Rabbis and Wives by Chaim Grade was shortlisted for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, albeit I could not find it on The Greatest Books of All Time site at all, never mind seeing it near the top…you find thousands of reviews of magnum opera from The GOAT and other prestigious lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html The Oath was the last part

 

Rabbis and Wives by Chaim Grade was shortlisted for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, albeit I could not find it on The Greatest Books of All Time site at all, never mind seeing it near the top…you find thousands of reviews of magnum opera from The GOAT and other prestigious lists on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-you-have-any-suggestions-how-to-make.html The Oath was the last part

 

<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODnZhRkjjKbJaqofBhInS1vPtdbQ7TSG1OuYCE4tJ6LAQv7kr-kefoHr1fGZibMv8had3Q1JbsVRrY42HH8yU-EUg1RD2D5jQ6ac83ygZ5RJfuFch_xBn0b4Jz5oDykieeEIQp2RejM8L0tlPBRtrXD7MWlX6KzRS0LLTU6myolWwovTL5bi07UdW1z1r/w155-h277/image.jpeg" />

9 out of 10

 

Rebbetzin https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/10/rebbetzin-by-chaim-grade-is-first.html was the first of three novellas included in Rabbis and Wives, and I have just finished the third and last, The Oath: these were three impressive narratives, alas, ignored by The Greatest Books of All Time and other sites, though the novel was a Pulitzer Prize finalist

 

Rabbi Avraham Abba Seligman is the main character here, in The Oath, though Batsheva would share the center stage with him: Zalman Rappaport called the rabbi, one week before his death, and as his last wishes, he wanted his son, Gavriel aka Gabik, to abandon his agricultural studies, and study the Torah with Avraham Seligman

https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/10/la-force-de-loptimisme-by-martin.html Martin Seligman is the co-founder of Positive Psychology, and the Rabbi shares not only his name, but also this interest in making others happier, albeit he had started on the wrong foot, as a married, young man he was too impulsive, and quite obnoxious

 

at least to his wife, who had followed him, despite the fact that she had had other ideas, she worked in this shop, where her spouse would come in frequently, to object, spy and belittle her, to the point where she could not stand it anymore, and asked for a divorce, and after that, the man became known as The Divorced Rabbi

once Batsheva Rappaport became a widow, she calls on the rabbi for advice, support, the other wish of her late spouse was for his daughter, Asna, to marry a Hassid (the last I placed in, to show off my recollection of the term, which I think means learned scholar) or at least some man with solid knowledge of the Torah

 

like in the second novella https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/10/laybe-lazars-courtyard-by-chaim-grade.html the rabbi has some advice to offer, though he cannot change things, especially since that is the will of God - again, my (mis)interpretation – Gabik does not attend the learning sessions, after some time

worse still, Asna is in love with this community, Mulik, who gets arrested – now that is the ultimate offense, I am about to think about a spoiler alert, now that I have already told (the hypothetical) you what happens – so take that, deceased parent, for listening to your last wishes, instead of a Hassid, a red son of a bitch

 

ultimately though, the last wish of Zelman Rappaport may have been fulfilled, and there is a catch, he had something else in mind, and that happens, in what is a remarkable, sophisticated, if rather short oeuvre, Rabbi Seligman is full of wisdom, here are some excerpts Those who study to observe see new wonder every day…Every day he marvels anew at how the sun rises and how it sets, the storm’s lightning…One was not permitted to gaze directly at a woman other than his wife; It is forbidden to lend to a person who has no thought of repaying…To please people you have to flatter them by acting and being like them

Comentarii

Trimiteți un comentariu

Postări populare de pe acest blog

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice written by Larry Tucker and Paul Mazursky, directed by the latter is included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list, and Variety has published recently its Top 100 Comedies – or else, I have learned about this lately – where this feature has a top spot, as far as I remember it is higher that the 50th spot – speaking of these pages, you have access to my own more than five thousand notes on films from these and other compilations, together with another five thousand reviews on magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other sites on my blog and You Tube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html you may even subscribe, if you wish

Imagine
  Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice written by Larry Tucker and Paul Mazursky, directed by the latter is included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list, and Variety has published recently its Top 100 Comedies – or else, I have learned about this lately – where this feature has a top spot, as far as I remember it is higher that the 50 th spot – speaking of these pages, you have access to my own more than five thousand notes on films from these and other compilations, together with another five thousand reviews on magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other sites on my blog and You Tube channel https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html you may even subscribe, if you wish     9 out of 10   First a correction: I wrote above that this comedy is within the first fifty of Variety’s Top 100, I just saw that it is in fact ranked 90 th , I could have edited the above, but maybe this way I will re...
Citiți mai multe

In The Fade aka Auf Dem Nichts, written by Hark Bohm and Fatih Akin

  In The Fade aka Auf Dem Nichts, written by Hark Bohm and Fatih Akin In The Fade has won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, although in this cinephile's opinion, Una Mujer Fantastica- which has won the Oscar in the same category- Nelyubov or The Square would have been better choices. Having said that, Auf Dem Nichts is a very good, significant, remarkable feature, that attracts attention to violence against minorities, in this case the Kurdish community in Germany. It is therefore not one sided, we do not have only Muslim lunatics killing innocent "infidels", but also some extreme Europeans murdering the other side. The problem is that, unacceptable, horrifying and vile as these acts are, it appears that the overwhelming majority of atrocities are committed by zealots acting in the name of Islam- radical and unrepresentative as they are for this supposedly peaceful faith, although there are passages in its holy book that seem to insist on a violent jihad and ultimat...
Citiți mai multe