From France’s leading Jewish intellectual, an intimate yet universal meditation on October 7, its legacy, and the way forward

Devastated by the massacre perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Delphine Horvilleur sees her world shatter. As a rabbi dedicated to supporting and alleviating the suffering of others, she suddenly finds herself in a state of shock, feeling powerless and voiceless.

In this fevered state, she pens this small yet powerful treatise on survival, a slice of self-analysis that reconnects her with her existential foundations. The text unfolds through ten real or imagined conversations: with her pain, her grandparents, Jewish paranoia, her children, Israel, and more.

Horvilleur seamlessly moves between the intimate and the universal, intertwining exegesis of sacred texts with societal analysis. She skillfully balances acknowledging the gravity of her subject with defying it through humor. The result is a book that charts a path from trauma and distress to healing and recovery; from anxiety and doubt to reassurance and wisdom.

Delphine Horvilleur
Delphine Horvilleur is one of the few female Rabbis in France. She was ordained in America, as there was no possibility to study in France as a woman, and is the leader of the Liberal Jewish Movement of France. Her writings have appeared in the Washington Post and Haaretz. She lives in Paris.