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4.5
Review of The People of the Books, 18 Classics of Jewish Literature by Adam Kirsch review by Jerry WoolpyKirsch covers works chronologically from Philo (15 BC to 45 CE) to Sholem Aleichem (1859 to 1916). His summaries are forthright and readable, even of works that if read in the original would be tedious and boring to the average reader. They include: Philo of Alexandria’s Exposition of the Laws a philosophical gloss on the Torah, Josephus’ The Jewish War, Pirkei Avot, Yehuda Halevi’s Kuzari, a defense of Judaism, Benjamin of Tudela’s tour the Jewish world, Moses Maimonides Guide of the Perplexed, The Zohar, Tsenerene a Yiddish paraphrase of the Bible intended primarily for use by Jewish women, Spinoza, Glückel of Hameln’s Yiddish-language Memoirs, Moses Mendelssohn’s from a pious Jewish background to the foremost philosopher of the German Enlightenment, Hasidism of the Baal Shem Tov, Solomon Maimon’s secular philosophy, Nachman of Bratslav’s Hasidim Tales, Theodor Herzl’s Zionism, Sholem Aleichem’s stories about Tevye the Dairyman, and some important history along the way. From my limited background as a Reform Jew listening to various Rabbis and studying Torah assiduously I found the book fascinating and an intellectual challenge to anyone who takes Judaism at face value. I am left wondering what our present congregations are for: mostly to keep us in the fold and unquestioning? Why don’t we question our history of insecurity and hopelessness? Why don’t we focus on the place of God in our history and the reason for the mitzvoth that provide a formula for living peaceably? Why are we still crazy about The Land when that is just a metaphor for accepting Mosaic Law? Is our history just too deep for the understanding of our people? I love this book. Don’t read it if you are content with your present view of Judaism.
