Yosl Rakover Talks to God

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Yosl Rakover Talks to God, a short story that was thought for years to be a nonfiction testimonial, is one of the most highly regarded works of literature to emerge from the Holocaust. It presents itself as the last words of a dying Jew to God. Yosl Rakover, a resistance fighter against the German assault on the Warsaw Ghetto, and the last surviving member of his family, takes pen to paper on April 28, 1943, and writes a searing confession of strength and humility. ("The sun probably has no idea how little I regret that I shall never see it again.") He then seals the story in a glass bottle and hides it in the rubble before returning to the battle in which he will die. This edition of the story includes a long essay about its composition and reception by journalist Paul Badde, an essay from the 1950s by the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, and a response to that essay by Leon Wieseltier (the author of Kaddish). This is a strange and beautiful book, with great power to persuade its readers that we must take time to state for ourselves the nature of our belief or unbelief. Yosl Rakover cherishes the story of a Jew who escaped the Spanish Inquisition and prayed: "I will always believe in You. I will love You always and forever--even despite you." Many readers will cherish Yosl Rakover Talks to God in a similar way. --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

A dying Jew's last words to God -- a text that is regarded as the greatest piece of writing to have emerged from the Holocaust -- the story of how it came to be written, and the afterlife of both the author and his creation.
As the German tanks destroy the Warsaw Ghetto, one of the few remaining fighters, Yosl Rakover, writes out his last words to God, seals the text in a glass bottle, and thrusts it into the rubble before preparing to die. The text surfaces in Europe in the 1950s, is passed from hand to hand, is broadcast on Radio Berlin -- where it is acclaimed by Thomas Mann as a religious masterpiece -- is anthologized and translated into many languages.
But what is hailed as the most important testament of the Holocaust is in fact a short story, written in 1946 for a Yiddish newspaper by a remarkable young Jew, Zvi Kolitz, in Buenos Aires, where he had gone to raise money for the Jewish underground in the struggle to establish the State of Israel. The Borgesian story of what happened to the text and to Kolitz in the fifty years since, and the detective work of German journalist Paul Badde that resulted in their eventual rejoining, form the second part of this fascinating book. And in an afterword, the great French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas's meditation on the text is answered in a commentary by Leon Wieseltier.
Already an acclaimed bestseller in Europe, Yosl Rakover Talks to God restores a blazing artifact of twentieth-century writing to its true setting.

Customer Reviews:

Speaking for all the Jewish people .......2005-01-13

In my reading of 'Yosl Rakover talks to God' I felt that he was speaking for all of the Jewish people. I felt he had found a voice so powerful and true in addressing God that he was saying what so many of us have thought for so long and not been able to express.
I know that this is a fictional story of the author Zvi Kolitz, and know too that Kolitz's life story is told in the second part of the work by Paul Badde, and that this volume contains afterwords by Emanuel Levinas and Leon Wieseltier. And all that may be of help to the reader.
But what I recommend is to concentrate on the story, on the words of Yosl Rakover.

"Here then are my last words to You, my angry God: None of this will avail You in the least! You have done everything to make me lose my faith in You,to make me cease believing in You. But I die exactly as I have lived, an unshakeable believer in You.
Praised be forever the God of the dead, the God of vengeance, of truth and judgment, who will soon unveil His face to the world again and shake its foundation with His almighty voice.
"Shema Yisroel"! Hear, Israel!The Lord our God the Lord is One. Into Yourhands, O Lord, I commend my soul."pp.25

Powerful philosophical work about man's relationship to God........2003-01-16

In 1946, Zvi Kolitz, who was a journalist and an ardent Zionist, wrote a short work of fiction in Yiddish. It was called "Yosl Rakover Talks to God." Kolitz put himself in the shoes of a man who was about to meet his death in the conflagration of the Warsaw Ghetto. Before he dies, Yosl confronts God and pours out his anguish and his testament of faith.

Over the years, this short manuscript passed through many hands, and a myth grew up around it. Many people insisted that it was an authentic document written by someone who really lived in the Warsaw Ghetto. Zvi Kolitz was disassociated from the work that he had written.

