Passage From Aden: Stories From A Little Museum In Tel Aviv

by Sarah Ansbacher

‘Once upon a time, the port of Aden was a trading post and meeting point for people from all over the world. Now, in Tel Aviv, a short distance from the Mediterranean Sea, its spirit lives on at a little museum… But at this port, instead of goods, we trade in stories.’

When Sarah first walked through the doors of a museum that preserves the history of a little-known Jewish community, she only intended to do some research for a novel. But six months later she received their surprise job offer. She wasn’t sure what to expect but accepted anyway.
She soon discovered its magic: a museum that came to life through its varied visitors. Among the remarkable people she met were Jews from Aden, Yemen, the Middle East and North Africa, children of Holocaust survivors, crypto-Jews, tourists from Germany, Poland and the Far East, Christians and Muslims. Those fascinating interactions served as a bridge between languages, cultures and generations, and shared stories about the past and present. She started writing them down.

The result is this extraordinary collection of true stories. Amusing, poignant, insightful, they will take you to forgotten times and places and warm your heart.


'Sarah Ansbacher's book is like a colourful meal composed not only of vignettes about Aden's Jews, the museum's exhibits, its visitors, but also Israel and its people. Like all good dishes, they tickle the palate and leave us wanting more.'
Lyn Julius, author of Uprooted: How 3,000 Years of Jewish Civilisation in the Arab World Vanished Overnight

Genres: Jewish

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 27, 2020

Reviews

[Naama · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet, lovely book. Reading it was like eating candy.
The book definitely left me interested both in visiting the Aden museum and walking around the surrounding neighborhoods in Tel-Aviv - both packed with so much history and art.

The book was a reminder that living in Israel is anything but provincial . Not only does Tel-Aviv get its fair share of tourists, but since there are so many immigrants everywhere you look, you can travel the world just by listening to the stories of people around you, if you bother asking about them.

[Leah Dadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! Easy to read and lots of wonderful stories. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down until it was finished. Highly recommend!

[Roger Radford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of vignettes, some slight, others substantial, all significant, Sarah Ansbacher's book is a gem. While some of the anecdotal accounts from the survivors of the pogroms in Aden in 1947 are poignant and heartbreaking, other stories are inspiring and heartwarming. As an Ashkenazi writer and journalist who married into the community in Tel Aviv some 50 years ago, I underwent my own rite of passage. I can vouch for the warmth and sheer humanity of Adenim, both in Israel and here in the UK. In Hebrew, the phrase Adenim adinim (gentle Adenis) is not simply a nugatory observation. They truly are gentle people. As the author writes, Aden was possibly the most important port in the British Empire. As Ansbacher describes, it proved somewhat of a magnet for Jews, mainly merchants, passing through from all points of the compass. Some married and stayed on. Adenis tend to be lighter skinned than Yemenites. Indeed, my wife's paternal grandfather's mother hailed from Ukraine. Both her grandfathers, one an architect and the other an engineer, were instrumental in the building of the Great Synagogue. While the melting pot that was Aden attracted all sorts, other parts of Yemen remained homogeneous. I'm happy to say that my own children cherish their Adeni heritage. As I always say, if you don't know where you come from, you won't know where you're going. Chen, chen lach (well done), Sarah Ansbacher, for a book that will charm all those privileged to read it. Roger Radford, a proud member of the Hazan/Yefet family..

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Passage to Aden is part history lesson, part observations of humanity, and part hope.

Through the lens of Ansbacher's experiences in the museum, we learn about the Adeni community, their interactions with the Temani (Yemenite) community, the difficulties they faced both in Aden and upon their arrival in Israel.

We also meet people who have lost a lot and people who are grateful for small connections. The vignettes are mostly bite-sized, easy to read, and light. (except for one section that deals with the 1947 Aden riots - I found it a lot heavier than the rest of the book)

The author shows a lot of Jewish history in a small, neat book, as well as showing the role of history in the present and her hopes for the future.

I picked up the book because I follow Ansbacher on Facebook, and love her writing style. I was not disappointed!

I can't wait to see what she writes next!

[Chen Yefet · Rating 5 out of 5]

What really shines through while reading this book is that the interactions are real. It is fascinating to hear from people of different backgrounds who come into the museum: The questions they ask and the stories they come with. You hear from Jews from Arab lands. You hear from Jews who survived the holocaust. You hear from non-Jews of a variety of backgrounds. Of course, you hear from many Jews from Aden and Yemen. And lots of other types of people. Just flicking through, you see the words "Estonian", "Ukrainian", "Thai", "Irish"; the list gets much longer. Certainly Jews should read this. And non-Jews who are interested.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Passage from Aden is a delightful book of vignettes from the author's experience as a guide in the Aden Jewish Heritage Museum in Tel Aviv. I didn't know anything about the Adeni community prior to reading the book, and I enjoyed learning about their history through these tales. But more than that, reading about the author's interactions from visitors around the world - Jewish, Muslim, Christian - of all different nationalities - was like getting a great big dose of sunshine. Sarah Ansbacher's lovely collection is a testament that sharing our stories with one another is the best hope for our future.

