The Boy on the Door on the Ox: An Unusual Spiritual Journey Through the Strangest Jewish Texts (Paperback)

by Martin Samuel Cohen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Mishnah, an ancient Jewish text composed around 200 c.e., is the foundation document of rabbinic law. In this groundbreaking work, Martin Samuel Cohen explores texts from the Mishnah as a foundation document of Jewish spirituality, Using the Mishnah's sketchy characters as personal spiritual guides, Rabbi Cohen makes these obscure texts particularly relevant to a modern seeker. This witty, scholarly and charming meditation demonstrates how the study of Mishnah can provide spiritual guidance.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Aviv Press (October 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916219402
• ISBN-13: 978-0916219406
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,427 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars sometimes engaging, but maybe a bit too long , January 17, 2009

By	Michael Lewyn (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book discusses on Seder Tohorot, the Mishnah's section on ritual purity. Cohen seeks to use the power of analogy and metaphor to show how these laws are relevant to us today- despite the fact that he is writing about laws that have been of little relevance to daily life since the Temple was destroyed in 70.

For example, one chapter discusses the following law: a women entering a mikveh (ritual bath) with a mouth full of coins is purified by the mikveh- yet impure due to her saliva's connection with the coins. (Cohen explains why she is impure, but that is not particularly relevant to his broader point). Cohen points out that the possibility of being impure and pure at the same time teaches us "that one actually can travel down two paths at the same time"- that the world is an ambiguous, uncertain place and that it is OK to honestly accept that ambiguity. In particular, Cohen wants us to accept Jewish observance even if we have doubts about the literal truth of the Torah, to strive for purity despite our ideological impurity.

The first few chapters of this book were quite engaging; however, the last few chapters were less interesting. Some of Cohen's last attempts to apply the Mishnah seemed to be to be more of a stretch than in his first few chapters.

4.0 out of 5 stars Frozen in place, December 12, 2008

By	Michael F. Sheff (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The boy on the door on the ox makes the reader a voyeur on the attempts of a Rabbi to link himself to the spiritual meaning of the esoterica of Jewish rituals two thousand years ago. It is significant that the rituals he has chosen are in that section of the Mishna - the Rabbinic compilation of Jewish law - which was largely left without comment by those scholars who elaborated Jewish law in the Talmud. While Jews in the Diaspora still attempt to keep Mishnaic law when compatible with their surroundings, the rituals and situations described in this book are now practised only by a tiny few. Therefore Rabbi Cohen can use them not as a source of practice, but as a source of metaphors with which he can enrich his spiritual life. The book is fascinating, and a little embarassing. No one like to look this deeply into another's psychospiritual growth.