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As a Driven Leaf
"A magnificent work of fiction brings the age of the Talmud to life and explores the times of Elisha ben Abuya, whose struggle to live in two worlds destroyed his chances to live in either."
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
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April 17, 2015
One of the books that forever changed the way I look at the world. I only gave it a 4-star rating because there are parts where it drags on. But the meat-and-potatoes of it are stellar.
Perhaps one of the quintessential works of Jewish Fiction, As a Driven Leaf was written by Rabbi Milton Steinberg, who was mostly an historian. This was his first foray into writing fiction, and in this book Rabbi Steinberg demonstrates a mastery not only of talmudic folklore, but also of Greco-Roman society, as well as the philosophies of both.
The protagonist is Elisha ben Abuyah, who is the textbook case of an "Apikores" (literally "Epicurean", but connotation is more "heathen"). The Talmud tells us very little about Elisha. We know that his name was changed to "Acher" (lit. "somebody else"). Using the little information the Talmud gives us about him, Steinberg weaves a 400+ page tale about a tormented man, struggling between his Jewish culture and the Roman beliefs he eventually espoused.
I first read this book as a freshman in high school. I was too young to truly appreciate it back then. In fact, one of my rabbis (who was raised a Reform Jew but later became Orthodox) warned us about Milton Steinberg. He warned us that the conclusions Rabbi Steinberg comes to are not in concordance with the Orthodox Jewish world. How prophetic, Steinberg would be one of the authors who shaped my current beliefs, which do not agree with Orthodoxy at all.
Like the Grateful Dead's St. Stephen, Elisha is constantly in search for the truth--even if it means unpending all of his current beliefs. He was born to a Hellenist father, who made him learn Homer while all his friends learned Torah. When his father died, his religious uncle sent him away to yeshiva to learn under Rabbi Joshua ben Haninah. Eventually, Elisha himself became a rabbi. But little by little, he began to have his doubts. Midway through the book, he receives a traumatic epiphany (almost straight out of Gemara Kiddushin), which makes him decide "there is no justice, there is no judge." And so, after getting excommunicated for publicly expressing his doubts, he moves to Antioch (the 4th biggest city in the Roman Empire).
Exiled and shamed, Elisha tries to pick up the pieces. Quickly, he learns that Antioch is no bed of roses. He enjoyed the intellectual freedom, but the caprices and the hedonism were not for him. As his friend Pappas told him when he ran away from a bordello that his friends tried to lure him into, some part of Elisha still was a bit of a rabbi. So Elisha eventually embraces Stoicism and starts getting himself published. But then, after angering the Praetor, one Marcus Tinnaeus Rufus (or "Turnusrufus", as the Talmud calls him), Rufus completely turns his life upside-down!
Elisha is a real tragic hero. He does not find the truth. He ends up a consummate skeptic. While I do not agree with the ending of the story, I still thank it for opening my mind to questioning everything. "As a Driven Leaf" is a must-read for anyone who is examining or reexamining any belief system. highly recommended!
Perhaps one of the quintessential works of Jewish Fiction, As a Driven Leaf was written by Rabbi Milton Steinberg, who was mostly an historian. This was his first foray into writing fiction, and in this book Rabbi Steinberg demonstrates a mastery not only of talmudic folklore, but also of Greco-Roman society, as well as the philosophies of both.
The protagonist is Elisha ben Abuyah, who is the textbook case of an "Apikores" (literally "Epicurean", but connotation is more "heathen"). The Talmud tells us very little about Elisha. We know that his name was changed to "Acher" (lit. "somebody else"). Using the little information the Talmud gives us about him, Steinberg weaves a 400+ page tale about a tormented man, struggling between his Jewish culture and the Roman beliefs he eventually espoused.
I first read this book as a freshman in high school. I was too young to truly appreciate it back then. In fact, one of my rabbis (who was raised a Reform Jew but later became Orthodox) warned us about Milton Steinberg. He warned us that the conclusions Rabbi Steinberg comes to are not in concordance with the Orthodox Jewish world. How prophetic, Steinberg would be one of the authors who shaped my current beliefs, which do not agree with Orthodoxy at all.
Like the Grateful Dead's St. Stephen, Elisha is constantly in search for the truth--even if it means unpending all of his current beliefs. He was born to a Hellenist father, who made him learn Homer while all his friends learned Torah. When his father died, his religious uncle sent him away to yeshiva to learn under Rabbi Joshua ben Haninah. Eventually, Elisha himself became a rabbi. But little by little, he began to have his doubts. Midway through the book, he receives a traumatic epiphany (almost straight out of Gemara Kiddushin), which makes him decide "there is no justice, there is no judge." And so, after getting excommunicated for publicly expressing his doubts, he moves to Antioch (the 4th biggest city in the Roman Empire).
Exiled and shamed, Elisha tries to pick up the pieces. Quickly, he learns that Antioch is no bed of roses. He enjoyed the intellectual freedom, but the caprices and the hedonism were not for him. As his friend Pappas told him when he ran away from a bordello that his friends tried to lure him into, some part of Elisha still was a bit of a rabbi. So Elisha eventually embraces Stoicism and starts getting himself published. But then, after angering the Praetor, one Marcus Tinnaeus Rufus (or "Turnusrufus", as the Talmud calls him), Rufus completely turns his life upside-down!
Elisha is a real tragic hero. He does not find the truth. He ends up a consummate skeptic. While I do not agree with the ending of the story, I still thank it for opening my mind to questioning everything. "As a Driven Leaf" is a must-read for anyone who is examining or reexamining any belief system. highly recommended!
February 28, 2011
Forward by Chaim Potok
The novel, based on Talmudic sources, admittedly heavily embellished and not holding strictly to pure factual occurrences, follows the life of Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah, a Jew living during the time after the second Jewish temple had been destroyed and under the thumb of Roman occupation. Born to a father who rejected the Jewish faith and embraced Greek thought and motherless from an early age, he is taught to read Greek and appreciate pagan philosophies. At ten, his father dies and he is then cared for by his observant Jewish uncle.
Immediately, the scrolls of his father’s are burned and Elisha is steeped in the Jewish faith. It is seen as a blessing by those scholars around him that he has been rescued from pagan thought. He rises in prominence to eventually become an ordained Rabbi and then a member of the Sanhedrin, that prestigious body of Sages that rules over matters religious and civil within Palestine.
Rabbi Elisha’s faith begins to falter and he is compelled beyond even his own reasoning to find proof of Truth. He decides to search all philosophies, knowing that he charts a very dangerous course. He will invite chastisement and eventually personal ruin and excommunication if he persists in his search, causing those around him to fear that he is an apostate.
