Blog
Teach Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” in Yeshiva. Really.
Perhaps the most Jewish work of fantasy was written by Charles Dickens in 1843. It’s called A Christmas Carol. It’s so Jewish it should be taught in yeshiva. I’ve been saying this to rabbis for years mostly, I confess, to get a rise out of them. But I also think it’s true, even though Dickens...
The stupid, greedy, filthy role model
The ancient Israelites didn’t think much of dogs, which is a shame because they do seem to have thought much about them. Think of an epithet you wouldn’t want to have hurled at you, and some prophet or psalmist seems to have hurled it at the nearest mutt. It’s enough to make a dog lover cry....
An eternal hero, eternally reimagined
When the Vilna Troupe staged the world premiere of S. Ansky’s The Dybbuk at the Elyseum Theatre in Warsaw 100 years ago—on December 9, 1920—it couldn’t anticipate the phenomenon it was unleashing upon the world. The play—about a “dybbuk” or disembodied spirit that possesses a young woman and is...
How does God judge?
Jews worldwide tonight begin the ten-day period of the Days of Awe, starting with Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and culminating with Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). This is the time, according to tradition, when not only all Jews, but all people, are judged by God and their fates sealed for the...
Be afraid of the vegetable man. Be very afraid.
One of the great joys of doing research for The Hidden Saint was discovering new, fantastic creatures—new to me, at least—that have their roots in the bible and the ancient rabbinic law of the Mishna and the Talmud. That is, between two and three thousand years ago. The cornucopia of...
Meet the dybbuk’s little brother
Why do bad things happen to good people? There’s nothing new in looking around and seeing good people suffer while bad people thrive. Religions have had to grapple with the apparent inconsistency between this and the concept of a just and loving God. One answer is reincarnation. Hindus have...