כימים אחדים

סיפור אהבתם של שלושה גברים לאשה אחת, אם בנם זיידה.
עלילה המתפרסת על פני כשלושים שנה – משנות העשרים ועד שנות החמישים ומתרחשת בכפר בעמק יזרעאל. האשה היא יהודית והגברים: משה רבינוביץ', איכר אלמן כביר-כוח ושתקן, שברפתו היא מתגוררת, סוחר הבקר הגס גלוברמן, ויעקב שיינפלד, מומחה לבישול, תפירה, חיזור וריקוד. ועוד משתתפים: אשתו של רבינוביץ', בנו, בתו ואחיו ובני ביתו, מנהל חשבונות לבקן, פפיש-הכפר ופפיש-העיר, רחל הפרה האיילונית, שבוי איטלקי, עורבים וקנריות, סירות-ניר, מלאך המוות, טנדר ישן וירוק, צמת זהב, נחל גואה ואקליפטוס גדול.

On a precarious frame--three men contending for the love of one resolutely perplexing woman--Meir Shalev arrays a tale so bittersweet and lyrical that it's nearly possible to overlook a stunning bit of sleight of hand: in an unabashed love story, the romance becomes tangential. For The Loves of Judith is, ultimately, an hommage to love itself--its elusiveness, its pain, and, above all, its endurance. During the pause between world wars, Judith, the woman in question, arrives in a small Palestinian village to tend house for Moshe Rabinovitch, a widowed farmer. Confused by her past waywardness, Judith chooses to live in Moshe's cowshed, cries at night for the daughter she's lost, and finds herself adored not only by the stoically formidable Moshe but also by a randy and conniving cattle dealer named Globerman and the garrulous canary breeder Jacob Sheinfeld. "Man makes plans and God laughs," Globerman explains, and as the three men clumsily scheme to win Judith's love, she remains imperturbable, the still point at the center of their longings. Most desperate of all is Sheinfeld, who cares little that his unconcealed love has made him a fool before the entire village. He seeks only "the eternal picture of love," and finds consolation in a life seasoned with consuming desire.

The story is resolved slowly by Judith's son Zayde, who may be the child of any of the three men--or, remarkably, all three. And so the men raise him, care for him, love him. Over several years, Jacob discloses very nearly all the details of Judith's world to Zayde. "What did you think, that I told you everything?" Jacob finally asks. Like love itself, the story fulfills because it has the grace not to overwhelm. --Ben Guterson