The novel beautifully depicts the course of his life and his pursuit of knowledge and truth. I found myself strongly identifying with his passion and compulsion to learn even when those around him began to think the worst of him. While I believe we are given a mind by G-d and we are expected to use it, it becomes apparent that Elisha’s mind begins to turn in on itself and tragedy after tragedy follows.
One might begin to think that Steinberg is encouraging Elisha’s pursuit, especially when he is desperate for answers, but others are so fearful of even his questions he cannot find a safe way to work out his faith within the context of the community of his fellow sages. At other times his initial logic “makes so much sense”, but it becomes apparent that without faith, what appears as truth and logic rings hollow and leaves him without any kind of grounding even when that is exactly what the search was for originally.
I strongly recommend this book for those that want to explore what life was like around 70-90 CE in Palestine and Antioch and as a philosophical treatment of faith and logic. I would also hope that those within faith communities would read it to learn how to treat someone who is questioning. In the more fundamental (and sometimes not so fundamental) denominations, fear of doubt and fear of anything different within the community can propel potential congregants to leave the community to find answers rather than remain and feel safe to work it out. This novel is extremely timely even though it was published sixty-seven years ago.
It is rare for me to be so engrossed in a book that I cannot put it down, but in three days I devoured this one and it will find a permanent place on my bookshelf.
The novel, based on Talmudic sources, admittedly heavily embellished and not holding strictly to pure factual occurrences, follows the life of Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah, a Jew living during the time after the second Jewish temple had been destroyed and under the thumb of Roman occupation. Born to a father who rejected the Jewish faith and embraced Greek thought and motherless from an early age, he is taught to read Greek and appreciate pagan philosophies. At ten, his father dies and he is then cared for by his observant Jewish uncle.
Immediately, the scrolls of his father’s are burned and Elisha is steeped in the Jewish faith. It is seen as a blessing by those scholars around him that he has been rescued from pagan thought. He rises in prominence to eventually become an ordained Rabbi and then a member of the Sanhedrin, that prestigious body of Sages that rules over matters religious and civil within Palestine.
Rabbi Elisha’s faith begins to falter and he is compelled beyond even his own reasoning to find proof of Truth. He decides to search all philosophies, knowing that he charts a very dangerous course. He will invite chastisement and eventually personal ruin and excommunication if he persists in his search, causing those around him to fear that he is an apostate.
The novel beautifully depicts the course of his life and his pursuit of knowledge and truth. I found myself strongly identifying with his passion and compulsion to learn even when those around him began to think the worst of him. While I believe we are given a mind by G-d and we are expected to use it, it becomes apparent that Elisha’s mind begins to turn in on itself and tragedy after tragedy follows.
One might begin to think that Steinberg is encouraging Elisha’s pursuit, especially when he is desperate for answers, but others are so fearful of even his questions he cannot find a safe way to work out his faith within the context of the community of his fellow sages. At other times his initial logic “makes so much sense”, but it becomes apparent that without faith, what appears as truth and logic rings hollow and leaves him without any kind of grounding even when that is exactly what the search was for originally.
I strongly recommend this book for those that want to explore what life was like around 70-90 CE in Palestine and Antioch and as a philosophical treatment of faith and logic. I would also hope that those within faith communities would read it to learn how to treat someone who is questioning. In the more fundamental (and sometimes not so fundamental) denominations, fear of doubt and fear of anything different within the community can propel potential congregants to leave the community to find answers rather than remain and feel safe to work it out. This novel is extremely timely even though it was published sixty-seven years ago.
It is rare for me to be so engrossed in a book that I cannot put it down, but in three days I devoured this one and it will find a permanent place on my bookshelf.
January 29, 2016
I first read this novel before I studied Talmud, so I didn't realize it was based on actual Jewish texts. I was fascinated by Steinberg's descriptions of life in Roman Palestine, especially how the Jews lived, since there wasn't any other Jewish historical fiction from this time period. I wasn't so happy with the ending, never quite understanding why Elisha had to completely reject his religion when he couldn't reconcile it with Hellenism.
Later, when I studied the Gemara where his story appeared, I was even less happy. The Talmud is quite clear that Elisha ascends to Paradise with Rabbi Akiva and their 2 younger colleagues, and that all except Akiva are traumatized by the experience, Elisha so much that he becomes an apostate. Yet Steinberg leaves this crucial scene out of "As a Driven Leaf" so we never understand what set Elisha on his difficult path.
Later, when I studied the Gemara where his story appeared, I was even less happy. The Talmud is quite clear that Elisha ascends to Paradise with Rabbi Akiva and their 2 younger colleagues, and that all except Akiva are traumatized by the experience, Elisha so much that he becomes an apostate. Yet Steinberg leaves this crucial scene out of "As a Driven Leaf" so we never understand what set Elisha on his difficult path.
December 8, 2024
Written 2011; read earlier (First Read):
Begins in 80 CE, 10 years after the destruction of the Temple, and goes on through the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, covering the periods of the Diaspora and Bar Kokhba revolts. "There is no Truth without Faith. There is no Truth unless first there be a Faith on which it may be based." The paradox of the relatedness of Faith and Reason foreshadows the action which then comes full circle, as Elisha struggles not only with Faith vs. Reason, but also with the problem of evil, with loyalty vs. betrayal, and with hope vs. despair. Elisha learns too late that the beautiful efflorescence of the Pax Romana for which he sacrificed everything was an accidental byproduct of power, and that we can rely only on a society which makes justice and mercy its goals. ...Brought history to life--but is it possible some of the ideas are actually of more recent vintage--from the time of the Enlightenment?
Second Read:
Read for a local book study group (meeting since 2015 and via Zoom since spring of 2020)
At first I didn't want to stop reading what I had been reading. And on top of that I didn't leave enough time. This is a long one. And it's basically a historical novel, such that it could be seen that the author was sometimes injecting the second century with mid-twentieth-century questions and concerns; I doubt that people of that earlier era actually argued about God's existence. (I don't believe "people are just people" no matter what century they're living in.) At any rate, to finish reading in time, I had to put on my afterburners.
This book tells the storyof Elisha ben Abuyah, the legendary heretic of Talmudic times. The author sets himself the task of telling it in such a way that Elisha is at heart a noble soul for whom things went very wrong.
In the background are the Jewish Wars. The time span is from ten years after the 70 BCE fall of the Temple in Jerusalem through the Bar Kokhba catastrophe in 132.
