L'ebraismo per principianti

Writers & Readers Documentary Comic Book #31

by Charles Szlakmann, Daniel Vogelmann (Translator)

Con i suoi disegni e il suo testo Charles Szlakmann è riuscito a esporre in questo libro i princìpi e i riti dell'ebraismo con tale umorismo e semplicità che anche il lettore meno esperto lo leggerà tutto d'un fiato e lo chiuderà con la certezza di aver capito tutto. Anche se a fumetti, per la sua incisività, per la sensibilità e la profondità, si può parlare di un classico della produzione letteraria ebraica, che riproponiamo ora, in versione aggiornata e a vent'anni dalla prima pubblicazione, in una nuova preziosa edizione.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Judaism, History

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[אביגיל · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this very readable and cute primer. That said, I read it as a non-beginner, and I was regularly thinking "that's not quite true." The mistakes won't cause any fundamental misunderstandings of main concepts, but I do wish that this book had been fact-checked. Off the top of my head after reading:

- The book claims that because the Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, the Hebrew year has 365 days like a true solar calendar. This is just wrong: the Hebrew calendar is ~~11 days shorter than a solar year, and thus adds a leap month periodically within a 19 year cycle. The book does mention the need for the leap month, so I don't know how this mistake happened.
- The book claims that in the Esther story, Esther gets the king to reverse his deadly decree. This is false: not being able to reverse the decree is a core beat of the story. The characters get around that problem by making a second decree allowing the Jews to fight back (this is a famous and uncomfortable part of the story that is regularly discussed today).
- The book claims that the Talmud contains the whole Mishnah. It does not. It only includes the parts of the Mishnah that the Gemara comments on, which is ~~half the tractates.
- The book claims that if a law forces a Jew to transgress the Torah, the Jew must prefer death to transgression. This is famously not true: murder, sex crimes, and idolatry are the only three transgressions that Jews are supposed to prefer death to transgressing.
- The book repeatedly emphasizes that Yom Kippur is different from the other holidays in that it has no connection to events of history or the Torah whatsoever. This is not really true. The common midrash on Yom Kippur is that it's when Moses received the second set of tablets and came down from Sinai. It's probably fair to say that Yom Kippur is less tied to Torah events than other holidays, but the amount of emphasis on there being no connection whatsoever makes the book wrong.
- Etc etc.

The organization was pretty scattered, and the tone of the book was very odd. E.g. it was a mix of irreverent jokes and very rigid and Orthodox explanation. Caricatures make fun of any political or social stance differing from the author. However, this overall weirdness is probably what kept me interested and bemused all the way through. As a liberal, queer Jew, it's also worth noting that this book is very Zionist, very cis-heteronormative, and very focused on traditional gender roles.

EDIT: After couple weeks of investigation trying to figure out the meaning of the star on the cover, I’ve found out that it’s not Jewish at all! No wonder I had such trouble identifying it. It’s called the Pentagram of Eliphas Levi; it’s a relatively recent occult symbol. This sours the book for me even more that the cover was just wildly made up…

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai dévoré ce livre, qui se présente à la manière des notes qu'on prenait en cours, accumulant mots en gras ou soulignés, listes synthétiques et résumés encadrés. Les dessins qui agrémentent le propos apportent un ton humoristique et spirituel.
C'est très synthétique mais c'est exactement ce qu'il me fallait : la poésie quotidienne et le symbolisme à l'œuvre dans tous les aspects de la vie quotidienne juive sont parfaitement illustrées. On apprend (très rapidement) les principales étapes historiques traversées par le peuple juif, les fêtes qui ponctuent l'année, les valeurs fondamentales qui gouvernent la spiritualité quotidienne, mais aussi les défis actuels du judaïsme... Si seulement je pouvais retenir ne serait-ce qu'un quart de cette somme de connaissance ! (je me connais, c'est illusoire)
Sans être inutilement obscur, ce petit livre résume admirablement la complexité et la richesse de cette religion : la parole divine est ancrée dans le monde matériel par les symboles et les codes, omniprésents... moi qui ne suis pas croyante, j'ai trouvé ça tellement beau... Je file attaquer le second tome !

[Emily Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am relatively new to learning about the Jewish faith and people and found many of the ways this book is structured to be off putting or confusing. The story of Esther also threw me for a loop.
Some of the information was well organized and informative but I often found myself confused and there were parts that I even knew were wrong.

[Michael Patton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not well-organized.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Judaism for Beginners is not that basic of an introduction, being fairly arbitrary on what it choses to cover. It skimps on Biblical history, is stronger on traditions, festivals, and rabbinic and European history. It says nothing of American Judaism, the drawings are repetitive, and I found the many appearances of Marx to be annoying.

[Klara Galeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skvělá knížka, která jednoduše vysvětluje principy judaismu, základy celé víry a judaistického (praktického) života. Jsou tu krásné ilustrace ve stylu komiksových postaviček a vše je podáno humorným stylem, takže to může být super i pro menší děti :))
Jsem ráda, že jsem si ji mohla přečíst a rozhodně se chystám číst další knihy o judaismu :)

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Beginners books.