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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think every person should have that one book, at least one book, that changed their life. This was that book for me.
This book altered the way I viewed the world and history, humans and their lives, faith and truth, and especially religion.
This book is a masterpiece. It is beautifully written, the words and storylines are stunningly crafted.
This book altered the way I viewed the world and history, humans and their lives, faith and truth, and especially religion.
This book is a masterpiece. It is beautifully written, the words and storylines are stunningly crafted.
It took me a while to get through this book, but I'm so glad I did!
In his book, Steinberg fictionalizes the life of Elisha, a rabbi of the Sanhedrin and sage who lived in Palestine after the destruction of the Second Temple, of whom we know little about for certain. Elisha's struggle to put reason and logic to faith is one I think many people, including myself, can identify with.
Though the book plays fast and loose with historical fact and tradition, it was not only enjoyable to read, but gives the reader some real food for thought. Highly recommended.
In his book, Steinberg fictionalizes the life of Elisha, a rabbi of the Sanhedrin and sage who lived in Palestine after the destruction of the Second Temple, of whom we know little about for certain. Elisha's struggle to put reason and logic to faith is one I think many people, including myself, can identify with.
Though the book plays fast and loose with historical fact and tradition, it was not only enjoyable to read, but gives the reader some real food for thought. Highly recommended.
Forward by Chaim Potok
The novel, based on Talmudic sources, admittedly heavily embellished and not holding strictly to pure factual occurrences, follows the life of Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah, a Jew living during the time after the second Jewish temple had been destroyed and under the thumb of Roman occupation. Born to a father who rejected the Jewish faith and embraced Greek thought and motherless from an early age, he is taught to read Greek and appreciate pagan philosophies. At ten, his father dies and he is then cared for by his observant Jewish uncle.
Immediately, the scrolls of his father’s are burned and Elisha is steeped in the Jewish faith. It is seen as a blessing by those scholars around him that he has been rescued from pagan thought. He rises in prominence to eventually become an ordained Rabbi and then a member of the Sanhedrin, that prestigious body of Sages that rules over matters religious and civil within Palestine.
Rabbi Elisha’s faith begins to falter and he is compelled beyond even his own reasoning to find proof of Truth. He decides to search all philosophies, knowing that he charts a very dangerous course. He will invite chastisement and eventually personal ruin and excommunication if he persists in his search, causing those around him to fear that he is an apostate.
The novel beautifully depicts the course of his life and his pursuit of knowledge and truth. I found myself strongly identifying with his passion and compulsion to learn even when those around him began to think the worst of him. While I believe we are given a mind by G-d and we are expected to use it, it becomes apparent that Elisha’s mind begins to turn in on itself and tragedy after tragedy follows.
One might begin to think that Steinberg is encouraging Elisha’s pursuit, especially when he is desperate for answers, but others are so fearful of even his questions he cannot find a safe way to work out his faith within the context of the community of his fellow sages. At other times his initial logic “makes so much sense”, but it becomes apparent that without faith, what appears as truth and logic rings hollow and leaves him without any kind of grounding even when that is exactly what the search was for originally.
I strongly recommend this book for those that want to explore what life was like around 70-90 CE in Palestine and Antioch and as a philosophical treatment of faith and logic. I would also hope that those within faith communities would read it to learn how to treat someone who is questioning. In the more fundamental (and sometimes not so fundamental) denominations, fear of doubt and fear of anything different within the community can propel potential congregants to leave the community to find answers rather than remain and feel safe to work it out. This novel is extremely timely even though it was published sixty-seven years ago.
It is rare for me to be so engrossed in a book that I cannot put it down, but in three days I devoured this one and it will find a permanent place on my bookshelf.
The novel, based on Talmudic sources, admittedly heavily embellished and not holding strictly to pure factual occurrences, follows the life of Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah, a Jew living during the time after the second Jewish temple had been destroyed and under the thumb of Roman occupation. Born to a father who rejected the Jewish faith and embraced Greek thought and motherless from an early age, he is taught to read Greek and appreciate pagan philosophies. At ten, his father dies and he is then cared for by his observant Jewish uncle.
Immediately, the scrolls of his father’s are burned and Elisha is steeped in the Jewish faith. It is seen as a blessing by those scholars around him that he has been rescued from pagan thought. He rises in prominence to eventually become an ordained Rabbi and then a member of the Sanhedrin, that prestigious body of Sages that rules over matters religious and civil within Palestine.
Rabbi Elisha’s faith begins to falter and he is compelled beyond even his own reasoning to find proof of Truth. He decides to search all philosophies, knowing that he charts a very dangerous course. He will invite chastisement and eventually personal ruin and excommunication if he persists in his search, causing those around him to fear that he is an apostate.