The story itself is touching and very meaningful. Yosl says that no matter what hardships and pain God sends his way, he is proud to be a Jew, and his belief in God is unwavering. He realizes that, for some reason, God has decided to turn his face away from his people. Therefore, the Nazis and their cohorts had few obstacles to overcome in their mission to rid Europe of its Jewish population. Yosl takes the liberty of chastising God for putting the Jewish people through so much suffering. This work is filled with compassion, anguish, deep feeling and a determination to remaining a proud and committed Jew. "Yosl Rakover Talks to God" cannot fail to move anyone who has strong feelings about the Holocaust and man's relationship to God.

Following the story is an illuminating essay by Paul Badde, explaining the many twists and turns that this manuscript took since its original publication, and he provides some insights into the life and philosophy of Zvi Kolitz. Although very brief, this little volume is moving and thought-provoking.

Disappointing.......2002-11-20

I must say, this book was a disappointment to me. I kind of feel like the kid who said, "But the emperor isn't wearing any clothes!", while everyone else is raving about the beauty of his clothing. I had relatives who were killed during the holocaust, but still... I really loved the movie 'Europa, Europa' and I loved 'Man's Search for Meaning', but this book didn't hold a candle to them - IMHO.

A Statement of a Theology of the Holocaust.......2002-02-13

In 1946, a writer named Zvi Kolitz published a story in Yiddish in an Argentenian Jewish newspaper. Although the story was clearly subtitled as "a story" and bore the name of its author, it soon assumed a life of its own. "Yosl Rakover" became published over the years in some sources as a first-person account by a martyr who died in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
The story is best known for its protagonists reflections on a "God who hides his face."Yosl continues his belief in God and in the Torah while he confronts God with the senseless, undeserved suffering endured by the Ghetto Resistance and by those who suffered and died in the Holocaust.

In this book, we have the text of Kolitz's story together with a lengthy essay by Paul Badde which addresses the history of the story and its author.

I found most fascinating about this book,however,the two essays by Emmanuel Levinas, the great French philosopher, and Leon Wieseltier. In their different ways the two essays discuss and comment on Kolitz's tale and take issue with each other.

Levinas' essay, rirst published in 1955, recognizes the fictional character of the account. He sees the book as creating an internal (rather than a transcendent) concept of God emphasizing the importance of human ethics. This is consistent with the rest of Levinas's philosphy, but it may not capture the essence of Kolitz's.

In his essay, Wiesentheler takes issue with Levinas's reading and takes issue as well with the theistic approach of Kolitz's story. I find this a courageous approach. Modern readers may well have difficulty with Koolitz' rendering of the Holocaust because of the difficulty they have in finding God through the face of sheer evil. Every reader will need to face this question for him or herself.

A thoughtful book raising difficult concerns.

Imperfect, misunderstood but exquisite reading.......2002-01-08

The short story "Yosl Rakover Talks to God" is a curious piece of literature that has taken on a life of its own as stated frequently by Paul Badde. This is not because of the writing - the story is not exquisitely written. It is not because of the theology - there are inconsistencies. It is not because it is the best literature of the Holocaust - it is not. It is because the story speaks directly to the heart of the reader, helping the reader both to make some sense out of the Holocaust and to accept the utter senselessness of the Holocaust.

The story is packaged in this slim volume with three essays: (a)a history of the text and author by Badde, which I found useful in understanding the impact of the story, (b) an essay by Emmanuel Levinas on the notion of the hidden face of God which I found to be biased and time-bound - the one line pot-shot at Simeon Weil annoyed me, and (c) an essay by Leon Wieseltier in response to Levinas which effectively placed the notion of the hidden face of God and the Holocaust into a broader picture of the Jewish experience.

None of the essays explore the theme of the story's condemnation of the Christian tradition. Especially effective in this condemnation is the contrast of the practice regarding death sentences between traditional Judaism and Christianity. Also effective is the contrast between the love of the Torah - God's written law and the love of the Word of God incarnate in Jesus Christ.

This is a text I recommend all Christians, including myself, read and reread. It forces us to review how we live our faith, to review how people of our faith allowed/participated in the Holocaust and all the "little holocausts" against a variety of people for the last 2000 years.

