MDL: Why did you leave Israel and France to come to America?

ILIL: I came to both countries to study. After finishing my undergraduate studies in Paris, I decided to come to New York to continue my education.

 

MDL: When you came to America, did you find what you had expected to see?

ILIL: No. It was totally different from what the movies and the books told me, and even my relatives’ stories did not really convey the picture. The immense size, the lifestyle, everything was different. I adjusted very quickly, though, mainly because the people in New York are so friendly.

 

MDL: What is the first thing you did when you came to America?

ILIL: Well, you may not find it very exciting, but I am a true animal lover. My brother, who had been living in New York for a while, took me to his terrace and showed me the squirrels that lived on the large tree right above it. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was. I have never seen squirrels before, except in pictures, and to this day I can’t forget how enchanting the little fairy-like creatures looked, that first day in New York.

 

MDL: Is there anything that shocked you in America? In Society, people, etc.?

ILIL: I liked America very much, and still do, but there is one thing that continues to shock me. The entire culture is obsessed with the acquisition of money, to a point that some of the humanity and charity, traits that should be shared by everyone, are lost. Americans simply don’t see that it is unthinkable that some people will make millions of dollars, while allowing others to starve in the streets. It seems natural to them, within the order of things. It does not seem natural to me.

 

MDL: Have you ever thought to return to France or Israel?

ILIL: Not to France, since I only went there to study, though I would love to visit Paris again, particularly in the spring. Paris in the spring is one of the most beautiful places on earth. To Israel, though, yes, I often thought about returning. I still miss it very much, and I have very nice relatives and good friends in Israel. It’s always an option.

 

MDL: What strikes you as far as the difference between typical American women and Israeli women?

ILIL: I think they are very similar. Both are independent and strong women, and yet very concerned about their families and communities. Also, America and Israel are both young countries by comparison to Europe, but the people who came to both countries were steeped in their own history and traditions. Both societies had to merge many different nationalities and backgrounds. The women in both countries coped with the same mechanisms, I believe. I don’t see striking differences, really.

 

MDL: Do you believe that there is a typical American woman or Israeli woman, and if so, give some highlights.

ILIL: I think that trying to find a typical woman anywhere might create clichés. We are all individuals. In America, since it’s so large, there are differences in the character and lifestyles of different states. Women I met in the South seemed different from New York women. They spoke slower, were more polite, and did not have the staccato conversation we have in New York, where everyone always jumps in and interrupts each other rather cheerfully. Their style of dress and makeup was also different. Southern women are very beautiful, but New York women are more elegant. 

 

MDL: Why did you study mythology and folklore which you knew would not make you wealthy? Why not business or marketing?

ILIL: I could never study something like business of marketing. I don’t have the talent or the inclination. I had to study what interested me and gave me pleasure. I think this is what study is all about. To spend years on something that bored me, just to make money, is absurd.

 

MDL: What was the first job you got in America?

ILIL: I worked as a salesperson in an art gallery that sold the most atrocious art. A stable of artists produced numerous copies of each picture, and sold it cheaply to tourists. The gallery looked elegant enough, right on Fifth Avenue, so the poor tourists thought they were getting a deal. It was an amusing job. Would you believe, I actually helped people match the color of a painting to the color of their couch… Florals for dining rooms, landscapes for living rooms, nudes for bedrooms. I'll never forget the man who liked a picture but wanted it in a different color. I got it for him, from the basement. 

 

MDL: Do you believe in magic and witchcraft, since you wrote a book about the subject?

ILIL: The book was a history book, not a spell book. It dealt with the history of the Wicca, or the Old Religion. Do I believe in it? It’s hard to say. When you talk to these people, it’s obvious that witchcraft works for them on various levels. I try to keep an open mind about such matters, since after all, what do we really know about the universe? All religions try to give answers to out spiritual questions. Do they ever succeed? I can’t tell. No answer has ever satisfied me, yet.

 

MDL: Do you think that such a thing like Judaic mythology exists? Give examples.

ILIL: Emphatically yes. I have been writing articles about it for a few years now, in Encyclopedia Mythica, some of which appear on the Agency’s website. When you talk about people leaving one place and materializing almost instantly in another, when you read about a rabbi who creates a Golem, which is a human being made out of clay, things like that are not Judaism, they are Judaic myths. Angels appear in the Bible, where they are depicted as messengers. They would be a part of the religion. But when you describe a human being, Enoch, who is transported to the presence of God, and then turns into Metatron, a powerful, huge, burning angel, second in command to God, this is a beautiful myth.

 

MDL: About your book, The Lemon Tree. You write like Victor Hugo and Alphonse Daudet. There is such unusual warmth in your style, and your quality of writing we don’t see nowadays. How did you acquire this craft? It’s not American at all, yet it was published in America.

ILIL: Thank you for such kind comparisons! I am delighted that you liked it so much. How did I acquire the style? I am not sure. I did study writing, of course, but also I find that writing comes naturally to me. I enjoy it tremendously. You hear many writers groan that writing is such hard work, but I disagree. I enjoy even the tedious parts -- rewriting, editing, indexing, what have you. Anything that will produce a book or an article is fun. And as for being unlike American writing, that I can’t tell. I just write what I feel or think is right.

 

MDL: I know your schedule is very busy. You write biographies and personal histories, you are working on the translation and serialization of your grandfather’s books, you have a full plate. What is next?

ILIL: And don’t forget my work as a medico legal index editor… I truly am busy. But since that is what I like to do best, I enjoy the process. The next project is a biography of Hillel the Elder. It is a difficult and controversial project, since there are no dates in Hillel’s known history. But I am researching the option of combining the marvelous legends with the wild and violent history of the time. It was a very exciting time – Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Herod the Great. Even Jesus is part of it. The real trick will be to find a publisher that will agree that such a controversial book is worthwhile. I think many publisher will shy away.

 

MDL: Do you have any Arab friends?

ILIL: I am afraid I don’t have any Arab friends. I did when I lived in France, but I don’t know any in New York.

 

MDL: In your opinion, as an educated woman and a woman of the world, how are we going to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

ILIL: We are not going to solve it, exactly. The historian Barbara Tuchman once said that there are certain world problems that we cannot resolve ourselves. Instead, something in history shifts, and the problem resolves itself. I think the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of these. Something is going to happen that will change the course of events to such an extent that the issues will somehow disappear. We cannot tell what or when.