An often profound, if occasionally abstruse, introduction to the work of a leading 18th-century rabbi.
An English translation of the teachings of influential Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeshitz.
Julie Gerber has long been fascinated and inspired by her distant ancestor and 18th-century Jewish teacher, commentator, and cabbalist Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeshitz. When she found Barber, Gerber knew he was the ideal person to translate her acclaimed forefather’s work from Hebrew to English. As a prolific author and Jewish scholar, Rabbi Barber has an “elevated knowledge” of Eybeshitz’s infamously esoteric writing. He draws on a deep understanding of Hebrew and Jewish tradition to offer readers the first comprehensive English translation of Eybeshitz’s work. The book begins with Eybeshitz’s biographical information, from his early years in Poland to his high-profile dispute with a German rabbi over amulets he provided to pregnant women. Eybeshitz’s writings, the book’s titular “Pearls of Wisdom,” comprise two parts. The first consists of concise, yet densely packed, commentary on weekly Torah readings that span from Adam to Moses. With remarks as short as a page in length, these insights are meant to be “read a number of times (even if one understands the idea after the first reading) to fully appreciate the various subtleties being conveyed.” Some chapters address practical questions that naturally arise in the Torah, such as how Noah’s ark held and fed every animal in the world despite its physical limitations (the answer, in brief: God provided). Other chapters feature painstaking, multipage discussions of the hidden meaning behind a single word in an obscure verse. The second part of the book centers on Eybeshitz’s commentary pertaining to Shabbat, holidays, exile, and the “End of Days.” Like his teachings on the Torah, Eybeshitz’s approach to Shabbat uses arcane details, such as in-depth discussions about cutting fingernails or building a fire, to illuminate broader spiritual truths, like the purpose and meaning of Shabbat and its connection to the Tabernacle. The book’s last section addresses Eybeshitz’s ideas pertaining to the messianic era.
Reflecting the desires of Jews born in the 1600s, Eybeshitz emphasizes that “no Jew will be left behind” during this age as he eagerly awaits the return of Jews from Spain and Portugal “who were forced to abandon their faith” during the Inquisition. Though Barber openly acknowledges that Eybeshitz’s teachings “are complex and demand a great deal of prior knowledge,” this volume is remarkably readable. However, more historical context, annotations, and editorial commentary would help neophytes make headway through Eybeshitz’s most cryptic passages. Those outside Orthodox communities who seek answers to 21st-century issues on topics from sexuality to social justice may also not find many answers here. Additionally, despite the book’s brief biographical materials, readers who are encountering Eybeshitz for the first time may find themselves wanting for more concrete analysis of the legacy and import of his teachings to future generations, a claim that is often made in Gerber’s and Barber’s commentaries but rarely elaborated upon. Though these things may limit the book’s reach, rabbis and scholars of Judaism will find much to admire, and learn from, in this impressive translation.
An often profound, if occasionally abstruse, introduction to the work of a leading 18th-century rabbi.Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-85367-3
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Gerber's Miracle Publishers LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.
An experimental, illustrated essay collection that questions neurotypical definitions of what is normal.
From a young age, writer and comedian Myers has been different. In addition to coping with obsessive compulsive disorder and panic attacks, she struggled to read basic social cues. During a round of seven minutes in heaven—a game in which two players spend seven minutes in a closet and are expected to kiss—Myers misread the romantic advances of her best friend and longtime crush, Marley. In Paris, she accidentally invited a sex worker to join her friends for “board games and beer,” thinking he was simply a random stranger who happened to be hitting on her. In community college, a stranger’s request for a pen spiraled her into a panic attack but resulted in a tentative friendship. When the author moved to Australia, she began taking notes on her colleagues in an effort to know them better. As the author says to her co-worker, Tabitha, “there are unspoken social contracts within a workplace that—by some miracle—everyone else already understands, and I don’t….When things Go Without Saying, they Never Get Said, and sometimes people need you to Say Those Things So They Understand What The Hell Is Going On.” At its best, Myers’ prose is vulnerable and humorous, capturing characterization in small but consequential life moments, and her illustrations beautifully complement the text. Unfortunately, the author’s tendency toward unnecessary capitalization and experimental forms is often unsuccessful, breaking the book’s otherwise steady rhythm.
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780063381308
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
A pleasure for fans of old-school historical narratives.
Avuncular observations on matters historical from the late popularizer of the past.
McCullough made a fine career of storytelling his way through past events and the great men (and occasional woman) of long-ago American history. In that regard, to say nothing of his eschewing modern technology in favor of the typewriter (“I love the way the bell rings every time I swing the carriage lever”), he might be thought of as belonging to a past age himself. In this set of occasional pieces, including various speeches and genial essays on what to read and how to write, he strikes a strong tone as an old-fashioned moralist: “Indifference to history isn’t just ignorant, it’s rude,” he thunders. “It’s a form of ingratitude.” There are some charming reminiscences in here. One concerns cajoling his way into a meeting with Arthur Schlesinger in order to pitch a speech to presidential candidate John F. Kennedy: Where Richard Nixon “has no character and no convictions,” he opined, Kennedy “is appealing to our best instincts.” McCullough allows that it wasn’t the strongest of ideas, but Schlesinger told him to write up a speech anyway, and when it got to Kennedy, “he gave a speech in which there was one paragraph that had once sentence written by me.” Some of McCullough’s appreciations here are of writers who are not much read these days, such as Herman Wouk and Paul Horgan; a long piece concerns a president who’s been largely lost in the shuffle too, Harry Truman, whose decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan McCullough defends. At his best here, McCullough uses history as a way to orient thinking about the present, and with luck to good ends: “I am a short-range pessimist and a long-range optimist. I sincerely believe that we may be on the way to a very different and far better time.”
A pleasure for fans of old-school historical narratives.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781668098998
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
