Winner of the 1998 National Jewish Book Award
"An astonishing fusion of learning and psychic intensity; its poignance and lucidity shou... read full description
"An astonishing fusion of learning and psychic intensity; its poignance and lucidity shou... read full description
reviews
Jan 07, 2012
Ron
rated it: 
Leon Wieseltier is the Literary Editor of The New Republic, a magazine I have subscribed to for the past 4 years. His all-too-rare columns are marvelously written and give a profound mixture of love of Judaism and humanity. His story is one of a smart yound, orthodox philosophy student who strayed away from his severe religiosity to become one of our formost cutural critics.
You can take the boy out of Yeshiva, but you can't take the Yeshiva out of the boy. When Wieseltier's father di More...
You can take the boy out of Yeshiva, but you can't take the Yeshiva out of the boy. When Wieseltier's father di More...
Sep 05, 2008
Angela
rated it:
This was a wonderful book that goes in depth on the rabbinic commentary and exegesis of the mourner's prayer, the Kaddish. Much Talmudic speculation. At times the obsessive nit-picking of seemingly irrelevant and unimportant points of the law got a little tedious, but overall, this was a strong introduction to Talmudic midrash wrapped up in a secular Jew's ponderously intellectual year of mourning.
Nov 11, 2010
Shirley
rated it:
I love this book. It's a dense and incredibly powerful story of one man's struggle to deal with his father's death and to honor his father by following a ritual that is powerful in it's practice. His exploration of the kaddish ritual provides him a venue to understand the power of the ritual throughout Jewish history and in his own life.
Aug 08, 2008
Ryan
rated it: 
I wanted to like this book more. And it's not for the author's integrity, but it was truly complicated and extremely dense. I picked it up shortly after my own dad died, seeing it at Ollson's just as it came out. Perhaps another try is warranted and perhaps, too, I am in a different state of mind now for appreciating it theme.
Oct 06, 2011
Samantha
rated it: 
Fantastic, nourishing scholarship. Moments of humor. A study of mourning in practice, also a study of living, carrying on. Study as a method of living. Wish I had read this book years ago.
Oct 17, 2008
Bev
rated it:
This is a good, honest book about faith. I haven't read many things I could describe that way. Don't read it if you are in mourning but do read it if you have god on your mind.
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