Forest Dark

Jules Epstein is undergoing a metamorphosis. In the wake of his parents’ deaths, a divorce, and retirement from his law firm, he’s felt an irresistible need to give away his possessions. With the last of his wealth he travels to Israel, with a nebulous plan to do something to honor his parents. In Tel Aviv, he is sidetracked by a charismatic American rabbi who is planning a reunion for the descendants of King David and insists that Epstein join. He also meets the rabbi’s beautiful daughter who convinces Epstein to become involved in a project of hers with life-changing consequences. On her own pilgrimage, a well-known young novelist arrives at the Tel Aviv Hilton, where she has stayed every year since her birth. She’s left her family for this trip, hoping that the hotel can cure her writer’s block and unlock a dimension of reality that has been closed off to her. But when she meets a retired literature professor who proposes a project she can’t refuse, she’s drawn into a mystery that will profoundly change her. Bursting with life and humor, Forest Dark. is a mesmerizing novel of transformation and self-realization—of looking beyond all that is visible toward the infinite. Performed by Gabra Zackman.