Jonathan Garfinkel

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Jonathan Garfinkel (born 1973[1] in Toronto) is a Jewish-Canadian playwright and author. He gained prominence especially for his play The Trials of John Demjanjuk: A Holocaust Cabaret.

## Early life and education

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Coming from a Zionist family, Garfinkel learned Hebrew and Yiddish. He attended the Bialik Hebrew Day School in Toronto, graduating in 1987.[2]

## Career

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As an adult, he left Zionism. Before he dedicated himself to writing, he worked as a waiter, carpenter and English literature teacher.[1]

He published his poetry collection, Glass Psalms, in 2005. In 2007 he followed with his autobiographical work Ambivalence, in which he describes how he broke away from Zionism, triggered by a trip to Israel.[1] During his stay in the West Bank he visited several Palestinian refugee camps.[3] Jean Hannah Edelstein reviewed his book in New Statesman, saying: ”This is a book both painful and beautiful to read”.[4]

The Demjanjuk Trials premiered in Canada in 2004 and was staged in Germany at the Theater Heidelberg by Catja Baumann in 2010. Discussing his play, Christian Gampert states on the Deutschlandradio Kultur:" Jonathan Garfinkel […] takes the liberty to say: Such trials are absurd and only scratch the surface. However, to unsettle his audience Garfinkel uses theatrical devices which have never been used before in this topic in Germany: sympathy for the perpetrators, vicious songs, courtroom skits, Holocaust jokes."[1]

His play House of Many Tongues was also staged in Germany by Kristo Šagor in the Schauspielhaus Bochum.[5] Sven Westernströer wrote in Derwesten.de:[6] "The playwright is Jewish-Canadian. This is important to know in order to understand why in his play Garfinkel approaches a highly sensitive and emotionally charged topic like the Middle East conflict in his play with respect, but also with a certain distance and liberating irony. His characters, whether Israeli or Palestinian, are all likeable characters […]".[7]

He writes articles for the Jüdische Allgemeine, The Globe and Mail, and Walrus, among other publications. He lives in Toronto, Budapest and Berlin.[8]

## Awards and honours

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Garfinkel has received several awards, including the Toronto Arts Council Senior Writers scholarship in 2006,[citation needed] and the K.M. Hunter Award for best young playwright in 2008.[citation needed] In 2009, he received a scholarship from the Akademie Schloss Solitude.[citation needed]

## Books

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* In a Land Without Dogs the Cats Learn to Bark. House of Anansi Press, Toronto 2023, ISBN 978-1-5870-0416-3.

## References

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1. ^ a b c d "Holocaust-Cabaret".
2. ^ Renee Ghert Zand: School's Out. In: The Jerusalem Report vom 23. Mai 2011 (englisch)
3. ^ Joshua Blum: Deeply personal look at Mideast. In: Winnipeg Free Press 28 October 2008
4. ^ Jean Hannah Edelstein: The divided self. In: New Statesman 31 March 2008
5. ^ "Jonathan Garfinkel, Author at Jewcy".
6. ^ "derwesten.de – Nachrichten für den Westen". DerWesten.de.
7. ^ "Zwei unter einem Dach | WAZ.de". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2023.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

## External links

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* Holocaust-Cabaret, Deutschlandradio Kultur
* Jonathan Garfinkel at Pegasus Theatre and Publishing
* Jonathan Garfinkel: Mein Schloss, meine Sauna, meine Steigung. In: Jüdische Allgemeine online vom 18. Dezember 2008

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