The Blogs: East of Eden and north of Jaffa: John Steinbeck's hope | Sarah Ansbacher

A blog post exploring the connection between John Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden" and Tel Aviv, focusing on the author's family history and the Mount Hope farm established by his grandfather near Jaffa.

A blog post on The Times of Israel explores the connection between John Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden" and Tel Aviv. The author, Sarah Ansbacher, watched the Netflix adaptation and researched Steinbeck's use of biblical allusions, leading her to the author's family history. Steinbeck's paternal grandfather, Johann Großsteinbeck, emigrated to the Holy Land in 1849 and co-founded a farm called Mount Hope (Har Hatikvah) north of Jaffa in 1853. The farm ended tragically in 1858 after a deadly raid. Steinbeck visited the site in 1966. The post also discusses the novel's central theme of free will, based on the Hebrew word 'timshel'.