As Figs in Autumn: One Year in a Forever War

Set against the diverse landscapes of Israel, Bastomski’s journey from Ivy League university to the Israeli army is a deeply personal memoir chronicling his journey out of grief and finally finding his own way back home.

In his final college semester, Ben awakens to read on his computer screen about the death of his classmate and childhood friend Avi. Avi’s death is sudden and senseless, killed by a drunk driver on his way back to his dorm. Here begins Ben’s story of coming to terms with loss and finding his way to adulthood.

In the fall of 2010, with his new degree in Moral Philosophy, Ben boards a plane to Israel to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Though Ben has never held a gun, before the next summer ends, he is a trained sharpshooter. His service takes him from the Negev Desert to the Occupied Territories and Gazan border, all while finding ＂home＂ at a southern kibbutz where he is adopted as a brother and son. From Providence, Rhode Island to California and at last to Israel where Ben joins Mahal, the special set of non-Israeli-born Jews who volunteer in the IDF, he finds family where never expected, a place of his own in the Israeli mosaic. In a memoir that is both a coming-of-age story and epic ballad, Bastomski’s lyrically told story is intensely personal and ultimately universal.

Please note that the author, after the publication of the book, was living in Israel and was at the kibbutz Be’eri when it was attacked. He was visiting his adoptive family (written about in the memoir and dedicated to one of its members) when Hamas attacked. It was due to his efforts and those of his adoptive father, that the Hamas fighters who entered the home, were unable to break through into the safe room. His efforts saved the lives of his adoptive family.