I do also recommend that the book be read as literature, as well. It is a masterful example of how literature can effectively carry a message to the heart not just to the intellect. It deliberately pulls the emotional strings without making the reader feel manipulated - something rarely successful in literature.

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Yosl Rakover Talks to God
Zvi KOLITZ
Manufacturer: Pantheon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UZTEFW

Book Description

Don't miss the first archive edition focusing on the earlyadventures of Robin, collecting stories from STAR-SPANGLED COMICS #65-85(1947-1948)!Presented here are 21 exciting Golden Age solo adventures of The Boy Wonderfeaturing the talents of Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Curt Swan, Dick Sprang, JimMooney, Win Mortimer and more of comics' finest writers and artists!

Customer Reviews:

One of the Most Satisfying Collections in the DC Archives Series.......2006-11-27

Robin is one of the seminal characters in the evolution of the super-hero comic book. He's the first teenage sidekick to put on a costume and fight crime next to an adult. Not just any super-hero: Batman, insuring Robin's pop-culture longevity.

Even in the 1940s, DC Comics knew what they had on their hands with Batman and Superman, and found every way to extend those franchises to the hilt. When the Superboy series proved to be a smash, it made sense that DC would follow suit with a series of solo Robin stories in struggling anthology book entitled "Star-Spangled Stories", collected here in the "Robin Archives".

It's probably worth pointing out the caveat of vintage age comics: plot trumps character. This is invariably true of most super-hero comics prior to the 1960s. Naturally, this applies to a series of stories about a teenager aimed at a teenage audience. That having been said, the stories aren't particularly more juvenile than the material found in "Batman". Robin generally handles crime involving youths, including setting a delinquent gang straight, or helping an heir to a fortune realize he's not a detective. But there's also a fair amount of serious business, as Robin frequently clashes with his own super-villain, the Clock.

Most of the writers of these stories are unknown. However, there are plenty of talented artists identified, including Win Mortimer, Dick Sprang, and Jack Burnley. Modern readers will certainly be astonished by the remarkably similar styles employed by the artists to create a specific "look" for the Batman family. The artwork, while fairly detailed, is still quite cartoony, underscoring the whimsy of the stories.

This is definitely one of the most satisfying collections in the DC Archives series in terms of reproduction and content. While Dick Grayson has grown up, for most, he's the definitive Robin. Pick up this volume to see why.

Just what you want!.......2006-06-29

These stories are just what you hope they are; Robin helping other kids solve crimes and problems. Batman appears a lot to lend a glove. These stories are very much unlike today's comics inasmuch as they are enjoyable, good-natured, and don't require you to have read 312 other comics to know what's going on and what people are doing from scene to scene and why. Excellent stuff!

The boy wonder.......2005-11-23

These stories are just like you would expect. Robin helping mostly other kids to solve crimes.Batman appears in almost all the storys.Thtese are enjoyable but vastly differant from the comic books of today.

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Great reading

You'll never look at mirrors the same way again.

Would Make a Great Door Stop

Fine Literature!

One of the best

The Mirror of Her Dreams
Stephen R. Donaldson
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Donaldson, Stephen R. | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

With The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen R. Donaldson changed the face of fantasy fiction forever. In The Mirror of Her Dreams, the astonishing first novel in the two-volume Mordant’s Need series, Donaldson shows us a world of wondrous beauty and seductive illusion, where mirrors hold the deadliest of magics and nothing is what it seems. . . .

The daughter of rich but neglectful parents, Terisa Morgan lives alone in a New York City apartment, a young woman who has grown to doubt her own existence. Surrounded by the flat reassurance of mirrors, she leads an unfulfilled life—until the night a strange man named Geraden comes crashing through one of her mirrors, on a quest to find a champion to save his kingdom of Mordant from a pervasive evil that threatens the land. Terisa is no champion. She wields neither magic nor power. And yet, much to her own surprise, when Geraden begs her to come back with him, she agrees.

