The Rabbi in the Attic and Other Stories

by Eileen Pollack

Stories deal with a woman whose town has been invaded by rock fans, a young rabbi who has to cope with her ultra-Orthodox predecessor who refuses to move out of the house, and others who must come to terms with the beliefs of their youth

Genres: Short Stories

241 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Eileen Pollack grew up in Liberty, New York. She has received fellowships from the Michener Foundation and the MacDowell Colony, and her stories have appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, the Literary Review, the AGNI Review, Playgirl, and the New Generation. She lives in Belmont, Massachusetts, and teaches at Tufts University. She won the Pushcart Prize for her story “Past, Future, Elsewhere.”

Reviews

[Annette Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Rabbi In The Attic, Eileen Pollack has brought together a collection of short stories which although written from a Jewish woman’s viewpoint, are so filled with humanity and universal truths that there is something in there for everyone.
There are stories examining the relationships between parents and child, between the old and new traditions and in the titular story between orthodoxy and progressive rabbis.
There are two stories which look at the beginning of the working life of a young girl and the relationship she forms with a school teacher and then how the relationship changes when she is a grown woman, two snapshots of the same life showing how no matter how much things change, there are some values and people which never change.
My favourite story is the Rabbi In The Attic and I felt deep sympathy with the young female rabbi and for the old, orthodox man whose entire identity was wrapped up in the old, traditional ways.
If you are looking for a short story collection to dip into, you could do a lot worse than choose this fine collection by Eileen Pollack.