Spotlight #4: Noa

Noa Ben-Horin, age 18. Born in Los Angeles to a Japanese mother and Jewish father, her life has often been defined by her dual cultural heritage. Her mother was a professor of archeology while her father was previously a rabbi. Though her father, Maccabee hails from a family of conservative orthodox Jews, he himself is quite progressive, often putting him at odds with religious authorities. Though born in Tel-Aviv, Maccabee was open about his disdain for the state of Israel's politics, citing that as his main reason for immigrating to America and for why he often dissuaded Noa from ever visiting. However, this changed following his wife's death as he not only quit being a rabbi, but left America for Israel, now part of the Judean Empire of Simien as the Israeli Kingdom of Simien, with Noa. To Noa, the details surrounding her mother's death are hazy, with Maccabee telling her it was due to illness. Though Noa can sense the great pain and sadness in her father's words and feels there might be more to them than meets the eye, she doesn't press the issue. 

Following her move to New Tel-Aviv, Noa quickly befriended the likes of Golda Goldschmidt and Chaya Shamir, competing actively with the latter to become New Tel-Aviv's DSPCM. Though many praise her chess skills, and she's happy to have friends, Noa often feels a tad foreign in Simien due to some of the cultural differences between life there compared to America. She still wonders why exactly her family needed to move as life in LA was quite peaceful. Even though she can warp to LA's secret puzzle cafe, Maccabee even dissuades her from setting foot outside of it into LA, further mystifying her as to why this could be. Nonetheless, she respects her father's wishes, but one day, when she can truly call herself his equal in chess, she'll ask him to fully explain things to her.