Ode to JoyFollowing a terrorist explosion on a bus in Jerusalem, Yael, a married mother who narrowly escaped the attack, is haunted by the last image she recalls before the horror: a little blonde child waving to her from the window of the bus, and the sound of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, which was playing on her car radio. Yael's husband, Nachum, seems unable, or unwilling to understand what she has been through, and although her friends and colleagues are sympathetic, they cannot share her pain. Still traumatised, she feels compelled to seek out the blonde child's grieving father, the enigmatic and mysterious Avshalom. Drawn to him through their mutual suffering and fascinated by his unusual background, Yael begins to fall helplessly in love with him. Avshalom too, cannot deny his own feelings, but his belief that the loss of his wife and child is divine punishment for past sins overshadows any glimmer of hope for their future. |
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Abba announced arms asked Avshalom baby bangles bathroom Batsheva bedroom bedwetting belly body called cheek child coloured curls dark Davidl door dress eyes face father fell female circumcision fingers fish fridge Gilo grey Hagit hair hands Har-Noy haredi head head lice heard hugged hurried Imush inside Jerusalem kindergarten kissed kitchen knew laugh light lips little girl looked Louisa morning mother mouth muezzin Nachum Nechama night Nimrod nodded Ode to Joy opened Peekaboo plastic pulled remembered replied screamed Shabbat shoes shouted side silent sitting sleep smell smile soft sounds stood stop stuck suddenly suicide bomber talk tears tell thought tiny told took tried turned ultra-Orthodox voice waiting walked wanted washed weeping whispered window woman Women in Black Yael yeshiva Yoavi Yoavi's room Yoeli Yoskeh