Customer Reviews

The Rabbi's Girls

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

 

 

_The Rabbi's Girls_ tells a story about the struggles of Jewish Americans in the U.S. about 100 years ago. A rabbi and his wife take their family--all daughters--to serve a small Jewish community. They struggle with many issues that Jewish children still struggle with today, as well as face challenges more particular to the setting. The personality of both the central character and her father are particularly well-drawn. This book is not as compelling as _Baseball Fever_, but Hurwitz's _The Rabbi's Girls_ is still a good read for children (esp. girls) 8-11.

Carrie is the middle daughter of a family of five girls, daughters of a rabbi whose work moves them from town to town every few years. In 1923 they settle in Lorain, Ohio, where Carrie hopes they can remain for a long time. The plot follows the events of the next year, which becomes a turning point in all their lives. While aimed at young readers, the book brings up questions of dealing with prejudice and being a minority at school, rebelliousness against the strictures of religious practices, congregational politics between the rabbi and his congregation, and serious, life-changing events of illness and calamity. Although written simply, it kept me as an adult reader involved in the story, and is definitely worth reading before or with a child so that you can talk about some of the harder things in the story.

Questions of character abound in this book. How does a child come to appreciate doing that which is right? How does a child make sense of the board/rabbi relationship? Why do things happen the way they do? Why do the righteous suffer?

This book does not have a Disney-type ending and pre-reading by parents will help children deal with a religious or professional leader who has to move his family from community to community or with the death of a parent.