My knowledge of Judaism is modest but my emotions about it run high, so this is definitely not a scholarly review but a rather emotional one.
I read the "Maimonides" book by Sherwin Nuland and "Betraying Spinoza" by Rebecca Goldstein, and thrilled with the quality of material, had high expectations for the "Rashi" book. So much so, that I practically hovered on the doorstep, waiting for the Amazon delivery.
And this is what I got! This!? I tiny book, which is neither a good introduction to the whole topic, nor a treatise on one aspect of it. The book does not have any structure, but consists of free-form musings on the subject of Jewish predicament during the time of Rashi and seemingly random points about his work.
To get this tiny booklet from an accomplished writer, like Mr. Wiesel, was a shock. I kept looking at the back of the book, hoping to find something more.
But, outraged as I am with the flimsiness of Mr. Wiesel's oeuvre, I am also charmed with its emotional impact. The book is a love letter to Rashi and a condolence letter to the Jews that suffered so much and so often. Letters are most effective when brief.
I can hear the wide-eyed boy in
"Sometimes, in my small towm, it seemed to me that Rashi had been sent to earth primarily to help Jewish children overcome loneliness.
And Fear."
And my heart catches in pain for all those Jewish children in pre-war European towns. Which does not have much to do with Rashi but makes me want to know more about him.
So the book is also a tease, in the best sense of the word. Just like Wiesel says,
"...the student should withhold questions that the Teacher might not be able to answer, and then seek a new Teacher."
Since my chief complaint about the book is its brevity, I am giving it 3 stars and closing with a Woody Allen joke,"uh, two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know, and such small portions." "
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