As a Driven Leaf: With a New Foreword by David Wolpe - Softcover

Steinberg, Rabbi Milton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0874419506 ISBN 13: 9780874419504

Publisher: Behrman House, 2010

Synopsis

The age of the Talmud is brought to life in a breathtaking saga. First published in 1939, this masterpiece of modern fiction tells the gripping tale of renegade Talmudic sage Elisha ben Abuyah's struggle to reconcile his faith with the allure of Hellenistic culture. Set in Roman Palestine, As a Driven Leaf draws readers into the dramatic era of Rabbinic Judaism. Watch the great Talmudic sages at work in the Sanhedrin, eavesdrop on their arguments about theology and Torah, and agonize with them as they contemplate rebellion against an oppressive Roman rule. 

 Steinberg's classic novel also transcends its historical setting with its depiction of a timeless, perennial feature of the Jewish experience: the inevitable conflict between the call of tradition and the glamour of the surrounding culture. A literary masterpiece, As a Driven Leaf is still regarded as a major influence on contemporary Jewish life and thought. 

 This new edition includes two forewords: One new,   by the renowned American Rabbi, Rabbi David J. Wolpe, the second from author Chaim Potok, originally written in 1996. 

 Both Wolpe and Potok stress in their pieces the contemporary relevance of As a Driven Leaf. As Wolpe recounts, "As a Driven Leaf tells a gripping story of Elisha ben Abuyah, the only Talmudic sage to be denounced and cast out as a heretic. It explores the two forces acting on us today…We are divided between the twin pulls of assimilation in the modern world and faithfulness to the tradition of the old.” 

 As a Driven Leaf is an ideal selection for adult education classes and as recommended reading for congregational lay leadership. 

About this title

Review

A spirited classic of American Jewish literature, a historical novel about ancient sage-turned-apostate Elisha ben Abuyah in the late first century C.E. At the heart of the tale are questions about faith and the loss of faith and the repression and rebellion of the Jews of Palestine. Elisha is a leading scholar in Palestine, elected to the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court in the land. But two tragedies awaken doubt about God in Elisha's mind, and doubt eats away at his faith. Declared a heretic and excommunicated from the Jewish community, he journeys to Antioch in nearby Syria to begin a quest through Greek and Roman culture for some fundamental irrefutable truth. The pace of the narrative picks up as Elisha directly encounters the full force of the ancient Romans' all-consuming culture. Ultimately, Elisha is forced by the power of Rome to choose between loyalty to his people, who are rebelling against the emperor's domination, and loyalty to his own quest for truth. * Publishers Weekly, September 2000 * A spirited classic of American Jewish literature, a historical novel about ancient sage-turned-apostate Elisha ben Abuyah in the late first century C.E. At the heart of the tale are questions about faith and the loss of faith and the repression and rebellion of the Jews of Palestine. Elisha is a leading scholar in Palestine, elected to the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court in the land. But two tragedies awaken doubt about God in Elisha's mind, and doubt eats away at his faith. Declared a heretic and excommunicated from the Jewish community, he journeys to Antioch in nearby Syria to begin a quest through Greek and Roman culture for some fundamental irrefutable truth. The pace of the narrative picks up as Elisha directly encounters the full force of the ancient Romans' all-consuming culture. Ultimately, Elisha is forced by the power of Rome to choose between loyalty to his people, who are rebelling against the emperor's domination, and loyalty to his own quest for truth. Publishers Weekly, September 2000

About the Author

When Milton Steinberg died in 1950 at the age of 46, he was widely considered one of America's most brilliant young rabbis, equally literate in western secular culture and the Jewish intellectual tradition. He taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary and shared in developing Reconstructionism with Rabbi Modecai Kaplan. His book BASIC JUDAISM has been consistently popular since 1947. AS A DRIVEN LEAF first appeared in 1940 and has been in print ever since.

Edition details

• Publisher: Behrman House
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874419506
• ISBN 13: 9780874419504
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480