The Promised Child

Ruach Ami #1

by Avner Gold

Thirty-five years ago, Avner Gold's The Promised Child burst onto the Jewish literary scene and became an instant classic, a beloved favorite of young readers and adults alike. It was translated into Hebrew, Spanish, French and Russian, and it established itself as a standard on the preferred reading lists of parents and educators. The book has been out of print for many years, and now, Avner Gold has rewritten it for this new edition. It is twice as long as the original, and more than twice as good.

The new story begins in 1592 when Rav Shloime Strasbourg is taking his son Mendel for his bar-mitzvah to the Maharal of Prague. While traveling through a snowy forest, they find a wounded cavalry captain half-frozen to death. The dramatic rescue sets into motion a chain of events that leads to vengeance, arson, betrayal, abduction and heartbreak. Mendel grows up to be a prominent rabbi in the Polish city of Pulichev, but he and his wife live in the gloomy shadow of the tragedy that has befallen them.

The book reaches its breathtaking climax when the rabbi of Krakow is challenged to debate the Bishop of Lubianewicz in a highly-publicized spectacle. Should he lose, the Jewish community will be expelled. Rav Mendel Strasbourg is invited to defend the Jewish position. The prospects of success seem bleak. But a combination of many threads from the painful past results in a stunning turnaround and the ultimate deliverance of the Jewish community from its enemies.

The Promised Child is rich in Torah values and historical background, offering glimpses of the Maharal, the Maharsha, the Tosefos Yom Tov, and the conditions of Jewish life in Poland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is a book that enriches even as it entertains.

Genres: Jewish, Childrens, Historical Fiction, Young Adult

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Yaakov Yosef Reinman is an American Orthodox rabbi and writer, historian, and scholar. His monographs and articles have appeared in many Jewish periodicals and his study of Talmudic contractual law is a text used in yeshivas throughout the world. His Ruach Ami series is written under the pen name Avner Gold.

Reinman is the author of sefer Shufra Dishtara, an analytical study of the philosophy of Talmudic contractual law, which is utilized as a text in yeshiva studies. He also co-authored the book One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them with Reform Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch. A fluent speaker of several languages, Reinman has also become known as a translator for ancient Jewish texts into English.

He is a descendant of the Narol, and his first wife, Shami (Shlomtzie) née Rubin was a descendant of the Nadvorna Chasidic dynasties.

Reinman lives in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Chava · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this historical fiction, and again, I like how included known events to put the story in context. Even though I found the characters a little one dimensional, it held my attention.

[Denise Blumenfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo leí en español, de Editorial Bnei Sholem.
Me gustó para estudiantes de 6-8 grad. Permite que comprendan el trasfondo histórico de persecusiones que se vivían en los países Ashkenazim y las disputas públicas entre obispos y rabinos donde la expulsión de los judíos del territorio de turno, era siempre,lo que estaba en juego.

[Cd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entire series is highly recommended, though readers who scare easily are advised to use caution. I wouldn't recommend the impostor (volume 5) for younger readers; it raises to many questions with which they wouldn't be able to cope

[DJ Wartelsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very tense!!!