Ilana Visits Boaz in Zikhron

Ilana Sommo’s visit to Boaz Brandstetter at the old Zikhron estate is a tentative reunion that brings mother and son into the same space without resolving the conflicts between them. In a letter dated 9 August 1976, Ilana describes arriving without warning, finding Boaz living among the neglected grounds, and receiving an unexpected offer to stay. The encounter tests whether she can approach him as his mother rather than as a representative of the adults whose money and decisions have shaped his life.

Background and Unannounced Arrival

Ilana sets out for Haifa to visit Alexander Gideon, Boaz’s sick grandfather, but changes course at Hadera and takes a bus to Zikhron. She has no settled plan for approaching her son and considers several possible responses from him, including that he might reject or mock her. Rather than imagining the conversation through, she arrives at the estate without knowing what she will say. Her detour makes the visit an impulsive attempt at contact, not an arranged family meeting.

The condition of the property makes the changes in Boaz’s life visible before he appears. The gate and its locks are rusted; the roof has partly collapsed, and the gardens are overgrown. The grounds that once had formal features, including an ornamental pool and terrace, have fallen into neglect. Ilana waits outside, uncertain whether to announce herself, and hears Boaz speaking from the house. His familiar voice is enough to make her consider leaving without being seen. The moment establishes the emotional distance between them: she has come seeking contact, yet still hopes to escape the risks of an actual meeting.

Recognition and the Household Boaz Has Built

The meeting begins when two young women working in the yard notice Ilana and draw Boaz’s attention to her. He recognizes his mother and introduces her to the women, Sandra and Cindy, who are staying at the estate. His manner is composed and lightly amused rather than openly welcoming or hostile. Ilana, by contrast, becomes hesitant and gives an excuse for her presence, saying she was on her way to visit Rahel Morag at Beit Avraham. She also says that Yifat and Michel Sommo send their greetings, although she knows this is not true. Her small fabrications show how difficult it is for her to state plainly that she has come to see her son.

Boaz responds practically. He arranges for Cindy to bring water, explains that the house has no electricity, and points out that he has found a water pipeline and fitted a tap. He has also brought Sandra and Cindy to help with work at the property. In exchange for wages, he says, he is looking after the house and doing repairs. He describes a vegetable garden about to be started and further work planned for the grounds. His account presents the estate not simply as an inheritance or a place to occupy, but as a project that gives him daily tasks and a measure of independence.

Ilana asks why he accepted the house from Alexander Gideon. Boaz says he is willing to accept money from Gideon or Michel, reasoning that the family’s wealth did not come from hard work. He also insists that he has a use for it. His answer is blunt, but it distinguishes accepting financial support from surrendering control over what he does with it: he intends to put the resources toward his own plans for the property.

An Offer of Work, and a Refusal to Stay

During the conversation, Ilana admits that she feels useless and says that she would not mind dying. Boaz rejects the remark and tells her that she needs something to do. He does not claim to understand what she is experiencing; instead, he focuses on activity and offers concrete alternatives to remaining alone with her despair. He invites her to move in, promising work and food and suggesting that she could cook or help care for the goats. He also says she could bring Yifat or anyone else and stay without getting in his way.

The offer is characteristic of the household Boaz is assembling. It is practical and conditional on participation in everyday work, but it also gives Ilana room to choose how to contribute. His way of reaching her is not through a discussion of their past or an explanation of his feelings, but through food, repairs, shared labor, and the possibility of a place in the house. Ilana does not accept. The visit has opened a door without making her ready to cross it.

Instead, she asks Boaz to accompany her to Haifa to see Alexander, reminding him that the sick man is his grandfather and built the house for him. Boaz remembers Alexander but questions what he could gain from visiting him. He says that trips outside the estate often lead to conflict and asks his mother to request money for a telescope. He imagines observing the stars and the sea from the property, then perhaps building a yacht. The proposal to visit his grandfather therefore meets resistance, while Boaz’s attention turns toward a future he can construct on his own terms.

When the meal is ready, Boaz again tells Ilana she may stay, but accepts that she is leaving. He directs her to a bus stop and gives her coins found in the cellar for Yifat. He also makes clear that she can return whenever she wants. These gestures leave the encounter with a concrete, if limited, connection: Ilana departs without staying, but carries a gift from Boaz to her daughter and an open invitation to come back.

Family Loyalties and the Visit’s Afterlife

The meeting takes place against a changing relationship between Boaz and Michel Sommo. In an earlier letter, Ilana had described Michel persuading Boaz to visit the family in Jerusalem; the two men were beginning to find their way toward each other, and she had watched them compete for Yifat’s attention. At the Zikhron estate, Ilana wonders whether Alexander’s decision to place Boaz in the house was meant to undermine that developing bond and draw Boaz away from Michel. Her interpretation is an accusation and a fear, not an established account of Alexander’s motive. It reveals how the estate has become entangled with adult rivalry even as Boaz tries to make it a working home.

Ilana’s own position remains divided. She goes to Zikhron after setting out for Haifa, but leaves without bringing Boaz to visit Alexander. Her letter turns from the day’s encounter to an appeal to Alexander, expressing a desire to end their exchange of accusations and recover their former closeness. The visit thus renews contact with Boaz while also intensifying Ilana’s unresolved attachment to his father and her suspicion of the choices he has made.

Later descriptions show how the estate develops beyond the neglected condition Ilana first encounters. Alexander eventually lives there as the grounds are worked by a group of young people; vegetable beds replace the former rose plantings, and the marble pool is restored. Ilana takes part in the life of the property, and, as Alexander’s health deteriorates, becomes his caregiver. Boaz helps accommodate his grandfather, making a seat for him and carrying him upstairs at night. These later changes do not erase the tensions exposed by Ilana’s visit, but they show the house becoming a place where separate family relationships and daily acts of care coexist. The visit’s significance lies in its modest opening: Boaz offers his mother a place and useful work, and she leaves knowing that she may return.