Customer Reviews

Rabbi and the Twenty Nine Witches

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Every full moon a town is plagued by twenty-nine witches. However, when it rains the witches never appear. The older people in the town want to see a full moon before they die and they approach a rabbi to seek help.

This is a wonderful story. It reminded me of many of the old "So-and-so" versus the Devil stories (e.g. The Devil and Daniel Webster) prominent in early American and American folk literature. It does have one horrendous event, but ends happily.

I got this book for my nephew for his 6th birthday - he loves witches. The witches are no longer by the end of this book, but not without some feeling of regret among the brave men who take them on, led by the wise rabbi. Great story, wonderful illustrations. My 5-year old daughter wants her own copy now and I agree that borrowing it periodically from the library will not suffice.

When I think back on the Jewish literature of my childhood, one book stands out: The Rabbi and the Twenty-nine Witches. Twenty-some years later, the elementary school students in our congregation held a readers' choice award competition, and their love of this 1976 classic not only made it a nominee, but the ultimate winner. Now, repeated pleas from across the Jewish community bring this Talmudic tale back into print. Appearing just as it first did 33 years ago, this tale of how one rabbi leads a group of men to rid their town of a nearby coven of witches, with its black, white, and blue watercolor illustrations, is clearly timeless in its appeal. Kids love the subject, and have never encountered some of these characters in Jewish literature before. It is at once refreshing and authentic. The book not only makes a great read-aloud; hearing it compels children to pick it up for a closer look at the details of the illustrations and another read of the story. A must-buy for Jewish collections, as your old copy is probably dog-eared and falling apart from all the love it has received over the years. For ages 5-10.
Tasha Bergon-Michelson

The Rabbi and the Twenty-Nine Witches is beloved by all! When I wanted to feature this title on The Book of Life podcast, I couldn't interview author Marilyn Hirsh, who died many years ago. However, the book is so well-loved that I managed to find four different people to talk about it: the editor Margery Cuyler, librarian Tasha Bergson-Michelson, and two enthusiastic children who gave the book their school's Reader's Choice Award. Listen to the interviews on The Book of Life's October 2007 episode, "Catch Me a Classic!" at www.bookoflifepodcast.com!