"Goodbye, and Thanks... Big Thanks to Yonatan": Volunteering for the Other in Rose of Lebanon (Vered Ha-Levanon)

Abstract

Rose of Lebanon (Vered Ha-Levanon), an autobiographical novel by Leah Aini (2009), has become a centerpiece of cultural discourse in Israel. This important and influential work explores numerous social issues, including some that have previously been marginalized and others that have been dismissed from the realm of cultural discourse altogether. It has been claimed that scholarly research has also failed to address these issues to the full extent that they deserve – and as they are discussed in this novel. Aini narrates the story of her life, beginning with her upbringing in a south Tel Aviv family, a product of the Israeli melting pot. Those around her ignore her existence and the areas of study in which she shows an interest. While volunteering in a hospital during her military service in the IDF, she unabashedly seeks out the origins of her love of reading and her inspiration to be a writer – the writer she became in adult life. A social issue that appears throughout the novel, and that has not yet been the subject of scholarly attention, is the giving and volunteer conduct enacted in various forms by some of the novel’s characters. In acts undertaken by two of the leading characters, the key protagonist and her father, these varieties of volunteer conduct are primarily expressions of the offering of oneself and of individual action for the sake of the Other. The secondary characters in the novel, such as the medical staff in the hospital, the heroine’s classmate Nogah, and the English teacher, also demonstrate elements of voluntary self-giving. The present article attempts to identify the types of volunteer conduct shown by these characters, analyzing their aims in the different contexts in which they appear.