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With All My Heart, With All My Soul
Joshua Elazari is an orthodox Jew. Intensely brilliant and charismatic, he is and advanced Talmudic student at an elite Rabbinical college. And at the same time a doctoral student in English at Princeton University. Christine Mellowrand is a strikingly beautiful coed in her final year year of undergraduate studies at Princeton. Exceptionally intelligent and charming, and strong willed, she also enjoys the advantages of wealth and a highly cultured home. Josh is invited to deliver the second of the English department faculty lectures during the Fall semester. Chris attends and is overwhelmed. She becomes fascinated by Josh as a person and by the realm of thought he opens up to her. A singularly exquisite and passionate love draws together two extraordinary young people who were not meant for each other - the brilliant, uncompromising Jew and the exceptionally gifted and striking Gentile girl. Powerful and perceptive, interlaced with keen humor and sharp wit. This book provides a glimpse into the Yeshiva world of Orthodox Judaism, its philosophies and values.
- GenresJewish
Hardcover
Published June 1, 1992
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 29, 2007
Margueya's scathing review of this book truly says it all. She brought it so we could have a good laugh, and it certainly filled its purpose.
This is basically a Targum-Feldheim romance novel (published by Bosworth Press, which I suspect is a cover for some vanity publishing company) which takes place in a university setting (Princeton, no less), written by someone who may never have actually walked into a university although he claims otherwise. I also doubt his experience with romance, because the dialogue between the protagonists was truly beyond belief.
Reading this book was a little like reading Harry Potter or some other magic realism/fantasy book, where it's like, this world bears some superficial resemblance to the one I know but a lot of the rules are different. Right from the start, you could tell it was going to be preposterous. A second-year student delivering the faculty lecture? Unprepared? He blows his audience away? At PRINCETON? Each thing by itself bore no resemblance to any university I know; together, well...
Then, of course, there was this Harlequin romance (with no touching, of course). The last time I found dialogue this difficult to read, I was reading in Hebrew. Basically a lot of lecturing, during which these two were theoretically falling madly in love. I'm all for an intellectual connection between a couple, but this was...I just keep finding myself at a loss for words. Naturally, Christine was incredibly beautiful to boot -- would you have predicted otherwise?
At this point, I've run out of things to say that weren't put better by Margueya. Instead, I'll tell you how I think the book should have been written:
Josh is struggling to juggle the pressure of studying in both Lakewood and Princeton and not fully succeeding in either place. More to the point, he is experiencing a soul struggle about the appeal of both places for him and trying to figure out where he truly belongs. Christine (who would surely have a more subtly symbolic name in my version) would be an average-looking, intelligent student to whom he is attracted but very unsure, especially given the difference in their faiths. She, meanwhile, is experiencing doubts about him as she encounters their culture gap and the fact that he feels he must hide their relationship from his family. Other issues, rather than being glossed over or completely ignored, would actually be dealt with in the book, e.g., yichud and negiah, lack of acceptance from friends and family on both sides, shadchanim make Josh crazy and he is conflicted between his shidduch life and his Princeton life, Josh gets found out and his reputation is shot but he still can't bring himself to leave Lakewood, etc., etc.
Now that's a book that would have had potential.
This is basically a Targum-Feldheim romance novel (published by Bosworth Press, which I suspect is a cover for some vanity publishing company) which takes place in a university setting (Princeton, no less), written by someone who may never have actually walked into a university although he claims otherwise. I also doubt his experience with romance, because the dialogue between the protagonists was truly beyond belief.
Reading this book was a little like reading Harry Potter or some other magic realism/fantasy book, where it's like, this world bears some superficial resemblance to the one I know but a lot of the rules are different. Right from the start, you could tell it was going to be preposterous. A second-year student delivering the faculty lecture? Unprepared? He blows his audience away? At PRINCETON? Each thing by itself bore no resemblance to any university I know; together, well...
Then, of course, there was this Harlequin romance (with no touching, of course). The last time I found dialogue this difficult to read, I was reading in Hebrew. Basically a lot of lecturing, during which these two were theoretically falling madly in love. I'm all for an intellectual connection between a couple, but this was...I just keep finding myself at a loss for words. Naturally, Christine was incredibly beautiful to boot -- would you have predicted otherwise?
At this point, I've run out of things to say that weren't put better by Margueya. Instead, I'll tell you how I think the book should have been written:
Josh is struggling to juggle the pressure of studying in both Lakewood and Princeton and not fully succeeding in either place. More to the point, he is experiencing a soul struggle about the appeal of both places for him and trying to figure out where he truly belongs. Christine (who would surely have a more subtly symbolic name in my version) would be an average-looking, intelligent student to whom he is attracted but very unsure, especially given the difference in their faiths. She, meanwhile, is experiencing doubts about him as she encounters their culture gap and the fact that he feels he must hide their relationship from his family. Other issues, rather than being glossed over or completely ignored, would actually be dealt with in the book, e.g., yichud and negiah, lack of acceptance from friends and family on both sides, shadchanim make Josh crazy and he is conflicted between his shidduch life and his Princeton life, Josh gets found out and his reputation is shot but he still can't bring himself to leave Lakewood, etc., etc.
Now that's a book that would have had potential.
March 14, 2018
As his pseudonym, the author used B. D. Da'Ehu. This is a reference to a phrase in the Torah "bechol deracheha da'ehu," which is a theme of the book.
That should tell you everything you need to know about this book - its author is the sort of person who is worried you will miss his point, so he makes sure to say it about seven hundred times.
That should tell you everything you need to know about this book - its author is the sort of person who is worried you will miss his point, so he makes sure to say it about seven hundred times.
