lifestyles and points of view, Black Box was revolutionary in the way it portrayed modern Israel. Michael is religiously observant and his quiet decency and will to do good shone through the book, providing me with my first real taste of what an Orthodox Jew might sound like. When Boaz, a disturbed teenager, tells Michael that he doesn’t follow any of the Torah’s commandments, Michael encourages him, explaining with love that he’s already following many mitzvot. Indeed, even being alive is a huge mitzvah in itself. Despite not being religiously observant himself, Oz created a world in which the greatest comfort and voice of reason came from an Orthodox Jewish character imbued with love.
Fima (1993) was one of my favorite of Oz’s novels – and contained a cogent assessment of Jewish-Catholic relations at the time. Oz wrote it during the controversy over establishing a convent on the site of Auschwitz. In 1984, the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, announced the building of a Carmelite convent on the grounds of Auschwitz: a 1985 fundraiser called on Catholics to donate “Your gift to the Pope – a convent in Auschwitz”. As Jews around the world objected to the convent, Cardinal Josef Glemp of Warsaw warned Jews “not to talk to us from the position of a superior nation”, words that were widely seen as anti-Semitic. Tensions were high, especially when the convent built a large cross on its grounds, at the site where over a million Jews were murdered.
Jews visiting Auschwitz ought to be confronted with the sight of crosses and convents, his character declared, so he can remember that he is but a guest in Europe.
Much of the Jewish world was outraged, but Oz’s character Fima was not. Jews visiting Auschwitz ought to be confronted with the sight of crosses and convents, his character declared, so he can remember that he is but a guest in Europe, and an unwanted one at that. Oz often had harsh words to say about Israeli politics, but he never forgot that it is the only place in the world Jews can truly call home.
Oz’s essential humanity enabled others to connect with his works, even when they disagreed vociferously over politics. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Oz criticized bitterly, called Oz “one of the greatest ever authors.” Netanyahu explained that Oz “contributed immensely to the renewal of Hebrew literature, which he expressed with talent and feeling...Even though our views diverged, I deeply respected his contribution to the renewed Hebrew language and literature.” Israel’s Culture Minister Miri Regev, another one of Oz’s political targets, said his novels “resounded around the world and inspired all our hearts.”
Many of Oz’s works gained acclaim around the world. His 2002 memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness was adapted as movie starring and directed by Natalie Portman in 2015. He won the Israel Prize in 1998, as well as the Prix Femina and Ordre des Arts et Lettres in France, the Frankfurt Peace Prize in Germany, and the Primo Levi Prize in Italy.
He is survived by Nili, his wife of 58 years, and by their daughters Fania and Gallia and their son Daniel.
(11) James Mirel, January 1, 2019 3:25 PM
Excellent overview of the life of Amos Oz.
I truly appreciate this thorough and fair assessment of a complex Israeli writer and activist . That is why I enjoy the Aish website-you can be surprised.
(10) Esther Cameron, December 31, 2018 3:01 PM
Generous assessment of a dubious figure
A very generous assessment. Personally, I cannot forgive him for his vilification of the settlers at the time of the Gush Katif evacuation.
Anonymous, December 31, 2018 9:18 PM
Me, either
I think we draw the line where JEWS HURT OTHER JEWS.
Too many lefty, loony, liberal jews carry torches and raise money for arabs who murder our people - that IS unforgivable. Period.
(9) Regina, December 31, 2018 5:55 AM
The critics are right
I was ready to commend Dr. Miller for her kind eulogy of this man; upon further reflection, however, I am less generous than she chooses to be. Amos Oz seems to have been an excellent Israeli writer but why are we championing someone who acted out his glaring rejection of his father/Jewish heritage in a virulent projection onto the state of Israel? If Israel would would be had by all. Really? He doesn't present any real evidence for his position - just insists on the inevitable destruction of Israel if it doesn't happen. He may have been a fine author of fiction but he couldn't hold his own in a discussion based on reason and facts. I'm inclined to side with those opposed to this article.
Raymond, December 31, 2018 6:34 AM
But Where Would You Draw the Line?
While I certainly reject all that Amos Oz stood for politically, I also think it is reasonable to honor his death on this website. That may sound like a contradiction. However, as much as some of us disagree with him politically and probably religiously, the fact is that he was apparently almost universally acknowledged to be Israel's greatest novelist at the time of his death. And so he cannot be accurately called a non-Jewish Jew, because he DID care about his Jewishness. It is just that he expressed that in a twisted way. However, if one wishes to therefore exclude him, then where does one draw the line? I think of people like Yitchak Shamir, who politically was spot on, as good as or even better than the great Menachem Begin, and yet Yitzchak Shamir was a totally secular Jew, not religious at all. And putting aside for the moment what Ariel Sharon did in Gush Katif, he was a very great military genius for Israel, and yet he openly ate non-kosher food. So what do we do with such Jews, exclude them as well? What about Orthodox Jews who refuse to recognize the Modern Jewish State of Israel, should they therefore be excluded? See the problem? If one gets too picky about such things, soon there will be hardly anybody left to honor.
