Customer Reviews

Rabbi Harvey Rides Again: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Folktales Let Loose in the Wild West

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This is the second in a so-far three volume series of humorous narratives told with cartoon graphics. The hero is Rabbi Harvey the old-style clever bearded and heavy eye-browed rabbi wearing a big black hat in the 1880s, in Elk Spring, Colorado, in the Old West. The rabbi is able to answer everyone's questions and solve their problems. There are ten stories in this book, just as in the first volume, and some are comprised of several episodes. All are based on ancient Jewish humorous and morality stories. Sheinkin gives his sources, which include the Talmud, and tales about Chassidim such as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and the Maggid of Mezeritch.

Wasserman the outlaw reappears in this volume as well as the cunning contest "Stump the Rabbi," which cost questioners five cents. A new character is introduced, Abigail the luckless gold miner who becomes Elk Spring's school mum. The witty tales include, the time the wind blew away Abigail's food. She traveled to question the much-heralded shrewd Rabbi Harvey, who she meets for the first time. She asks him to litigate her case against the wind for its thievery. There are also funny reports about the man who dreamed that he would find a treasure in Denver and left home to get it, and about the contest at the rabbis' convention to decide which rabbi could find the most precious item, and the poor couple who wrote to God begging for money since they were cold and starving, and the time when Rabbi Harvey's cart driver changed places with him so that the driver could see how the rabbi reacted to questions when they came to a town that had never seen the famous sharp rabbi before.

A second book in what will hopefully be an extended series. Rabbi Harvey Rides Again will delight readers of all ages with its wit, humor, and engaging stories. Sheinkin's artistic ability has grown tremendously since his first book, and it shows, particularly on the last page with a beautiful snowy woodland scene. Everyone knows someone who will love this book - buy one for yourself and one for them!

I enjoyed this sequel even more than the original. The clean style of illustrations, combined with wit and wisdom, make these book(s) enjoyable and rewarding for children as well as adults.

Yipee-Ki-Yay, Stephen Sheinkin and Rabbi Harvey.

I really enjoyed the predecessor book, The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey, so I was thrilled to see another installment. This is another unique-looking graphic novel, and it extends the dry, gentle wit of the original. The book is a series of detective stories, with the scuffling Rabbi Harvey, a kind of sagebrush Solomon, using only his wits to unmask frontier fraudsters and defeat outlaws. At the same time, it's replete with throw- away one liners right out of a Lower East Side deli. In Harvey's domain, the worst and best of human nature are on raw display as the assortment of sodbusters and merchants try to scratch out a living. But in the end, meh, nobody takes themselves too seriously.

A strange way of moonlighting - serving as both a Rabbi and a Sheriff and mixing both freely and skillfully, Rabbi Harvey is an intriguing character indeed. "Rabbi Harvey Rides Again: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Folktales Let Loose in the Wild West" is a compilation of tales following this Rabbi Sheriff as he dispenses both justice and Talmudic wisdom onto the other various characters he encounters in his travel. A deftly mixed graphic novel consisting of the ingredients of old world religion, American and Jewish Folktales, and witty creativity, "Rabbi Harvey Rides Again: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Folktales" is highly recommended for community library graphic novel collections and for any reader who wants a bit of an offbeat blend.

In the revival of comics in recent years, there's nothing quite like Rabbi Harvey, which is why this black-suited, black-bearded, black-hatted rabbi has popped up occasionally in news stories across the U.S. about trends in faith and comic books (or, in this case, graphic novels).

Without firing a shot or turning to some exotic form of martial arts, Rabbi Harvey manages to tame his little corner of the Wild West. His non-violent style, relying only on his faith and his razor-sharp wits, holds the potential to help tame graphic novels as well. Perhaps other comic artists and writers will pick up this concept of a non-violent, spiritual hero and run even further with it.

Harvey is the creation of Steve Sheinkin, whose other professional pursuit is writing history textbooks for schoolchildren. As you might guess, Sheinkin's true passion in working on history texts is trying to provide students more of the fascinating bits of history that are left out of traditional textbooks.

In the case of the two Rabbi Harvey graphic novels, it's a little tough to sort out what's history and what's not. There were Jews in the Old West, but Rabbi Harvey himself is a fictional character. He's a creation of Sheinkin's fertile mind, but he's also acting out roles in traditional Jewish folk tales that span many centuries. (In fact, in the back of this first book, Sheinkin provides a suggested list for further reading in Jewish folklore. In the back of his sequel, knowing that readers are interested in these connections, he expands this appendix and explains in greater detail where the original patterns of these stories emerged.)

Each book has about 120 pages of comics (a few more in Volume 2). The comics are black-and-white drawings, colored in a limited pallet of beige, gold and brown that suggests antique images from many years ago.

In this second volume, "Big Milt," the most popular bad guy from the first book returns. This time, Harvey's got an even more devious way of ensnaring Big Milt in his own evil ways to disarm him before someone gets killed. But the big news is the introduction of Abigail, a smart, tough pioneer woman who quickly catches Harvey's eye.

Should you start with Volume 1? The answer is: You could. But this is developing into a great saga. Sheinkin already is planning Volume 3 and I hope we'll read many more over the years! So, if you haven't read Volume 1, buy them both. Amazon makes it easy. And, stay tuned for Volume 3, when rumor has it that Harvey and Abigail will see a lot more of each other.

In his second Rabbi Harvey collection, Steve Sheinkin continues to transplant tales from the Talmud and the Hasidic tradition into a wild, wooly and charmingly haimish vision of the Old West. Sheinkin has sharp wit and delicious comic timing, and his images, with their folk-art-done-on-an-early-Mac aesthetic, are clear, engaging and wonderfully offbeat. Admirers of wisdom literature from any tradition will find much to delight here, and may well be prompted to seek out the original sources of these surprising and insightful stories. Authentically great stuff.

Absolutely charming with a non-stop supply of humor as sly as the Rabbi's wisdom. Harvey is an irresistable character and the author's sense of fun is contagious. There's a great deal here to enjoy whether you're a fan of Rabbis, Westerns or a simple good time.

In this second graphic novel of Wild Western tales Rabbi Harvey dispenses wisdom and justice to the fictional shtetl of Elk Spring, Colorado, and surrounding areas, taking on Bad Bubbe, Big Milt and Wolfie Wasserman, and even the wind with his mind instead of a gun. The illustrations evoke the Old West and are simple enough to avoid detracting from the story. There is no cartoon nudity in this volume, although he does get down to his underwear a couple of times. I highly recommend this funny, funny book to anyone of any age, whether or not they have a religious persuastion of any sort. Those with Jewish literacy will enjoy seeing the old Jewish folklore and rabbinic tales in such an incongruous setting, but everyone will appreciate the wit of the stories.

No need to have read the first book (also superb) to understand this one, which teaches lessons without being heavy handed. Kids and grown ups of all religions will love these funny, intelligent stories that show how Rabbi Harvey gets out of sticky situations using only his wits. I hope there are many more Rabbi Harvey books to come!