01.01.70

Rabbi Eliezer, a great sage, is accidentally frozen in a block of ice in Russia in 1889. He remains thusly preserved for over a hundred years until he is inadvertently thawed out and reanimated during a power surge in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1999. His unwitting rescuer is Bernie Karp, an overweight, socially awkward Jewish teenager who has found the frozen rabbi in his parents' basement chest freezer. How Rabbi Eliezer came to be stored in that freezer, and what happens (to him and to Bernie) after he is defrosted is the plot of Steve Stern's The Frozen Rabbi .

The book joins a list of my favorites of this genre (Jewish magical realism?), including The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, The World to Come by Dara Horn, and A Blessing on the Moon by Joseph Skibell. It combines fantasy, humor, mysticism, history, tragedy and adventure all in one pot. But this recipe also has some negatives. As sometimes happens in books like this, Stern gets carried away and tries to cram in too much. At times the book staggers under its own weight.

Source: Isthmus

by mtkatz

We had a great book club today, with loads of heartful questions and responses on The Lemon Tree. We’d like to extend a special thanks to Joel for moderating and everyone for sharing views. If you can’t attend, you are invited to read with us anyway; these are great selections.Our next meeting is on 3/29 at 8pm. Here’s the info:All Other Nights by Dara Horn 2009, … 384 pages historical fiction, copies available from librarySummary from the Library website:

How is tonight different from all other nights? For Jacob Rappaport, a Jewish soldier in the Union army, it is a question his commanders have answered for him: on Passover in 1862, he is ordered to murder his own uncle, who is plotting to assassinate President Lincoln. After that night, will Jacob ever speak for himself? The answer comes when his commanders send him on another mission-this time not to murder a spy but to marry one. A compelling novel rich with romance and the history of America (North and South), this is a book only Dara Horn could have written. Full of insight and surprise, layered with meaning, it is a brilliant parable of the moral divide that still haunts us: between those who value family first and those who are dedicated, at any cost, to social and racial justice for all.

Source: Our Next Book Club Meeting – March 29th at 8pm | Hollis Hills ...

Temple Judea is forming a new book club directed by lay leadership to explore popular Jewish literature.  Our first meeting will be held on January 4, 2012, at 6 p.m. in the Wiener Library.  Please note this is a time change from the Adult Ed brochure.  Subsequent meetings will be held on the first Wednesday of every month, except in March due to Purim, when it will be on the second Wednesday.

Source: Learning News - New Jewish Book Club Launches in January ...