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governme nt. I think one of the more success ful slogans of the
Labor pa rty is "back to work." Whether they a re reall y going to
cha nge the economy, cha nge the sys tem o f prioriti es, cha nge the
nationa l mood in these direc ti ons is still to be seen - I don't know,
I don't know. I don't en tirely trust the prese n t leadership of the
Labor party, but I wi sh to hope.
Goodheart:
I'd like to as k you a few ques tions about your elf a nd your
writing. In
My M ichael,
the fa ther o f Mi chael is proud of him for
hav in g gone to the uni ve rsity to rece ive a n education , whereas
Mi chae l's con tempora ri es dropped out o f school to jo in kibbutzim .
You seem to have had the bes t of both worlds. You have a uni–
ve rsity educa ti on a nd have become a writer a nd you also dec ided
to live on a kibbu tz. You haven't experie nced the need to make the
choice. Why do you co ntinue to li ve on a kibbutz? Does it nouri sh
you as a writer?
Oz:
Tha t ta kes a long a nswe r a nd I hope you don't mind a long
answer . I left home whe n I was fiftee n : the O ctobe r R evolution o f
my own life. I became fed up with the schola rl y middl e-class petit
bourgeo is a tmos phere at home. I reall y dec ided to turn a new leaf
in my life. I t was a house full o f books. M y pa rents we re middl e–
class city dwe llers, moderate ri ght-w in ge rs, J ew ish intelli ge ntsia
from easte rn Eu rope. M y fa ther wanted me to become the a rche–
type of the new Israe li : simple, blond , cleansed of J ewish neuro-
is, tough , ge ntil e- lookin g. M y pa re nts eve n ma naged , somehow,
to bege t me blond (my pa rents we re both da rk). So they wanted
me ri ght oR' to become the oppos ite o f what they we re. T hey mi ght
have eve n secretl y adopted a n a n ti-Semi tic cl iche a bout
comp li cated J ews with swea ty ha nds a nd d ivided feelings. I was
meant to be a new leaf a ltoget her : a sabra, tough , simple, un–
ambi vale n t. M y fa the r , who knew seve n teen la nguages, insisted
on teachin g me one a nd onl y one la nguage: H ebrew. He didn't
reall y want me to know a ny fo reign la nguages because he ce r–
ta inl y fea red tha t if I had la nguages I'd sudde nl y go away one day .
O n the other ha nd o f course, he wan ted me to be we ll educa ted , to
go to uni ve rsity, pe rh a ps eve n to write books. Some cross between
imrod the hunter a nd the sa in tly R abbi from Bratzlaw, whi ch is
of course a monst rous image. I wan ted to rebe l aga in st all this.
T hey were city dwell ers, so I became a soc ia li st a nd a kibbu tznik .
T hey we re intellec tua ls, so
r
became a meni al worker here. I
fou nd after several years that my escape,
r
guess like a ll escapes,
must have been a full circle. Here am I , doing exactly what my
pa ren ts wa nted me to do. T he ki bbut z is a fasc in a ting wo rl d. I'm
in tri gued by those old pionee rs who decided to cha nge themselves
