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Summary: There is a little Elisha ben Abuyah in each of us
Review: This book is one of the best books ever written. One of my personal favorites, As a Driven Leaf, has so many deeper meanings to be found in it. This is a story about a Talmudic character Elisha ben Abuyah who leaves his great Rabbi teachers to search for the basis of God. Elisha is fixated on proving God's existance using logic. This tragedy of Elisha ends with his realization that logic must begin somewhere and that is faith. I recommend this book for everyone. Please write me if there are any questions or comments. This book can change lives.
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Summary: The Search for Truth
Review: This book seemed to start a little slow, but definately picked up. While it takes place 2000 years ago, the tale has meaning for many people today. I do not consider myself to be a very emotional person, but I found myself on the verge of tears many times. If you, like the main character Elisha are searching for truth, then this book is for you.
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Summary: Brilliant historical novel of the intertestimental period
Review: This book should be of interest to both Jews and Christians. It follows the life of Elishia Ben Abouya, a brilliant young rabbi who lived in the first century of the common era. Based on accounts reported in the Talmud, this book contains Steinberg's imaginative and sensitive depiction of a time strangely like our own, in which the stresses and strains between the secular world and old and new religion play themselves out. Jews will find many of their rabbinic heroes portrayed -- such as Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Meir. Christians will be fascinated by the tensions between the Hebrew Christians and the Gentile Christians of the first century. Particularly moving is Steinberg's elaboration of Ben Abouya's reaction to the deaths of Meir's children, a story also based on talmudic writings. This is historical fiction at its best. A classic. Very highly recommended.
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Summary: Inspiring and Thought Provoking
Review: This book was inspiring and yet at the same time made you think about the existence of god. Mr. Steinberg does a great job of putting you in 1st/2nd century Palestine and yet at the same time engages you in a analysis of the meaning of God and life. Set with such know historical figures as Rabbi Akiba, he blends in this real historical character of Elisha ben Abuya and brings him to life. The characters are real and you feel their pain. An amazing read.
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Summary: readable but not 100% satisfying
Review: This book was very readable, and in many ways it brought the great sages and their era to life. (And I did not think that it was anti-traditional Judaism; in a way it supports traditionalism by showing the vapidity of secularism). I mildly recommend it.Why only mildly? Because I think that had Steinberg been willing to write on a higher intellectual plane, this book could have been a great book instead of an OK one. Steinberg keeps asserting that Elisha ben Abuyah (the main character) finds traditional Judaism, and later secularism, intellectually unsatisfying. But he doesn't really explain WHY Elisha found the alternatives so unsatisfying; to do so probably would have required spending dozens (if not hundreds) of pages on theological arguments, and perhaps Steinberg couldn't find a way to make this kind of discussion boht readable and intellectually worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: readable but not 100% satisfying
Review: This book was very readable, and in many ways it brought the great sages and their era to life. (And I did not think that it was anti-traditional Judaism; in a way it supports traditionalism by showing the vapidity of secularism). I mildly recommend it. Why only mildly? Because I think that had Steinberg been willing to write on a higher intellectual plane, this book could have been a great book instead of an OK one. Steinberg keeps asserting that Elisha ben Abuyah (the main character) finds traditional Judaism, and later secularism, intellectually unsatisfying. But he doesn't really explain WHY Elisha found the alternatives so unsatisfying; to do so probably would have required spending dozens (if not hundreds) of pages on theological arguments, and perhaps Steinberg couldn't find a way to make this kind of discussion boht readable and intellectually worthwhile.
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Summary: Best of Religion and Fiction worlds, combined
Review: This is perhaps the best-written book to date, dealing with subjects as heavy as Religion and the existance of God, as well as the origins of faith itself. Judaism being a religion based on interpretation and adaptation, on questioning and quests for answers, is greately explained and augmented by this book. It is a must read to anyone who likes to read for both the sheer pleasure of reading an excellently-written book and for reading a book that makes the reader thing, that affects, for the very least, how the reader views the world and their own beliefs.
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Summary: Re-release of book has new Foreword by Chaim Potok
Review: This novel has recently been re-released, with a brand-new Foreword by award-winning novelist Chaim Potok. The Foreword discusses Potok's first encounter with Steinberg's work during Potok's time in rabbinical school, and why Potok believes that this book continues to be spiritually relevant today
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