Elisha, a young sage of great talent who has already been ordained, is tempted by Greek learning, while in the meantime his faith is challenged by a series of unfortunate events. Although he ascribes his decisions to reason, the author gives him a number of disappointments, losses and shocks that could constitute psychological motivation.
From my first read around 15 years ago, I remember the final straw after which Elisha loses his faith, first, his witnessing the fatal fall from a tree of a boy who at the time is following not one but two commandments. Elisha is looking for certainty and believes he can find it in Greek literature, philosophy and science. Believes! Aye, there's the rub: after all the grief he's been through, he comes smack up against the central dictum of the book, that the postulates and assertions upon which reason is based themselves rest on something that must simply be accepted.
On top of that, since Elisha is so very bright and wise, some of his slip-ups, while essential to the story, seem farfetched.
It's a good story that becomes engrossing, and it did inspire a good discussion, so I was glad I persisted. But I was not sorry to have finished reading.
One other aspect I remembered from my earlier reading years ago is the confrontation in the Sanhedrin where Rabbi Joshua, eyes blazing, stands up to the hotheads and deters the assembly from participating in the Diaspora Revolt. But I had mixed it up with an earlier meeting; it does not occur until nearly the middle of the book.
The book reminds me of three earlier books I read as a teenager or young adult: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Quo Vadis, and The Robe. But this one I never came across until more recent years.
Begins in 80 CE, 10 years after the destruction of the Temple, and goes on through the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, covering the periods of the Diaspora and Bar Kokhba revolts. "There is no Truth without Faith. There is no Truth unless first there be a Faith on which it may be based." The paradox of the relatedness of Faith and Reason foreshadows the action which then comes full circle, as Elisha struggles not only with Faith vs. Reason, but also with the problem of evil, with loyalty vs. betrayal, and with hope vs. despair. Elisha learns too late that the beautiful efflorescence of the Pax Romana for which he sacrificed everything was an accidental byproduct of power, and that we can rely only on a society which makes justice and mercy its goals. ...Brought history to life--but is it possible some of the ideas are actually of more recent vintage--from the time of the Enlightenment?
Second Read:
Read for a local book study group (meeting since 2015 and via Zoom since spring of 2020)
At first I didn't want to stop reading what I had been reading. And on top of that I didn't leave enough time. This is a long one. And it's basically a historical novel, such that it could be seen that the author was sometimes injecting the second century with mid-twentieth-century questions and concerns; I doubt that people of that earlier era actually argued about God's existence. (I don't believe "people are just people" no matter what century they're living in.) At any rate, to finish reading in time, I had to put on my afterburners.
This book tells the storyof Elisha ben Abuyah, the legendary heretic of Talmudic times. The author sets himself the task of telling it in such a way that Elisha is at heart a noble soul for whom things went very wrong.
In the background are the Jewish Wars. The time span is from ten years after the 70 BCE fall of the Temple in Jerusalem through the Bar Kokhba catastrophe in 132.
Elisha, a young sage of great talent who has already been ordained, is tempted by Greek learning, while in the meantime his faith is challenged by a series of unfortunate events. Although he ascribes his decisions to reason, the author gives him a number of disappointments, losses and shocks that could constitute psychological motivation.
From my first read around 15 years ago, I remember the final straw after which Elisha loses his faith, first, his witnessing the fatal fall from a tree of a boy who at the time is following not one but two commandments. Elisha is looking for certainty and believes he can find it in Greek literature, philosophy and science. Believes! Aye, there's the rub: after all the grief he's been through, he comes smack up against the central dictum of the book, that the postulates and assertions upon which reason is based themselves rest on something that must simply be accepted.
On top of that, since Elisha is so very bright and wise, some of his slip-ups, while essential to the story, seem farfetched.
It's a good story that becomes engrossing, and it did inspire a good discussion, so I was glad I persisted. But I was not sorry to have finished reading.
One other aspect I remembered from my earlier reading years ago is the confrontation in the Sanhedrin where Rabbi Joshua, eyes blazing, stands up to the hotheads and deters the assembly from participating in the Diaspora Revolt. But I had mixed it up with an earlier meeting; it does not occur until nearly the middle of the book.
The book reminds me of three earlier books I read as a teenager or young adult: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Quo Vadis, and The Robe. But this one I never came across until more recent years.
March 7, 2010
Basically, this book was written for me, so it's not surprising that I loved it.
As a Driven Leaf was recommended to me by a rabbi who teaches an Jewish adult education course that I am taking. Two weeks ago we were studying the mitzvot (commandments), and we looked closely at the one in Deuteronomy 22:6-7:
This mitzvah takes a central role in the book, solidifying the main character's crisis of faith: Elisha ben Abuyah watches a young boy doing as G-d commands; however, instead of the promised long life, the boy falls out of the tree and dies. Thereafter, Elisha leaves his life as rabbi.
Part I of the book explores Elisha's education and rise to membership in the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish authority in the Roman empire. But even as he achieves the honor, Elisha is plagued by doubts, which culminate in witnessing the child's death. Part II is Elisha's life as as secular Greek in the Roman Empire, searching for meaning in classical philosophy and metaphysics. His loyalties -- to his people and to his adopted land -- are put to a final test during the bar Cochba rebellion that pitted the Jews against the Romans.
Elisha ben Abuyah is an historical figure, as are most of his friends and colleagues (most notably, the sage Akiba). Steinberg's novel brings the rabbinical period to life, and Chaim Potok's excellent introduction clearly places the novel in its context in Jewish historical fiction.
As a Driven Leaf was recommended to me by a rabbi who teaches an Jewish adult education course that I am taking. Two weeks ago we were studying the mitzvot (commandments), and we looked closely at the one in Deuteronomy 22:6-7:
If, along the road, you chance upon a bird's nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, do not take the mother together with her young. Let the mother go, and take only the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life.
This mitzvah takes a central role in the book, solidifying the main character's crisis of faith: Elisha ben Abuyah watches a young boy doing as G-d commands; however, instead of the promised long life, the boy falls out of the tree and dies. Thereafter, Elisha leaves his life as rabbi.
Part I of the book explores Elisha's education and rise to membership in the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish authority in the Roman empire. But even as he achieves the honor, Elisha is plagued by doubts, which culminate in witnessing the child's death. Part II is Elisha's life as as secular Greek in the Roman Empire, searching for meaning in classical philosophy and metaphysics. His loyalties -- to his people and to his adopted land -- are put to a final test during the bar Cochba rebellion that pitted the Jews against the Romans.
Elisha ben Abuyah is an historical figure, as are most of his friends and colleagues (most notably, the sage Akiba). Steinberg's novel brings the rabbinical period to life, and Chaim Potok's excellent introduction clearly places the novel in its context in Jewish historical fiction.
