Jewish Literary Review

Posted on December 25, 2007 by Steve Pollak

Loose ends: A Christmas edition

Who knew there would be so much Jewish book news on Christmas? I thought I was taking the day off for Chinese food and movies. Alas, a blog update beckons and here I am. Without further ado, here are a few quick hits from around the Web:

The New York Times

The Times ran a piece yesterday about Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, noting that this is the centennial year of his birth and the event has been commemorated by a conference this month at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan and a new biography by Edward K. Kaplan called “Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, 1940-1972.” As would be appropriate for this time of year, it began with an anecdote about Heschel using humor and his knowledge of Christmas to diffuse a difficult situation. How did he do it? He 'proved' the existence of Santa Claus:

In 1965, after walking in the Selma-to-Montgomery civil-rights march with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was at the Montgomery, Ala., airport, trying to find something to eat. A surly woman behind the snack-bar counter glared at Heschel — his yarmulke and white beard making him look like an ancient Hebrew prophet — and mockingly proclaimed: “Well, I’ll be damned. My mother always told me there was a Santa Claus, and I didn’t believe her, until now.” She told Heschel that there was no food to be had.

In response, according to a new biography, “Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, 1940-1972” by Edward K. Kaplan (Yale), Heschel simply smiled. He gently asked, “Is it possible that in the kitchen there might be some water?” Yes, she acknowledged. “Is it possible that in the refrigerator you might find a couple of eggs?” Perhaps, she admitted. Well, then, Heschel said, if you boiled the eggs in the water, “that would be just fine.”

She shot back, “And why should I?”

“Why should you?” Heschel said. “Well, after all, I did you a favor.”

“What favor did you ever do me?”

“I proved,” he said, “there was a Santa Claus.”

And after the woman’s burst of laughter, food was quickly served.

The complete review

The complete review ran a review of Arnon Grunberg's “The Jewish Messiah: A Novel.” The book, which tells the story of a teen from Basel who, in his warped desire to save the Jews, undergoes a circumcision, translates “Mein Kampf” into Yiddish and eventually moves to Israel, scored points for its cleverness and its originality but the ending apparently disappointed the reviewer:

The Jewish Messiah is a long book but ultimately feels entirely too quick, the abrupt ending almost completely out of place — or rather: reading almost like the outline of the ending. The ideas are good, the execution disappointing — and all the more so because Grunberg shows what he really can do for large stretches of the novel. Even there, not everything fits entirely together or is best-used (so, for example, the story of Awromele's sister), but much is quite splendid. But the work as a whole falls short.

The Forward

Writing in the Forward, Zeek's associate editor Dan Friedman said Jon Papernick's “Who By Fire, Who By Blood” will keep you turning the pages:

As with all good thrillers, “Who By Fire, Who By Blood” works by keeping you guessing and turning the pages. Here we are kept wondering through whom, how and when we will learn the ramifications of becoming a ruthless ideologue and what the cost of not becoming one might be. “Who By Fire, Who By Blood” is a book about judgments and the misreading of history, starting with a misunderstanding of one’s parents. Even the U’Netaneh Tokef is deliberately misquoted. There is no blood in it, though it does end “who will be degraded and who will be exalted.” But to answer that, you’ll have to read and see.

Commentary

Lastly, I found a list of the top five Christmas books on Commentary's “the horizon” blog. Writer Stefan Beck says it's a list of books that “the goyim and the Chosen alike can enjoy.” Here are his choices:

1. How to Be Topp by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle.

2. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote.

3. A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.

4. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris.

5. A Christmas Garland by Max Beerbohm.

OK, now I'm really off to enjoy the rest of my day. I'll be back after a little Szechuan chicken and a Blockbuster marathon. Hope you all have a good time also.

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