Now, in a culture where women are little more than the playthings of powerful men, in a castle honeycombed with secret passages and clever traps, in a kingdom threatened from without and within by enemies able to appear and vanish out of thin air, Terisa must become more than the pale reflection of a person. For the way back to Earth is closed to her. And the enemies of Mordant will stop at nothing to see her dead.

Customer Reviews:

Great reading.......2007-09-02

This story is great. I love the futuristic aspects as well as the old world feel. I would recomend this to anyone.

You'll never look at mirrors the same way again........2007-08-14

I read this book when it first came out and I absolutely loved it. I have read it several times in the 20 years since. This past week I read it again while packing for a move. Every time I read it I'm struck by the world Donaldson has created in Mordant--much more real and diverse than the world of Harry Potter, and more akin to Middle Earth. It is slow going in the beginning, no doubt about it, but that gives Donaldson a chance to introduce us to the myriad of characters--some flat, some richly detailed--and plots stewing about in Orison. As Terisa wonders, just how many sides are there, anyway? Our confusion mirrors Terisa's (no pun intended!) as she struggles to believe in herself, her own reality, and this new, alien world she's been thrust into.

I'd recommend having A Man Rides Through before you finish this story. The ending is a whopper of a cliffhanger, and it took what seemed like forever to get my hands on it finally, just to find out what happened!

I know a lot of people hated Terisa--and she's not the brightest bulb in the box. A lifetime of passivity teaches you not to think--that thinking is dangerous and causes nothing but trouble. I'd argue that Donaldson portrays her that way because she was, essentially, not truly in our world, didn't truly exist here. She has severe psychological self-esteem issues. We are caught up in her passivity as she tries to fight it, tries to project some sense of personality or reality to herself. As a protagonist she leaves a lot to be desired, but she is no worse than say, Sparhawk from Eddings' Elenium series.

Probably the best fantasy series I've ever read outside of Tolkien.

Would Make a Great Door Stop.......2007-06-29

Slow, slow, slow. This book is so slow you will wonder if time itself has stopped. I just cannot believe that anyone that has read more than a handful of books could give this a 5 star rating. Maybe the problem is with Amazon's rating system. I think we would get some more accurate reviews if instead of 5 stars the rating said something like "one of best book ever read". A 5 star rating should be reserved for that small collection of works that represent the very best you have read.........this book cannot be in anyone's collection of the best.

Even if the book is not slow it is bad for other reasons.
First of all Donaldson is consistent in his ability to create repulsive main characters. I can understand that he has made Terisa somewhat hollow, so that he can let her grow and discover herself in the story, but she is just too empty to be believed. It is easier to think of her as a doll rather than a person. She has absolutely no personality, and wanders through the story like a zombie at the whim of who ever she happens to be with at the time.

Secondly, I'm truly amazed that more female reviewers aren't outraged over the portrayal of the females encountered in this book. I can see why the men would like them.......they are all brainless bimbos ready to jump into bed with whatever guy happens to be available. Even the king's daughters have one track minds. One of them seeks nothing but power, and the other is a daydreamer looking for her "knight in shining armor". Terisa's lust for the letch Master Eremis throughout the story makes an already repulsive character even more disgusting.

Thirdly, the book is 99% meaningless conversations between characters and only 1% action which occurs every 100 pages or so. Even with all the talk, nothing gets resolved, no solutions are reached, and we are left as much in the dark at the end of the book as we were in the beginning.

The only positive thing I can say about this book is that it is without a doubt the largest book I have ever read. I borrowed the hardback version from the local library and was amazed at the size. Part of the size is because the pages appear to be made out of cardboard rather than paper. The only reason I can give you for reading this book is so that you can boast that you have read the largest volume on the shelves. If you don't make it through the book you can always use it as a doorstop.

Fine Literature!.......2007-04-23

As I expected, Stephen R. Donaldson began another engrossing fantasy adventure with a fantastic first installment. The Mirror Of Her Dreams, book one of the two volume Mordant's Need saga, begins as the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant did, in the familiar world which you and I inhabit. Also as in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, we meet a person, this time a female, with serious issues who is miraculously conveyed to another world that is very different from our own, and is expected to be its savior.