June 3, 2018
6/2/18 - Starting re-read, felt a connection with Williams' Stoner. Maybe it's just the wife.
Stoner
**
Many decades ago, I explored the religion ... wasn't my path to be, but impressive passion ...
Here be quotes from the foreward by Chaim Potok
"One day in March 1950 ... I overheard two students talking in Yiddish.
... 'Did you hear the news? Milton Steinberg died last night.' ... Really? He was young.'
"To which the first responded: 'Now they're punishing him for his books.'
... "Later that day, I searched for Milton Steinberg's name in the catalogue of the college library, and discovered that he was not listed. My query to the librarian elicited the terse response: 'We do not keep his books here.'
"So, Milton Steinberg was a Conservative rabbi. What could he have written to earn him such reproval from the guardians of my faith?"
...
"How strange that his books had eluded me, especially his novel. I was then reading my way through many literatures like a person possessed, and thought that someone in my school--a fellow student or an English professor--might have brought his work to my attention. In retrospect, I think quite probably they would have--were he not allied with Mordecai Kaplan's Reconstructionism, whose ideology, though it emphasized Jewish observance, denied the chosenness of the people Israel, the existence of a personal God, and the divine authorship of the Torah.
"I turned to the two books by Milton Steinberg. One, 'The Making of the Modern Jew,' published in the early 1930, was a work of history. The second was the novel, 'As a Driven Lead,' published in 1939.
" ... I turned with some apprehension to the novel. I was fine-tuned to fiction and knew that it was one thing to write a good history and something else entirely to write a good story. Moreover, who had ever heard of a rabbi taking on serious fiction!
"It did not take me long to realize that there was a story in the novel, a gripping story. But as I read it that first time, I found myself becoming slowly convinced that the novel was far more than a mere story, that its central drama--a conflict between religious and pagan ideas, between faith and reason, between postulates of creed and science, as experienced by the early Talmudic sage Elisha ben Abuyah--was emblematic not only of all Jewish history but probably of Milton Steinberg himself. The novel seemed to me to be an extension of the same quest he had set for himself in 'The Making of the Modern Jew:' an exploration of Judaism in conflict with a vigorous and powerful surrounding culture, in this instance the pagan world of Greece and Rome. Steinberg had traveled back in time to arrive at the cradle of Rabbinic Judaism--and his hero was a heretic.
"Little is known about the historical Elisha ben Abuyah--the central character of the novel. His father appears to have been a wealthy Jerusalemite ... He was a student of Greek, loved Greek poetry, and apparently had more than a surface knowledge of horses, architecture, and wine. He read forbidden books ..."
... "The novel is in essence a Bildungsroman in which we witness the forming of the mind and heart of a Rabbinic sage ... It is a novel of ideas and passions ... an often fiery confrontation of cultures--in a struggle of contradictory Jewish and pagan core concepts about the world and the human experience ..."
**
original review -
Another of the many books I'd like to reread. Here's the copied Kirkus Review
KIRKUS REVIEW
The extraordinary success of The Nazarene will in a sense pave the way for this book, which also has a Palestinian setting, and a religious motive. The period is later -- the early second century -- and the story deals with Elisha ben Abuyah, Jewish rabbi, a dissenter whose life was torn by internal struggles towards faith. It is a book which should appeal to the market of Lion Feuchtwanger's The Jew of Rome, for Elisha ben Abuyah was virtually another Josephus, betraying his people to the Romans, despised by both sides. A childhood under Hellenistic influence; an adolescence and early youth under strict Jewish teachers, a marriage without love, and the beginning of a lifelong attempt to rationalize his beliefs. The story of a failure, of the ultimate discovery that Faith is essential to Life, and that not all elements can be fitted into the pattern of Euclid, that reason alone cannot control life. Semi-historical, semi-biographical, but written as fiction, with whole periods -- unknown to historians -- filled in. Not a book for the average reader, but a book that those interested in far off periods of history which have their parallels today, and in the search for a faith as a motive of life, will find interesting and challenging.
Stoner
**
Many decades ago, I explored the religion ... wasn't my path to be, but impressive passion ...
Here be quotes from the foreward by Chaim Potok
"One day in March 1950 ... I overheard two students talking in Yiddish.
... 'Did you hear the news? Milton Steinberg died last night.' ... Really? He was young.'
"To which the first responded: 'Now they're punishing him for his books.'
... "Later that day, I searched for Milton Steinberg's name in the catalogue of the college library, and discovered that he was not listed. My query to the librarian elicited the terse response: 'We do not keep his books here.'
"So, Milton Steinberg was a Conservative rabbi. What could he have written to earn him such reproval from the guardians of my faith?"
...
"How strange that his books had eluded me, especially his novel. I was then reading my way through many literatures like a person possessed, and thought that someone in my school--a fellow student or an English professor--might have brought his work to my attention. In retrospect, I think quite probably they would have--were he not allied with Mordecai Kaplan's Reconstructionism, whose ideology, though it emphasized Jewish observance, denied the chosenness of the people Israel, the existence of a personal God, and the divine authorship of the Torah.
"I turned to the two books by Milton Steinberg. One, 'The Making of the Modern Jew,' published in the early 1930, was a work of history. The second was the novel, 'As a Driven Lead,' published in 1939.
" ... I turned with some apprehension to the novel. I was fine-tuned to fiction and knew that it was one thing to write a good history and something else entirely to write a good story. Moreover, who had ever heard of a rabbi taking on serious fiction!
"It did not take me long to realize that there was a story in the novel, a gripping story. But as I read it that first time, I found myself becoming slowly convinced that the novel was far more than a mere story, that its central drama--a conflict between religious and pagan ideas, between faith and reason, between postulates of creed and science, as experienced by the early Talmudic sage Elisha ben Abuyah--was emblematic not only of all Jewish history but probably of Milton Steinberg himself. The novel seemed to me to be an extension of the same quest he had set for himself in 'The Making of the Modern Jew:' an exploration of Judaism in conflict with a vigorous and powerful surrounding culture, in this instance the pagan world of Greece and Rome. Steinberg had traveled back in time to arrive at the cradle of Rabbinic Judaism--and his hero was a heretic.
"Little is known about the historical Elisha ben Abuyah--the central character of the novel. His father appears to have been a wealthy Jerusalemite ... He was a student of Greek, loved Greek poetry, and apparently had more than a surface knowledge of horses, architecture, and wine. He read forbidden books ..."
