Visitors to Israel usually see a sanitized image of Jerusalem filled with beautiful hotels, tempting restaurants and colorful shops, enhanced by the holiness of the Old City and its Wall. In her novel, In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist, Ruchama King Feuerman introduces us to a more complicated city.

As we enter Ms. Feuerman’s Jerusalem, we meet many characters: a noted kabbalist and his wife, an introverted bachelor, a Vespa riding baalat teshuva, a lonely Arab janitor working at the Temple Mount and various beggars, mystics, addicts and criminals—along with jaded policemen and security officers. Ms. Feuerman deftly weaves the lives of these dissimilar characters into her story of intrigue and romance as she alternates chapters between two main characters, Isaac and Mustapha.

Isaac, the unfulfilled 40-year-old bachelor, has come to Israel to find a new life for himself after the death of his mother. After seeking advice from the kabbalist, Rebbe Yehuda, he becomes the Rebbe’s tenant as well as his personal assistant. In the Rebbe’s courtyard, Isaac also meets Tamar, a young woman seeking spiritual and marital fulfillment, but Issac’s basic insecurities thwart their budding relationship. Despite his lack of confidence, Isaac demonstrates a growing empathy to all the seekers and lost souls in need who gather to seek the kabbalist’s advice. The only person he can’t help is himself.

It is a chance meeting of Isaac with Mustapha, a deformed Arab janitor at the Temple Mount that propels the story. Mustapha is overwhelmed when Isaac kindly comments that the janitor’s daily cleaning jobs resemble some of the services of the Kohein in the Holy Temple. For the first time in Mustapha’s life, his menial tasks seem valued. In appreciation of Isaac’s encouraging words, Mustapha later decides to present him with a gift, not realizing that the pottery shard he uncovers while cleaning at a construction site is a valued artifact. Mustapha never dreams of what consequences his discovery and gift will engender. Soon, Isaac, Mustapha and even Tamar are drawn into a political intrigue, and it is only at the novel’s conclusion that each of them comes close to discovering what is truly important in life.

With her eye for detail and local color, Ms. Feuerman uses her 10-year experience of living in Israel to the reader’s advantage. Especially powerful are the scenes that take place in the prison at the Russian Compound. There, and in the courtyard, as well as in the description of Mustapha’s living and work conditions, the author makes the many clashes of Middle Eastern culture come alive: the conflicts between Orthodox and secular, Ashkenazi and Sefard, Arab and Jew, man and woman. One only wishes that Ms. Feuerman had spent more time on developing the character of Shaindel Bracha, the Rebbe’s fabulous balabusta wife, and his very clever muse. Perhaps a sequel is in order.

Ms. Feuerman, a respected writing coach and essayist, is also the author of Seven Blessings. In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist is available as an e-book and in paperback.

Review By Estelle Glass