Here, Terisa Morgan, a young woman with debilitating self esteem issues, is transported to Mordant where she is expected to be the Champion of Orison and save the kingdom from destruction at the hands of invading armies. Donaldson's ability to peel away at the psyche of a person is unmatched in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He takes a deeply flawed person and, over the course of the epic, exposes their defects in all their ugliness, and illuminates the long process of becoming whole again.

Although Mordant's Need seems to follow the same formula Donaldson used in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the story is still fresh and engaging because Donaldson is such a superb writer. Donaldson is a wordsmith. His attention to detail, especially when describing his characters and their angst, really pulls the reader into making an emotional connection with the story.

The author creates a finely detailed world in which he sets about rich characters to plot and scheme. The book is a mystery of sorts. Violence and intrigue unfold around Terisa while she flails about the kingdom trying to figure out what her purpose there is. Donaldson is a meticulous story teller. If you were a fan of his Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, than you will surely love Mordant's Need. I highly recommend it to all fantasy readers.

One of the best.......2006-09-05

I read "Mirror of Her Dreams" in the local library quite by chance many years ago, and immediately bought it. Since then it has set the standard by which I judge other fantasy novels. Just recently I found my old dog-eared copy and even after the umpteenth re-reading the story has lost none of its magic.

Terisa, who starts the book in such self-doubt she is uncertain of her very existence, is brought through a mirror by mistake into a castle in another world thick with deception and desperation. The King of Mordant has gone mad, and his land is falling into ruin, beset by enemies without, and hidden traitors within. No one knows where Terisa's unexpected arrival fits into Mordant's impending doom, but there are those determined to find out, or use her for their own ends - or eliminate her. Caught unavoidably in the proverbial web of intrique, the frightened and lost Terisa has no choice but to thread her way through the plots with her own wits and discover who is friend and who is foe.

I would not call the start of the book "slow," but rather "measured," as characters are carefully introduced and plots are intricately spun. Normally I have very little patience for books that drag, but this one doesn't - even the long passages of exposition by characters like Eremis, Elega and Quillon draw you in. Every character in this book is a joy to read, from the fumble-footed but heroically earnest Geraden, to the harsh and dominating Castellan Lebbick, to the mad King Joyse, to the scheming Master Eremis. Terisa herself ranks as one of my favourite fantasy heroines, and by the end of the book (in a cliff-hangar that ensures you must read the second part, "A Man Rides Through") has started to find her own courage and become the woman who will help save Mordant - in the next volume.

Donaldson shows the fantasy world how to do court intrique, and not until Martin's recent "A Song of Ice and Fire" series has anyone matched him.

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Product Description

Donaldson presents another lengthy, dense fantasy adventure in the first of the two-book sequence Mordant's Need. This first volume introduces the land of Mordant, beset from without by armies and monsters and from within by plots, dissension and madness. The search for a champion goes awry as the Congery of Imagers first lures poor little rich girl Terisa Morgan from our world, and then snatches a mysterious warrior whose futuristic weapons destroy part of the castle he is supposed to defend. Terisa rises to the challenge, quickly becoming a key figure, a wild card among the many cliques and powers vying to save or seize king and kingdom. Donaldson scores with the magic discipline of imagery, in which mirrors serve as windows on alternate worlds. His characterization, however, is either derivative or programmatic (in a world without ordinary mirrors, no one can be taken at face value). Readers are likely to be hooked by the interlocking intrigues and progressive revelations among a large cast in a vast old castle riddled with secret passages.

Book Description

Makes the point that the social domination of women and the ecological domination of the earth are inextricably fused in theory and practice.

Customer Reviews:

Redefining God.......2001-04-22

Women, Earth, and Creator Spirit is an awesome way for readers to rethink and examine their traditioanl views on God. Elizabeth Johnson connects the destruction of the earth with the oppression of women in a unique way. As a reader of this book in a university theology class, I felt like my mind opened up and truly connected with the ideas that she presented. Ideas that i had not yet been able to articulate appeared so eloquently in this prophetic little book. A quick read, this book will leave you thinkng for quite some time about the need for a new recognition of the Creator Spirit in Christian institutions

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