... "The novel is in essence a Bildungsroman in which we witness the forming of the mind and heart of a Rabbinic sage ... It is a novel of ideas and passions ... an often fiery confrontation of cultures--in a struggle of contradictory Jewish and pagan core concepts about the world and the human experience ..."
**
original review -
Another of the many books I'd like to reread. Here's the copied Kirkus Review
KIRKUS REVIEW
The extraordinary success of The Nazarene will in a sense pave the way for this book, which also has a Palestinian setting, and a religious motive. The period is later -- the early second century -- and the story deals with Elisha ben Abuyah, Jewish rabbi, a dissenter whose life was torn by internal struggles towards faith. It is a book which should appeal to the market of Lion Feuchtwanger's The Jew of Rome, for Elisha ben Abuyah was virtually another Josephus, betraying his people to the Romans, despised by both sides. A childhood under Hellenistic influence; an adolescence and early youth under strict Jewish teachers, a marriage without love, and the beginning of a lifelong attempt to rationalize his beliefs. The story of a failure, of the ultimate discovery that Faith is essential to Life, and that not all elements can be fitted into the pattern of Euclid, that reason alone cannot control life. Semi-historical, semi-biographical, but written as fiction, with whole periods -- unknown to historians -- filled in. Not a book for the average reader, but a book that those interested in far off periods of history which have their parallels today, and in the search for a faith as a motive of life, will find interesting and challenging.
November 25, 2015
This book has left me with a melancholy feeling and lots of pity for a man who was a free thinker, and who had suffered greatly because of it. As a Jew, I enjoyed learning more about the history of my people, and this book provided great detail and very lively descriptions, although sometimes too long. Many things in this book resonated with things that are happening to us or that we are doing to ourselves these days. As an atheist, I found myself entirely identifying with Elisha, although I can't agree with the message of this book that atheism may cause you to harm others, make immoral choices and do terrible things. As a philosophy fan, I found the explanations about the different philosophical methods of thinking as opposed to those of faith enlightening and well done. And as a reader, I found the book readable, moving and satisfying, although a little slow at some points. All in all, I think it is an important read for Jews, for people interested in any belief or philosophy, people who fight for freedom of thought, and anyone looking for a rich and fulfilling read, intense and well written.
February 17, 2016
I read this book for a course in college, and it spoke volumes to me. An amazing historical account of the rabbinic age during Roman occupation. I have only read it once, but I remember it so fondly. Profound emotions and I have thought about it for years...
January 5, 2011
This book was engrossing and hard to put down. The whole struggle to find a solid personal philosophical/spiritual foundation in the middle of conflicting cultures and beliefs was fascinating. However, the book's ending was profoundly disappointing to me. Elisha (the main character) and many of his friends and family all suffer tragically from his decision to explore Greek and Roman philosophy.
Were his explorations wrong? It's hard for me to think that. I read this book a few years ago and have been wrestling with this question ever since. Is it wrong to be driven to search out truth? And yet [New Thought!], maybe it could be. Maybe it is wrong if one is so focused on finding truth that he is blinded to the injustice and oppression going on around him.
Maybe that's the key to the book. Elisha originally turned away from Judaism because he witnessed an act of injustice. Then, after a lifetime of exploring pagan philosophies, he realized that many of the attractive things associated with those philosophies were worthless because they ignored key concepts of justice and mercy. The ideas and truths were more important and more beautiful to those cultures than people were. Maybe it isn't wrong to search out religious truths, but it is wrong to be so focused on the quest for ideas and truths that we ignore the social injustices going on around us.
That reminds me of something else. I read somewhere that we shouldn't search out unanswerable questions about God. Maybe that's because it uses up our precious, limited time that we could be using to study things that we can find answers to. Things that help us to "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before our God".
Were his explorations wrong? It's hard for me to think that. I read this book a few years ago and have been wrestling with this question ever since. Is it wrong to be driven to search out truth? And yet [New Thought!], maybe it could be. Maybe it is wrong if one is so focused on finding truth that he is blinded to the injustice and oppression going on around him.
Maybe that's the key to the book. Elisha originally turned away from Judaism because he witnessed an act of injustice. Then, after a lifetime of exploring pagan philosophies, he realized that many of the attractive things associated with those philosophies were worthless because they ignored key concepts of justice and mercy. The ideas and truths were more important and more beautiful to those cultures than people were. Maybe it isn't wrong to search out religious truths, but it is wrong to be so focused on the quest for ideas and truths that we ignore the social injustices going on around us.
That reminds me of something else. I read somewhere that we shouldn't search out unanswerable questions about God. Maybe that's because it uses up our precious, limited time that we could be using to study things that we can find answers to. Things that help us to "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before our God".
July 25, 2015
This novel is very good at presenting the philosophical differences between the Hebrew and Hellenic view of life. By making the protagonist an expert in both, the author gets to make a compelling argument for each world view.
I am only giving this book 3 stars because I found it lacking as a work of literature. The dialogue, in particular, seemed rather forced, as did the "love story".
I am only giving this book 3 stars because I found it lacking as a work of literature. The dialogue, in particular, seemed rather forced, as did the "love story".
February 21, 2014
I read this back in high school a thousand years ago, as all my friends did.
Rabbi Elisha Ben Abuya is one of the most tragic and charismatic characters in historical Judaism. One of four legendary Mishanaic-era rabbis who undertook the study of Kabbalah, Elisha Ben Abuya was the one who became a heretic.(Of the other three, it is said that one went mad, one died, and one was the great sage Rabbi Akiva.) The novel begins in 70 CE, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ends with the Exile and Diaspora. The writing is a bit overwrought, but Steinberg really brings this tumultuous epoch of Judaism to believable life.
Rabbi Elisha Ben Abuya is one of the most tragic and charismatic characters in historical Judaism. One of four legendary Mishanaic-era rabbis who undertook the study of Kabbalah, Elisha Ben Abuya was the one who became a heretic.(Of the other three, it is said that one went mad, one died, and one was the great sage Rabbi Akiva.) The novel begins in 70 CE, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ends with the Exile and Diaspora. The writing is a bit overwrought, but Steinberg really brings this tumultuous epoch of Judaism to believable life.
November 12, 2011
It took me a while to get through this book, but I'm so glad I did!
In his book, Steinberg fictionalizes the life of Elisha, a rabbi of the Sanhedrin and sage who lived in Palestine after the destruction of the Second Temple, of whom we know little about for certain. Elisha's struggle to put reason and logic to faith is one I think many people, including myself, can identify with.
Though the book plays fast and loose with historical fact and tradition, it was not only enjoyable to read, but gives the reader some real food for thought. Highly recommended.