Regina, December 31, 2018 9:12 PM
Correction
Should read "If Israel would just accept a palestinian state, it would result in the best possible situation for EVERYONE."
(8) David Weinberg, December 30, 2018 11:54 PM
I prefer his father
I prefer his father - and now probably so does he
(7) Anonymous, December 30, 2018 8:26 PM
why he hated his father so much?
I wish there would be an explanation why he wanted to be opposite of his father, why he disliked him so much. Seems like both parents tried their best to give him everything. Maybe he was just spoiled brat...His mother and father suffered trauma of survivors , had all their relatives killed....He couldn't understand that? And he is the only left and says "I killed my father" he didn't want to be related to those who died so he can live. I consider him not worthy for that reason. I read his book,it was ok, but he was total commie. Well, I guess now he has to explain himself in shamayim. Good luck !
(6) Berel Steinhart, December 30, 2018 5:41 PM
SUPRISED AT YOUR OBITUARY OF AMOS OZ.
Amos Oz was the complete opposite of what an Orthodox Jew should be. I therefore find it difficult to comprehend why Aish, a holy institution should give him a whole right up. As far as I know, he was not only secular, but anti dati. True, he liked my Chasidisher friend Avrum Kaminer, but that was a personal thing. I have children in Arad, where he lived, and he was present many years ago, when I spoke in public. If I am mistaken about him, I apologise.
Nancy, December 31, 2018 11:09 AM
Aish wrote about him because
he was a Jew. Period.
(5) Raymond Blum, December 30, 2018 5:27 PM
Not Vindicated
Apparently Amos Oz was a great writer. That, however, does not make him a man worthy of my admiration, and not only because of his Left Wing politics, and not only even because he rebelled against everything that his Orthodox Jewish father stood for. Rather, what I find most appalling about him, is that he apparently never overcame that rebellion, he never did appreciate what his father stood for enough to eventually return to his father's ways. It was as if he psychologically lived out his entire adult life as a rebellious teenager. And so when it comes to great Israeli literature, I think I will stick with Samuel Agnon.
(4) Eli Willner, December 30, 2018 4:51 PM
Deleted comment
This comment has been deleted.
Anonymous, December 30, 2018 5:33 PM
We Are Family
I think that this website talks about non-religious Jews as well as religious Jews, in order to drive home the point that our entire Jewish people is like one big family. Being a Jewish family, we are made up of a wide variety of Jews, some more worthy of our admiration than others, and yet always worthy of being remembered.
Rachel, December 31, 2018 1:23 AM
I Agree
This article does not sugar coat Mr Oz while recognizing the greatness in his art. Someone once said that if we allow politics to determine what art is acceptable, our art will never rise above our politics. I find it unfortunate that some in our frum communities see any disagreement as an attack. But family members should be able to disagree while continuing to love and respect each other.
As an American Jew, I was glad to be able to read the works of this great author in order to understand the differences among Israeli Jews. It was a useful reminder that Israel is a diverse democracy, and that the policies of a particular government are not synonymous with “Israel”.
May Hashem comfort his widow and children, and may his neshama have an aliyah.
Raymond Blum, January 1, 2019 3:08 PM
Open-Minded
Thank you for agreeing with me, although I feel the need to confess that you are far more open-minded than I am. See, while I have been defending Amos Oz here, it is from a kind of theoretical level. I have never really read anything he wrote, nor explored his political views, and frankly, I have no desire to, as I figure it would only serve to thoroughly aggravate me. I already have too much stress in my life, and being already middle-aged, I would rather stick to views that I frankly already agree with to some extent, which for me means that the author is either an Orthodox Jew, or on the political Right, or both. I suppose I can make an exception or two once in a while, if the author is too overwhelmingly outstanding to exclude, such as a Plato, Aristotle, or Shakespeare, but that is about as far as I go with such things.
(3) Tova Saul, December 30, 2018 4:12 PM
Thank you for this interesting article
I especially enjoyed how you are able to write about him in a positive light, despite differences about important issues.....
(2) Uzitiger, December 30, 2018 3:57 PM
Oz was another deluded leftist whose writings show how twisted he was
Amos Oz wanted a terrorist state on Jewish land and his writings show how he sided with our enemies wanting to give them a state on Jewish land. He also attacked our soldiers for doing their jobs.
He can answer for his treason where he is going.
(1) Ahuva Artzi, December 30, 2018 3:31 PM
Kol hakavod
Dr. Yvette, you are amazing! How do you know so much? And how do you get it all written down before the event that spurs your words is even finished happening? Nice job on Amos Oz.
Raymond, December 30, 2018 5:30 PM
Totally Agree with You
Ahuva Artzi, I totally agree with you about Yvette Miller. She is such a consistently informative, compelling writer, holding my attention while educating me in a most painless manner. I suspect that somewhere in her life, she must have been a really good teacher.