Zaddik: The Battle for a Boy's Soul - Hardcover

DENHOLTZ, ELAINE GRUDIN

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573929204 ISBN 13: 9781573929202

Publisher: Prometheus, 2001

Synopsis

Relates the events surrounding the abduction and subsequent brainwashing of thirteen-year-old Shai Fhima by a trusted Hasidic rabbi and his followers, offering a portrait of the religious fanaticism that kept Shai in exile for years.

About this title

Synopsis:

If this book were not based on actual events, the plot of Elaine Grudin Denholtz's gripping suspense story might seem preposterous. But her tale is all the more shocking because it is true. With a gift for realistic dialogue and sharply drawn characters, Denholtz creates a dramatic portrait of religious fanatics who arrogantly defy the law. Reported on Israeli television as well as in newspapers from the "New York Times" and "Newsday" to Israel's "Maariv" and "Yediot Ahronot", the facts of this story have dramatic tension that keeps the reader both fascinated and horrified: false passports, hideouts in France, the boy's father wired by the New York police, a bloody knife fight outside a yeshiva, the brainwashed son testifying against his mother, two courageous lawyers who battle the system for four years pro bono, and a riveting jury trial."The Zaddik" is more than a tale of kidnapping and the battle for a boy's soul. It invites us to ask ourselves, Where does religious devotion end and evil begin?

About the Author:

Elaine Grudin Denholtz is an award-winning journalist, playwright, screenwriter, and the author of Having It Both Ways: A Report on Married Women with Lovers and Balancing Work and Love: Jewish Women Facing the Family/Career Challenge, among other books. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and The New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame, she teaches at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1573929204
• ISBN 13: 9781573929202
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 382