In his book, Steinberg fictionalizes the life of Elisha, a rabbi of the Sanhedrin and sage who lived in Palestine after the destruction of the Second Temple, of whom we know little about for certain. Elisha's struggle to put reason and logic to faith is one I think many people, including myself, can identify with.
Though the book plays fast and loose with historical fact and tradition, it was not only enjoyable to read, but gives the reader some real food for thought. Highly recommended.
April 23, 2007
A great read ... Elisha is a very sympathetic figure and for the most part the story is even handed, I think, though I was very troubled by the ending. I found his conflict to be eloquently expressed and extremely relatable. While I found the story to be mostly accurate I was irked by some of the modernizations and places where he clearly took liverties for the sake of fiction - Steinberg's prerogative, of course, but still a little unnerving. Did the tannaim really hang out as couples like something out of a Teaneck sitcom? Would Bruriah and R' Meir really flirt in front of guests, let alone R' Meir's teacher? Was the depiction of R' Meir and Elisha's interaction really so realistic, it seemed at times as though R' Meir was the teacher ... and other things detracted from my enjoyment, but ultimately it held my attention and presented an issue that is just as relevant today, assuming the author was being authentic there as well (and I assume he was) which was both chilling and comforting. It's on reserve for you, Z!
February 19, 2010
This book helped me understand so much about the characteristics of faith, the purpose of faith and the problem of faith. You might read that and think "the problem of faith, what is he talking about?", but this book shows, through the life of the protagonist that faith is not a part of this world. It doesn't belong, but that's just the point-it shouldn't belong. There's nothing logical or reasonable about faith, and that's why it's so important. If religion was something to be reasoned through, every difficulty and problem in life would boil down to a mathematical solution, but that would defeat the purpose of life. This book challenges the reader to examine what they believe and make a decision. I'm better off for having read it.
April 15, 2012
To be true to one's inner voice or to live by faith in the religion to which he was born, that is the dilemma Elisha ben Abuya faces throughout his life. In his quest to gain knowledge he leaves behind his childhood home and friends and ventures to Antioch looking for a greater meaning to life and God. Don't we all question God's infinite wisdom from time to time? Is there a one of us who has not occastionally questioned the meaning of life?
I found parts of the book slow going, but well worth continuing on. I enjoyed the read.
I found parts of the book slow going, but well worth continuing on. I enjoyed the read.
August 23, 2013
My favourite book of all time.
February 13, 2025
I picked up this book because Chaim Potok, one of my all time favorite authors wrote the forward. An historical account of Roman Palestine. The story centers around a Talmudic character: Elisha Ben Abuyah. Steinberg gives us an intimate portrait of Elisha in the 2nd Century AD. The
Talmud says very little of Abuya, except to call him Acher (other) because he embraced paganism in his 40s.
I didn't know anything about the book, prior to reading the book, so I came to it new. I particularly enjoyed the early life of Elisha: being tutored by a famous Jewish Rabbi, to Elisha being ordained as a Rabbi, and induction into the Sanhedrin. Then Elisha had an existential crisis of faith. The rest of the book centers on his seeking a life built on reason.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and glad that I read it.
Talmud says very little of Abuya, except to call him Acher (other) because he embraced paganism in his 40s.
I didn't know anything about the book, prior to reading the book, so I came to it new. I particularly enjoyed the early life of Elisha: being tutored by a famous Jewish Rabbi, to Elisha being ordained as a Rabbi, and induction into the Sanhedrin. Then Elisha had an existential crisis of faith. The rest of the book centers on his seeking a life built on reason.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and glad that I read it.
Read
August 18, 2025I read this years ago, so don't recall this very well. I remember that I thought his affair with the Roman woman was shallow and stupid. I also didn't hate it, didn't love it.
October 11, 2024
This book is beautiful. Probably one of, if not my favorite, books. Just reread. Can not recommend highly enough. So sad, yet a necessary read that cautions against searches for and claims of certainty. It is Ecclesiastes in novel form without the uplifting ending. One gripe is sometimes the writing is not incredible, but the writing in this book is only a tool.
October 16, 2013
I read this as a teen and re-read it recently for a book club discussion. It is a bit long, but is probably the best novel (maybe the only novel) set in Roman-ruled Palestine in the 2nd century. The Jews of that time, after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, developed what is now called rabbinic Judaism. Jewish law was set by the rabbis of the Sanhedrin, including some central figures in history such as Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Gamliel. The Jews of that time struggled against the rather schizophrenic Roman rule (harsh and overbearing at times, and then calm and accepting at others) while also to reconcile the Jewish way of life both culturally and philosophically with Greek Hellenistic society, which centered around great learning but also luxurious decadence. Elisha, a learned Jew of some means, questions the belief in God that has not undergone the rigorous type of proof process that someone like Euclid used in Geometry. He becomes a rabbi but is eventually turned out of the community as an apostate, and he goes to live and study in Antioch (Syria). This story includes the famous Bar Kochba Revolt (132-135). The novel draws on the true history of that time, and Elisha ben Abuyah was a real person (as were the other rabbis), but much of the novel, the details of parts of Elisha's life, are fictional. It is, overall, a sad and tragic story. While I could appreciate Elisha's point of view regarding faith vs reason, I could not at all reconcile myself to his support of the Romans in acting against the heads of the Jewish community following the years of Bar Kochba.
I didn't know much at all about Antioch, so I did a little reading. Syrian Antioch was founded about three hundred years BCE on the Orontes River. It was very strategically located to become a military and economic center as well as a cultural center to rival Alexandra. The spice trade and the silk road went through Antioch, bringing a very diverse population of many religions, cultures, and ethnic origins. It had a large Jewish population and was one of the cradles of early Christianity. At one point Antioch was a city of half a million people. It was eventually conquered by a variety of armies and declined greatly in the Middle Ages as many of the trade routes no longer passed that way. Eventually Antioch became the modern day city of Antakya in southern Turkey.
Several quotes near the end of the book really stuck with me:
(Elisha speaking with Meir) "Do you remember, Meir, that epigram quoted in the name of Rabbi Johanan ben Zaccai: 'There is no truth unless there be a faith on which it may rest'? Ironically enough the only sure principle I have achieved is this which I have known almost all my life. And it is so. For all truths rest ultimately on some act of faith, geometry on axioms, the sciences on the assumptions of the objective existence and orderliness of the world of nature. In every realm one must lay down postulates or he shall have nothing at all. So with morality and religion. Faith and reason are not antagonists. On the contrary, salvation is through the commingling of the two, the former to establish first premises, the latter to purify them of confusion and to draw the fullness of their implications. It is not certainty which one acquires so, only plausibility, but that is the best we can hope for."