April 5, 2023
Imagine a Feldheim novel about an inter-religious romance with a Lakewood yeshiva bachur getting a grad degree in Lit at Princeton and a brilliant gentile Princeton gal who likes to talk Jewish philosophy.
It's got everything implicitly hackneyed about the premise, and also everything that makes it super.
It's got everything implicitly hackneyed about the premise, and also everything that makes it super.
July 8, 2007
RETCH. This book defies words for its incredible awfulness. I was intrigued - how could I not be - by the premise of a young man shteiging in Lakewood while pursuing a phD in lit at Princeton ... that's enough to pull me in (especially since the author himself is rumored - pseudonym, of course, but at this point his cover is blown - for having done the same) but then - da dam! - he falls for a non Jewish girl (beautiful of course) named Christine, funnily enough (this should've been a warning sign, if the title wasn't one enough- I'm surprised the author didn't make her last name Magdalene) - and the plot thickens. Well I'm all for the mind soul - heart soul? - conflict, so, sure, sign me up.
AAAAGGHHH! Explain to me how a literary scholar can write SO poorly? Is there a cliche he left out? We have our hero, Josh/Yehoshua, who is handsome, brilliant, beloved and a seemingly perfect man. So perfect, in fact, that he doesn't even register the conflict that one SHOULD be feeling leaving an institute of kuloh Torah twice a week to immerse himself in secular studies with the same fervor. No, he's actually totally fine with that because he is a Jew first and foremost and this is just a fun side activity. yeah. Whatever. Then enter the heroine, who is so beautiful that Josh (heads up, this is a definite winner for talmudic pick up lines) can't help but think - there is a commandment to make a blessing upon seeing beauty thatis out of the ordinairy - surely she would qualify.
It gets even vomity-er as the book continues. The author uses this book as a mouthpiece for all of his knowledge of Torah and philosophy and lit and his own opinions on all of that (hey buddy, Ayn Rand called, she wants her pretense of fiction back) and just tacks on a he said, she said at the end and calls it dialogue. YAWN. he's also a great one for going on and on in his speeches and then having the listener marvel at how clever and witty and brilliant the character is. Way to pat yourself on the back.
Sigh - what a shame. All that potential. There is no subtlety, and for all the complexity of the conflict, no complexity! He spells out, LOUD and clear, all the feelings of the characters without leaving anything to be deduced, but leaves out huge chunks where character dimension and plan old realism ought to be. Um, where are the shadchans that should be knocking down Josh's door, with him grappling over how to tell them he's 'busy'? Where are his friends wondering why he's never around? How is it that after three encounters in the library Josh and Chris declare undying love for each other? Hello? How bout the Rosh Yeshiva - telling Josh to go ahead and give Princeton a go -- yeah that's SO realistic. Please! And the fact that Josh insists from the getgo that they be shomer negiah - and it only comes up once that she raises the issue? This book was so bad I had to finish it so I could properly complain. Everyone was perfect and no one seemed to have any development beyond puppet like motions to move along the, er, "plot." This book is beyond editing. It needs to be rewritten, and it should be, because this could be one great book, idea wise, if the author could just get over himself and lay off the harlequins ('the sun had never risen before she met Josh' ... o..m..g...). Stick to your day job, man - apparently your critique of literature only goes so far.
AAAAGGHHH! Explain to me how a literary scholar can write SO poorly? Is there a cliche he left out? We have our hero, Josh/Yehoshua, who is handsome, brilliant, beloved and a seemingly perfect man. So perfect, in fact, that he doesn't even register the conflict that one SHOULD be feeling leaving an institute of kuloh Torah twice a week to immerse himself in secular studies with the same fervor. No, he's actually totally fine with that because he is a Jew first and foremost and this is just a fun side activity. yeah. Whatever. Then enter the heroine, who is so beautiful that Josh (heads up, this is a definite winner for talmudic pick up lines) can't help but think - there is a commandment to make a blessing upon seeing beauty thatis out of the ordinairy - surely she would qualify.
It gets even vomity-er as the book continues. The author uses this book as a mouthpiece for all of his knowledge of Torah and philosophy and lit and his own opinions on all of that (hey buddy, Ayn Rand called, she wants her pretense of fiction back) and just tacks on a he said, she said at the end and calls it dialogue. YAWN. he's also a great one for going on and on in his speeches and then having the listener marvel at how clever and witty and brilliant the character is. Way to pat yourself on the back.
Sigh - what a shame. All that potential. There is no subtlety, and for all the complexity of the conflict, no complexity! He spells out, LOUD and clear, all the feelings of the characters without leaving anything to be deduced, but leaves out huge chunks where character dimension and plan old realism ought to be. Um, where are the shadchans that should be knocking down Josh's door, with him grappling over how to tell them he's 'busy'? Where are his friends wondering why he's never around? How is it that after three encounters in the library Josh and Chris declare undying love for each other? Hello? How bout the Rosh Yeshiva - telling Josh to go ahead and give Princeton a go -- yeah that's SO realistic. Please! And the fact that Josh insists from the getgo that they be shomer negiah - and it only comes up once that she raises the issue? This book was so bad I had to finish it so I could properly complain. Everyone was perfect and no one seemed to have any development beyond puppet like motions to move along the, er, "plot." This book is beyond editing. It needs to be rewritten, and it should be, because this could be one great book, idea wise, if the author could just get over himself and lay off the harlequins ('the sun had never risen before she met Josh' ... o..m..g...). Stick to your day job, man - apparently your critique of literature only goes so far.
October 11, 2018
As a kid I was very moved by the ideas and relationships in this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews