The Dawning of the Day by Haim Sabato

A humble man and a religious man, who worked as a presser in a laundry, Ezra Siman Tov was also a teller of stories, stories that enthralled and captivated his friends in their old Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem. His brother-in-law, Dr. Tawil, gave him a grudging respect, the Torah scholars listened surreptitiously and the Great Writer—SY Agnon?—took his stories and gave them form. But along with his stories, Ezra also had a shame and a secret, which overshadowed his family. And his secret suffering never left him quite free.

Haim Sabato, the award winning writer, recreates a lost world in which faith provides a framework for life and a deep source of comfort. A bestseller in Israel among both secular and religious readers, The Dawning of the Day is a solace and a comfort for all.

Translated by Yaacob Dweck from the original Hebrew, Ke’afapey Shachar.

HAIM SABATO descends from a long line of rabbis from Aleppo, Syria. His family had lived in Egypt for two generations, before moving to Israel when he was six. He served in the tank corps in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and is the founder of a Yeshiva near Jerusalem. Sabato's first novel, Emet Me'Aretz Titzmach, translated as Aleppo Tales, appeared in 1997. His second novel, Tiyum Kavanot, Adjusting Sights, was awarded the prestigious Sapir Prize for Literature in 2000 and the Yitzchak Sadeh Prize for Literature in 2002. Both have been published in English by The Toby Press.