The Gate Behind the Wall: A Pilgrimage to Jerusalem

by Samuel C. Heilman

When Samuel Heilman took a sabbatical from teaching sociology to spend time in Jerusalem, he did not know that it would become a personal pilgrimage. "Not until I had been to Jerusalem and observed and joined in the act of lernen the Talmud would I be able to discover its centrality to my own Jewish existence," Heilman writes. "What had begun by engaging the social scientist in me would end by awakening the Jew."
As he met with Talmudic scholars, with mystics and preachers, and with the ordinary people of Jerusalem, Heilman sensed the opening of the gate in his wall of resistance to the past. While studying the holy books he had previously put aside in the name of science, he breached the boundaries of time and place and discovered a spirit that linked his modern world with his ancient heritage.

Genres: Memoir

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author very adroitly and movingly documents his quest to find Jewish meaning in his modern life through the study of Torah. He concludes that having discovered the Talmud he believes it should be an essential study. Yet I am struck by the fact that his beautifully described search for meaning in his life through Torah did not appear to have changed his stupid blindness about the place of women. All according to his view are in a submissive supporting role.

[Yehudit Reishtein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sociologists journey into the world Talmud study in Jerusalem. Very interesting

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but laborious, as though every detail in any given room felt worth noting whether it was worth reading about or not. The author's journey through different shuls and study groups was certainly a spiritual odyssey for him, but for the reader, it was just a recollection of what people wore in this room v. that one. It is implicit that Torah and Talmud are vital parts of a Jewish life, but a reader who is not also steeped in written and oral Jewish tradition might believe that the men encountered in the book only depend on "lernen" because they have nothing else to do. There is no explication of what precisely these resources add to a life beyond Tevye's "tradition." Where is the lost or wretched man whose life is set aright by Mishna and Gemara? Where are the problems in the author's life that seem intractable until he acquires the wisdom of our fathers to forge a just solution?
Instead we get what sort of furniture or chandelier or book binding he encounters in each house of worship he visits.

[Robin Feit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in high school-great story about this man's physical/spiritual pilgrimage.

[Craig Bolton]

The Gate Behind the Wall: A Pilgrimage to Jerusalem by Samuel C. Heilman (1985)