The novel beautifully depicts the course of his life and his pursuit of knowledge and truth. I found myself strongly identifying with his passion and compulsion to learn even when those around him began to think the worst of him. While I believe we are given a mind by G-d and we are expected to use it, it becomes apparent that Elisha’s mind begins to turn in on itself and tragedy after tragedy follows.
One might begin to think that Steinberg is encouraging Elisha’s pursuit, especially when he is desperate for answers, but others are so fearful of even his questions he cannot find a safe way to work out his faith within the context of the community of his fellow sages. At other times his initial logic “makes so much sense”, but it becomes apparent that without faith, what appears as truth and logic rings hollow and leaves him without any kind of grounding even when that is exactly what the search was for originally.
I strongly recommend this book for those that want to explore what life was like around 70-90 CE in Palestine and Antioch and as a philosophical treatment of faith and logic. I would also hope that those within faith communities would read it to learn how to treat someone who is questioning. In the more fundamental (and sometimes not so fundamental) denominations, fear of doubt and fear of anything different within the community can propel potential congregants to leave the community to find answers rather than remain and feel safe to work it out. This novel is extremely timely even though it was published sixty-seven years ago.
It is rare for me to be so engrossed in a book that I cannot put it down, but in three days I devoured this one and it will find a permanent place on my bookshelf.
Great tale of early Talmudic Judaism v Greek reason and philosophy through the life of Elisa, a scholar of both. Tender, intellectual, beautiful, and horrible from beginning to end. As relevant now as when it was written. Great novel, highly recommended.
Interesting story which takes place in around 100 CE in Palestine. Highlights the contradictions and clashes between the secular and religious worlds, the Jews and the Romans. While the Greek and Roman worlds had a lot to offer, they also had a lot of failings and the main character has a hard time reconciling the two. Pretty sad ending. Judaism survives near destruction, but it's hard to see it thriving.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Since I picked up the book at a thrift store, I had no idea what it was about and was merely tempted by the cover (sad, but true). Then, I put off reading it for about a year or more. Now, after spending the time digging in to Jewish life early in the ad dominum time frame, I am happy to had read this account of a rabbi who lost his faith and tried to use logic and reason to find it again. I had hoped to learn more about the lives of Jews in the time period, but instead was pushed to test reason and also to read some incredibly accurate historical fiction about the main character (who was a true person, evidently, from the Afterword) and about the suffering. It didn't give me, an agnostic, an reason to pick up faith after all these years, but it is an interesting journey to read about another's path to his own end.
I finished the book yesterday - the first book anybody told me to read when I said I was going to convert, and the first one my Rabbi gave me.
It was good - it took me awhile to get into it, but I read the entire second half in the space of a day. It was very thought-provoking, historically interesting, and I learned a lot.
I'm just not sure why it was so important that I read it. I mean, as a convert, I've clearly already re-evaluated my faith and come to a decision. If anything, the book *seems* to suggest that the truth is that there is, in face, no true path. Since Elisha is our hero, and he abandons first Judaism, then God, then any effort at truth, are we supposed to come to the same conclusion?
I doubt it - the characters of Akiba and Joshua and even Pappas are far too compelling for us to agree with Elisha that there is really nothing. Their example provides a counterpoint to Elisha, who ends up unhappy and alone, though long-lived.
Anyway, maybe it's because I read so much for work that I'm not used to having to sit down and *really* analyze what I read anymore. I'm accustomed to burning through books as fast as I can so I have them ready to recommend to patrons who are looking for them.
I'm not sorry I read the book. I got a lot out of it. And I'm going to talk about it with the Rabbi at our next meeting... I'm just not sure, I guess, *why* it is the most important book for me to have read at this time.
It was good - it took me awhile to get into it, but I read the entire second half in the space of a day. It was very thought-provoking, historically interesting, and I learned a lot.
I'm just not sure why it was so important that I read it. I mean, as a convert, I've clearly already re-evaluated my faith and come to a decision. If anything, the book *seems* to suggest that the truth is that there is, in face, no true path. Since Elisha is our hero, and he abandons first Judaism, then God, then any effort at truth, are we supposed to come to the same conclusion?
I doubt it - the characters of Akiba and Joshua and even Pappas are far too compelling for us to agree with Elisha that there is really nothing. Their example provides a counterpoint to Elisha, who ends up unhappy and alone, though long-lived.
Anyway, maybe it's because I read so much for work that I'm not used to having to sit down and *really* analyze what I read anymore. I'm accustomed to burning through books as fast as I can so I have them ready to recommend to patrons who are looking for them.
I'm not sorry I read the book. I got a lot out of it. And I'm going to talk about it with the Rabbi at our next meeting... I'm just not sure, I guess, *why* it is the most important book for me to have read at this time.