Skip to main content

Saturday the Rabbi Slept Late

I read these years ago and decided to revisit.  Very enjoyable,  Kemelman blends lessons on Judaism with a mystery.  In this book, Yom Kippur is (gently) explained, as is the ins-and-outs of a Rabbi's relationship with his synagogue, both the members and the administration.

The death is Isaac Hirsh, a mathematician who goes on benders now and again.  This time he comes upon a bottle when his neighbor is out and the deliveryman leaves it with Hirsh.

Hirsh has a young wife, is a mathematician, is non-observant.  He drinks the liquor, intending to but a bottle to replace it for his neighbor.  He throws away the box/address label.

So . . . probably poisoned liquor intended for the neighbor, Levenson.

Other characters:  and old guy, Garafosky or some such, who refuses to break the Yom Kippur fast to take his medicine.  Rabbi Small explains he's actually breaking Hebrew law by NOT taking it, but the old guy is stubborn and actually enjoys the argument.  Rabbi is at odds with the president of the synagogue because . . .   not clear yet.

Very fun, and short.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin . . . finished

 Follows Sadie and Sam (Mazer) from childhood to mid-thirties when both are feeling old and a bit out of it in the gaming world.  Characters are well-rounded, develop throughout the novel in interesting way.  Plot is involved but sensible.  Not a single, "Oh, come on!" moment.  The book could have been faster paced. Odd, since the main topic is video games which are not for their speed of engagement and Gabrielle Zevin clearly knows her video games. Recommended by Michael Connelly in an interview.  He also has Bosch pick up the book in his novel, Resurrection Walk, as Bosch tails a possible witness to a crime as she moves through a bookstore. Sadie and Sam do not get together at the end, which is good.   Marx killed by homophobic nutcase who really wants to kill Sam, but Sam isn't there. Marx is father of Sadie's child. 

The Franchise Affair, Josephine Tey--opening pages

Blair, a lawyer in Milford, gets a strange call.  His practice is wills and similar--nothing criminal.  A woman tells him that Scotland Yard is accusing her of abduction and implores him to come out to help her, even if later on he passes the case to someone else.  The woman says she has called him because he is "her type," meaning respectable and conservative.  He agrees.