Shosh Wolman

A romance ends for a woman when she discovers the nature of her boyfriend's nocturnal excursions. Rejected by the army, he carries out a vendetta against society. The woman places herself in danger when she stands firmly between the boy and his mission.

Hagit – blonde, well-off, and Ashkenazi – moves back to Israel with her family after a five-year stint in the US. She joins the local Hashomer Hatzair branch following an encounter with Eddie, another member who is of Mizrahi descent. The two soon become romantically involved. As Hagit gets further acquainted with the other members, the vast majority of whom are also of Mizrahi/Sephardi heritage, social divides and ethnic, classist tensions start brewing.

The story is set in Jerusalem in the winter of 1959. Shmuel Ash, a sensitive student who has dropped out of university because his father's finances have collapsed, takes a live-in job as a companion to an elderly, incapacitated man, Gershom Wald, who needs someone to argue with. Wald learns from Shmuel that he has stopped working on his thesis, which dealt with Jewish views on Jesus. The conversation between these two protagonists revolves around the humanity of Jesus. Shmuel tells Wald about his alternative theory on Judas Iscariot: he says he believes Judas was not a traitor at all but, in fact, the truest believer in Jesus's divinity. Furthermore, a relationship develops between Shmuel and Wald's daughter-in-law, Atalia Abravanel, a sensual and mysterious woman. Shmuel falls in love with her in what becomes a tender coming-of-age tale.