A page later Elisha says to Meir "That is the fantastic intolerable paradox of my life, that I have gone questing for what I possessed initially -- a belief to invest my days with dignity and meaning, a pattern of behavior through which man might most articulately express his devotion to his fellows."
This, to me, is the essence of the joy of living as a Jew. While I have never believed in a supernatural god, Judaism, the culture, teaching, and traditions, is to me "the pattern of behavior that invests my days with dignity and meaning", the better to articulate my relationship with the world around me.
Footnote: I didn't realize that Milton Steinberg was a proponent of Reconstructionist Judaism as developed by his mentor Mordechai Kaplan. Steinberg was the first to use the term “peoplehood” in a popular book, the term having been invented by the Reconstructionist movement.
I didn't know much at all about Antioch, so I did a little reading. Syrian Antioch was founded about three hundred years BCE on the Orontes River. It was very strategically located to become a military and economic center as well as a cultural center to rival Alexandra. The spice trade and the silk road went through Antioch, bringing a very diverse population of many religions, cultures, and ethnic origins. It had a large Jewish population and was one of the cradles of early Christianity. At one point Antioch was a city of half a million people. It was eventually conquered by a variety of armies and declined greatly in the Middle Ages as many of the trade routes no longer passed that way. Eventually Antioch became the modern day city of Antakya in southern Turkey.
Several quotes near the end of the book really stuck with me:
(Elisha speaking with Meir) "Do you remember, Meir, that epigram quoted in the name of Rabbi Johanan ben Zaccai: 'There is no truth unless there be a faith on which it may rest'? Ironically enough the only sure principle I have achieved is this which I have known almost all my life. And it is so. For all truths rest ultimately on some act of faith, geometry on axioms, the sciences on the assumptions of the objective existence and orderliness of the world of nature. In every realm one must lay down postulates or he shall have nothing at all. So with morality and religion. Faith and reason are not antagonists. On the contrary, salvation is through the commingling of the two, the former to establish first premises, the latter to purify them of confusion and to draw the fullness of their implications. It is not certainty which one acquires so, only plausibility, but that is the best we can hope for."
A page later Elisha says to Meir "That is the fantastic intolerable paradox of my life, that I have gone questing for what I possessed initially -- a belief to invest my days with dignity and meaning, a pattern of behavior through which man might most articulately express his devotion to his fellows."
This, to me, is the essence of the joy of living as a Jew. While I have never believed in a supernatural god, Judaism, the culture, teaching, and traditions, is to me "the pattern of behavior that invests my days with dignity and meaning", the better to articulate my relationship with the world around me.
Footnote: I didn't realize that Milton Steinberg was a proponent of Reconstructionist Judaism as developed by his mentor Mordechai Kaplan. Steinberg was the first to use the term “peoplehood” in a popular book, the term having been invented by the Reconstructionist movement.
March 28, 2014
This classic 1939 novel is undoubtedly the best fictional work ever written about the intellectual, spiritual, cultural, and political challenges faced by Jewish elite during the period after the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE. During this period, the Mishnah--the compendium of legal discussions and teachings that formed the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism and of the Talmud--took shape. I found As a Driven Leaf to be intellectual stimulating, historically revealing, and personally affecting.
The protagonist is Rabbi Elisha be Abuyah, one of the brightest figures in the Sanhedrin (the Rabbinical decision-making body), who, together with Akiva, Simeon Ben Zoma, and Simeon Ben Azzai, according to the Mishnah, “went into the Pardes” to immerse themselves in a quest for deeper understanding of the Torah. One Simeon died, the other Simeon went mad, and Elisha became an apostate, rejected by the Jewish community. Only Akiva emerged intact.
Although today the term “clash of civilizations” is an overused cliché, As a Driven Leaf is about such a clash that took place when Palestine, along with the entire Eastern Mediterranean (and much more besides), was under Roman rule. Elisha, as depicted by Steinberg, grows up absorbing both Hellenistic and traditional rabbinic influences. As he reaches adulthood, he finds that he cannot accept traditional religious authority. Instead, he dedicates himself to the study of Greek philosophy in the hope of arriving at a rational foundation for understanding of the world.
The Jews differ from the Romans in more than their approach to religion, morality, and epistemology. The Jews are an oppressed nation near the edge of the Roman Empire, struggling to preserve vestiges of their autonomy and hoping to rebuild their ruined Temple. The Romans, by contrast, rule the most of the known world with a system of laws and relatively fair justice, and have total power over the Jews and many other nations. Thus, Elisha, while ultimately concerned with philosophy and the nature of truth, is also sitting on a fault line in a powderkeg situation of ruling power vs. oppressed group. The traditional Jews, as portrayed here, are divided between more moderate leaders who believe that open rebellion against the Romans would be an act of communal suicide, and hotheads who are eager to rise up in rebellion. Elisha, who doubts that the Jewish people can possibly survive, becomes a target of the hotheads, who succeed in having him excommunicated from the Jewish community.
As a Driven Leaf is almost unbearably sad at points, as the reader witnesses the slow deterioration of Elisha’s situation. It is also a touching book in the way that it depicts Elisha’s friendships with other Jewish scholars. These friendships are severely bent, but not broken by Elisha’s break with the Rabbinic community.
The protagonist is Rabbi Elisha be Abuyah, one of the brightest figures in the Sanhedrin (the Rabbinical decision-making body), who, together with Akiva, Simeon Ben Zoma, and Simeon Ben Azzai, according to the Mishnah, “went into the Pardes” to immerse themselves in a quest for deeper understanding of the Torah. One Simeon died, the other Simeon went mad, and Elisha became an apostate, rejected by the Jewish community. Only Akiva emerged intact.
Although today the term “clash of civilizations” is an overused cliché, As a Driven Leaf is about such a clash that took place when Palestine, along with the entire Eastern Mediterranean (and much more besides), was under Roman rule. Elisha, as depicted by Steinberg, grows up absorbing both Hellenistic and traditional rabbinic influences. As he reaches adulthood, he finds that he cannot accept traditional religious authority. Instead, he dedicates himself to the study of Greek philosophy in the hope of arriving at a rational foundation for understanding of the world.
The Jews differ from the Romans in more than their approach to religion, morality, and epistemology. The Jews are an oppressed nation near the edge of the Roman Empire, struggling to preserve vestiges of their autonomy and hoping to rebuild their ruined Temple. The Romans, by contrast, rule the most of the known world with a system of laws and relatively fair justice, and have total power over the Jews and many other nations. Thus, Elisha, while ultimately concerned with philosophy and the nature of truth, is also sitting on a fault line in a powderkeg situation of ruling power vs. oppressed group. The traditional Jews, as portrayed here, are divided between more moderate leaders who believe that open rebellion against the Romans would be an act of communal suicide, and hotheads who are eager to rise up in rebellion. Elisha, who doubts that the Jewish people can possibly survive, becomes a target of the hotheads, who succeed in having him excommunicated from the Jewish community.