[Melanie Takefman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Passage from Aden was a quick and satisfying read, giving both a comprehensive modern history of Aden's Jewish community and a taste of life in Israel. The author has a great knack for listening and drawing stories out of the people she meets. The result is a rich tapestry of vignettes about herself, an immigrant to Israel, veteran Israelis and international visitors, all woven together seamlessly. Each chapter was a story in itself, making me hungry for more. I highly recommend this book!

[Jennifer Paton Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming collection of vignettes about the Jewish community in Aden from the perspective of the author, who works at a museum about this community in south Tel Aviv. There are some interesting insights on life in Israel and Jewish peoplehood. I think I would have liked this book better if it had been less sentimental and if it had included some pictures of objects and photos in the museum that are described in the book.

[Megan Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful stories.

I really enjoyed reading all the different stories that were told to, and shared with the author. I appreciated the stories shared by Jewish visitors as well as others who came to the museum with curiosity ,or even prejudice, and left with information, clarity and sometimes enlightenment or gratitude.
Thank you Sarah for sharing.

[Hadassah Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of entertaining and insightful short stories that cover the history of Israel and the Jewish people and the human condition in general. It's a quick and easy read that's hard to put down.

[Tamar Pearlman]

I thoroughly enjoyed the details and the sense of its a small world that the short stories portrayed. Sarah works in such an interesting place and meets such interesting people, she captured that perfectly. I highly recommend!

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories are short and to the point, but they manage to draw you in to the world of the tourists who visit, and of the Adeni immigrants who still have such a strong bond with their roots.
If you feel like curling up with a book as an escape to a beautiful place, do yourself a favor and read it.

[Ziv Vinokor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two or three page chapters of people who stop in at museum and share their or their family’s memories.
It does make me want to pass by the museum when next in Tel Aviv this coming June.
Interesting how so many people saw photos on the walls of themselves or their relatives.

[Devorah Friedlander · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first bought Passage's From Aden, I thought I could read a chapter a week. Well that night, I started one story and read and read on until I had finished the book. Sarah has such a great way of hooking the reader from page one. Highly recommend this charming collection of stories!

[Mag85 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by a friend. I have learned a lot from Sarah stories. My emotions changed from uplifting to disturbing, and back again. Fantastic guide through the history.

[Bayla H. Kolton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read

I learned a lot about a subject I knew nothing about. This book, while informative is also interesting. The stories are both amusing and heartbreaking..

[Wendy Kalman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I like about this book is that its collection of stories about the author's experiences with visitors to the Aden Jewish Museum in Tel Aviv conveys so much. From her conversations with those who came from Aden or from elsewhere in Yemen, the reader learns about life for Adenis and Temenis there, in Israel and elsewhere else they emigrated to.

But we also learn about Israel not only through the author's eyes, but also through the eyes of foreign tourists and of Israelis.

History comes alive as much as today's story does.

Very well written, very engaging. Next time I am in Israel, I plan on visiting the museum.

[Rita Bookreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories, each intimately satisfying portrayal of life in Israel through the stories that this museum docent tells about the people who find themselves in her obscure little museum in Tel Aviv. I loved it.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely, heart warming, at times tragic, collection of stories from Ansbacher’s experience working at the Aden Jewish Heritage Museum. My saba raba was born and raised in Aden, and reading these stories allowed me to feel close to my saba raba and my saba, who have both since passed on.

“ ‘I grew up in this neighborhood, around the corner, on Shabazi street,’ said the elderly man after browsing the exhibits. ‘You could always tell who were the Adenim.’
‘How?’ I asked
‘Because they carried around an English newspaper under their arm. They were very proud they could speak English. It was a big deal in those days.’ “

This was one of my favorite excerpts, it’s exactly how I remember my saba raba, and fits the stories I’ve heard of him perfectly as well. I’ve always felt a connection to my Adeni roots, growing up eating jachnun and malawach, adding just the smallest amount of my dad’s way too spicy zhug for a seven-year-old, listening to Yemenite music, and noticing the differences in the way my family sang prayers vs my Ashkenazi friends. But this book has brought me even closer to those roots, enlightened me with more history of Aden, and I can’t wait to have the opportunity to visit the museum some day. Thank you for writing this important book on the largely unknown or overlooked Jewish community in Yemen by the majority of the world, Sarah.