"I am not a religious person, and I don't know how religious the author is," said the rector, "but I was struck by some of the Jewish references in this work." On December 2, Dr. Grünberg shared with the large audience gathered in the auditorium at ORT’s Pocitos Campus one of those passages from the Gemarastating that “a good wife is a good gift for her husband, for it is written that a good wife will be placed in the bosom of a God-fearing man, for a beautiful wife makes her husband happy because the number of her days doubles his pleasure in her beauty, and makes him feel as if he had lived twice as long.”
The rector reading this two-volume novel, since—based on his own experience—"it will make you feel torn between death and love, just like the great works of literature. I congratulate Ricardo, and I also want to tell him that, thanks to this work, (his wife) Jacky will always be by his side."
A novel full of quotations
René Fuentes, a professor at Universidad ORT Uruguay, writer, and editor of this novel, explained that Mester’s work provided him—first as a reader, and later through the processes of writing, proofreading, and editing—with “a meaningful experience in that Ricardo manages to blend fictional and non-fictional elements very effectively, and finally, when one finishes reading the novel, one notices that the author manages to convey, in a remarkable way, a way of life reflected in the micro-stories described during the long journeys undertaken by the characters—physical and territorial journeys, as well as emotional ones.”
According to Fuentes, the novel contains a vast array of quotations, references, and footnotes, which surprised the editor, who explained that "in terms of Jewish content alone, this novel includes excerpts from texts of the written and oral law, rabbinic sources, and scholarly treatises. All of this is blended together, woven into the experience that reading creates as we follow the lives of these diverse, antagonistic characters of very different ages.”
"This is a book about a profound calling, about faith in love and faith in their own Jewish identity, as embodied by the two central characters, who have known each other since childhood, part ways, reunite, and each goes through a very unique experience," explained the ORT teacher.
Fuentes said that Mester worked very hard to research his novel.
The novel includes more than a hundred footnotes, ranging from literary and scientific texts to religious works and historical documents.
"This novel is a subjective, ever-evolving epic, and with a whisper that tells us and reminds us that You—or God, or any of the many other ways of naming Him, or even of not naming Him—brings the night for rest, but the day, and in a way the worst of the night, comes, arrives, and sweeps through human acts against other human beings," said Fuentes, who concluded with the following reflection: "Every word of this vast novel is a star to bring light and shed light on the collective memory—the one that gives us the best literature, and the best way of being and writing. "
A Conversation with Ken Follett
Mester, interviewed live by writer Diego Fischer, explained that there is a topic that has always caught his attention, fascinated him, and led him to read extensively (the Black Death), which "was probably the greatest catastrophe humanity has ever faced in its entire history, meaning it was something that really struck me, and the magnitude of what happened is still being investigated to this day because humanity came close to disappearing.”
The author of the book noted that the epidemic could have wiped out two-thirds of humanity. "In a matter of weeks, empires like the Byzantine—which had taken a thousand or fifteen hundred years to build—collapsed," he recalled.
When asked about the book’s title, Mester, an ophthalmologist by profession, noted—with emotion—that during a memorial service following the passing of Prof. Charlotte de Grünberg, ORT’s general director from 1977 to 2024, he read a blessing from the Jewish prayer book that began with the words “Blessed are You,” and a few lines down, there was another that read: “who brings the night.” The author of the novel combined both liturgical expressions to name his work, on which he worked for 12 years (including research, writing, and editing).
The doctor shared with the audience his connection to British novelist Ken Follett, who has sold more than 195 million copies of his books, according to the English-language edition of Wikipedia.
About 11 years ago, Mester had read one of Follett’s bestsellers, *The Pillars of the Earth*, and the book inspired him to reach out to the author. “I started sending him messages, and one day, I got a reply: they gave me five minutes to speak with him via Skype. It was a very casual conversation; for me, it was incredible. I told him I was trying to write a book, a historical novel, and he replied that I should study and research a lot, and never stop striving to achieve my goal," he recalled.
Fischer concluded the interview by recommending the novel. "This isn't a book you can read in a couple of hours or over a couple of nights; no, you have to read it, you have to savor it, because it contains a wealth of historical information and insights into Jewish culture, which, personally, has helped me learn about and gain a deeper understanding of such an important tradition."