As a Driven Leaf is almost unbearably sad at points, as the reader witnesses the slow deterioration of Elisha’s situation. It is also a touching book in the way that it depicts Elisha’s friendships with other Jewish scholars. These friendships are severely bent, but not broken by Elisha’s break with the Rabbinic community.
April 19, 2007
I greatly enjoyed this book. Steinberg did an amazing job describing the characters and giving me a full picture of all these grand tannaitic sages. Although Steingberg took some liberties with the plot, it seems he really stuck to the general character descriptions as depicted in gemaras and mishnas and I really got a great picture of what it was like to live in that time. Moreover, Elisha ben Avuya's struggle was so great and so interesting and even so relevant to today's times. I am merely left wondering, would Elisa ben Avuya still have become Acher had Modern Orthodoxy existed back in his time?! Or rather would so many of us have become "acher" as well?! Lastly, my only criticism, is that at times i felt as though steinberg were trying to get across his reconstructionist judaism agenda, and while it did seem to mimic elisha's struggles, i couldnt help but wonder if Steinberg was transferring his own woes and conflicts onto this tannaitic character. Bottom line, I now understand why it's required reading in so many Jewish History courses!
August 9, 2011
Really connected with this book. It brought to life a period in history I know little about, and dealt with the question of the foundations of faith (rational or irrational) that has been asked throughout the ages. Engrossing read for me, as the question is very much on my mind as well.
While the characters sometimes think and act more "modern" than likely, the story still shows how little has changed 2000 years later- humanity's problems and how the individual may choose to deal with them.
Not completely historically accurate, as the author himself concedes, but that didn't seem significant to me. The alterations enhanced the plot, while following the facts to strictly would probably have made the book longer and less effective.
I would probably have given it 4.5 stars if that were possible.
I recommend the book to anyone even remotely perplexed by disparities of faith and reason.
While the characters sometimes think and act more "modern" than likely, the story still shows how little has changed 2000 years later- humanity's problems and how the individual may choose to deal with them.
Not completely historically accurate, as the author himself concedes, but that didn't seem significant to me. The alterations enhanced the plot, while following the facts to strictly would probably have made the book longer and less effective.
I would probably have given it 4.5 stars if that were possible.
I recommend the book to anyone even remotely perplexed by disparities of faith and reason.
February 16, 2012
Since I picked up the book at a thrift store, I had no idea what it was about and was merely tempted by the cover (sad, but true). Then, I put off reading it for about a year or more. Now, after spending the time digging in to Jewish life early in the ad dominum time frame, I am happy to had read this account of a rabbi who lost his faith and tried to use logic and reason to find it again. I had hoped to learn more about the lives of Jews in the time period, but instead was pushed to test reason and also to read some incredibly accurate historical fiction about the main character (who was a true person, evidently, from the Afterword) and about the suffering. It didn't give me, an agnostic, an reason to pick up faith after all these years, but it is an interesting journey to read about another's path to his own end.
August 11, 2007
This book is a timeless story about the unsuccessful search for truth. It takes place during the time of the Roman empire and tells the story about a religious Jewish man who lost his faith and went to search for truth using Euclid's method of reasoning only to find that even the laws and rules of mathematics are based on faith. His search led him back to his people, the same people he betrayed. He is neither hero or villain, just a desperate man who spent his whole life searching for something that does not exist. He did not posess the understanding of the human spirit until it was too late. The book had its moments of sadness, but the author does an excellent job of expressing the beauty of the Jewish religion, the frustration of a lost man, and the history of the Roman empire.
March 2, 2015
Elisha ben Avuyah is one of my favorite Talmudic figures, so I had to read this book as soon as I learned it existed. If I had been writing a book about his life, it would have been in a slightly different light and would have put more of an emphasis of the story where R' Meir tries to convince Elisha to get back on the derech and Elisha "proves" to him (suing Talmudic logic) that it can't be done--that scene is so tragic (in the classic sense of the word) I can't even describe it. Anyway, this book is definitely historical fiction and the author takes a lot of liberties with the story, but it's done very respectively. It doesn't go around trying to portray people like R' Akiva as a jerk (unlike some other Biblical/Talmudic fiction I can think of).
April 25, 2023
This is the second time I've read this book, once for a book class and now for a class on the book. I"ve enjoyed it each time. It is well written, engaging and delves into the question of faith vs reason...and the consequences of abandoning your roots totally. It is described by the author as fictional for the most part, and yet it totally puts you in the time and living of the time period (Roman occupation of Palestine after destruction of first Temple, before the building of the second). We meet many famous Jewish rabbis, and get a sense of the political, economic and social structure of the times. The topic sounds a bit complicated, yet the author successfully makes it an engaging read.
April 19, 2017
I first read this historical novel for a college course on Classical Judaism over 20 years ago, and I liked it enough to hold onto my copy through the course of several book cullings. I just reread it for my synagogue's book club and was pleased to find it just as absorbing as I remembered it. I enjoyed the exploration of the religious and philosophical landscape of the Roman-ruled Palestine in the 1st - 2nd centuries CE (including early Rabbinic Judaism, early Jewish Christianity, early gentile Christianity, Gnosticism, and Greek philosophy). The fictionalized Elisha ben Abuyah's crisis of faith is moving. This is satisfying Talmud-comes-alive and Classical-philosophy-in-action fiction!
January 7, 2010
Very well researched and written book about historical people, places, times as the basis but fleshed out with believable fiction. Although I slogged through the middle and had to make the effort to finish it, I'm glad I read this book. Reading about how Jews might have lived amongst the Greeks and Romans was intriguing. Also the plot - that a learned, affluent, highly respected and pious Rabbi could reach a turning point in his life where he absolutely questions his religion and way of life - was thought-provoking and realistically written.
May 12, 2010
This is perhaps one of my favorite books ever. I read it for a history class although it's historical fiction. It takes place about 70AD and shows the role of faith in everybody's life, whether they be devout Jews or the Roman intellectual and cultural elite. I found the story fascinating from a historical standpoint and the ultimate end to the journey almost soul-shocking and, personally, testimony building. I had never thought of faith in the manner it was discussed, trying not to give away the ending because I think EVERYBODY should read it, although it's pretty long.
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