The Rabbi's Cat [Paperback]

Joann Sfar (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 22, 2007 | Series: Rabbis Cat

The preeminent work by one of France’s most celebrated young comics artists, The Rabbi’s Cat tells the wholly unique story of a rabbi, his daughter, and their talking cat–a philosopher brimming with scathing humor and surprising tenderness.
In Algeria in the 1930s, a cat belonging to a widowed rabbi and his beautiful daughter, Zlabya, eats the family parrot and gains the ability to speak. To his master’s consternation, the cat immediately begins to tell lies (the first being that he didn’t eat the parrot). The rabbi vows to educate him in the ways of the Torah, while the cat insists on studying the kabbalah and having a Bar Mitzvah. They consult the rabbi’s rabbi, who maintains that a cat can’t be Jewish–but the cat, as always, knows better.
Zlabya falls in love with a dashing young rabbi from Paris, and soon master and cat, having overcome their shared self-pity and jealousy, are accompanying the newlyweds to France to meet Zlabya’s cosmopolitan in-laws. Full of drama and adventure, their trip invites countless opportunities for the rabbi and his cat to grapple with all the important–and trivial–details of life.
Rich with the colors, textures, and flavors of Algeria’s Jewish community, The Rabbi’s Cat brings a lost world vibrantly to life–a time and place where Jews and Arabs coexisted–and peoples it with endearing and thoroughly human characters, and one truly unforgettable cat.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Sfar, the French cartoonist behind the Little Vampire children's books, has come up with a hilarious and wildly original graphic novel for adults. The nameless, scraggly-looking alley cat who narrates the story belongs to an Algerian rabbi in the '30s. When the cat eats a parrot, he gains the power of speech and tries to convince his master to teach him the Torah, raising the question of whether the appropriate age for his bar mitzvah should be in human years or cat years. Of course, being a cat, he has plenty of impertinent opinions about Judaism. That's a delicious setup on its own, but it gets better when the cat loses his speech again halfway through, and the story becomes a broader, more bittersweet comedy about the rabbi's family and the intersection of Jewish, Arab and French culture. The rabbi's daughter Zlabya marries a young man from a nonobservant family in France. The Algerian family's visit with their Parisian in-laws is the subject of the final and funniest section of the book. Sfar's artwork looks as mangy and unkempt as the cat, with contorted figures and scribbly lines everywhere, but there's a poetic magic to it that perfectly captures this cat's-eye view of human culture and faith. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–A slinky gray cat lives with a rabbi and his beautiful young daughter. One day, the feline eats their parrot, only to find that he has gained the birds ability to talk. Witty and highly intelligent, the cat immediately decides that he wants to learn more about Judaism, from the Kabbalah to the Torah. Thus begins this funny, sad, spiritual, and utterly delightful trio of tales. The stories tell much about Jewish life in the 1930s, both in the initial setting of Algeria and in Paris. They also impart Jewish teachings and philosophies in a highly entertaining way, bringing to mind Jostein Gaarders Sophies World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy (Berkley, 1996). Sfar is predominantly known in this country for his Little Vampire childrens series (S & S), and the drawings have the colorful, cartoon quality of those works while still fitting the sophistication of these. His palette is a gorgeous mix of earth tones that perfectly captures the North African setting. There is plenty for teens to like–humor, romance, and theological questioning combined with a folkloric quality to bring to life a multifaceted work. Sfar is highly praised in France; heres hoping more of his creations are translated.–Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; Reprint edition (May 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375714642
• ISBN-13: 978-0375714641
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,560 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #80 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Comic Strips

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful, funny-sad book September 12, 2005

By TamarDC

Format:Hardcover

The Rabbi's Cat is a wonderful book. I heard the author speak on NPR and got the book. The book is in the form of a comic strip, each box lovingly illustrated by the author. The pictures are wonderful, particularly of the cat. They are a joy to behold.

Even better are the stories, anecdotes taken from the lives of the Jews in North Africa in the thirties. The stories are both very sad and hysterically funny. The cat has a sardonic turn of phrase that had me in stitches. Through the difficult medium of comics, the author has managed to capture the atmosphere of the time and place. Much of the book is given to musings about life, philosophy, love, God and so on. If you like a good discussion, you'll enjoy this book.

Although the books can be enjoyed by non-Jews, I think if you don't know the basics of Judaism, you'll be missing the most vital part of the book. Of course, the book is so appropriate for the cat lover. The author clearly understands cats perfectly.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My Rabbi loved this book too October 17, 2005

By Harcourt

Format:Hardcover

This book is great fun to read. The cat is a wonderful character, particularly when he is arguing theology and Talmud. I suspect if cats really could talk and argue theology, they'd act much like the one drawn in this book. In fact the book was inspired by the author's real cat (who doesn't speak, at least that I know of :-)) but apparently does understand how to keep his humans.

This book can be enjoyed on several levels - as a fable about a cat and his humans, as a series of theological and philosophical debates, or just as a fun story about a talking cat and his adventures with his master.

An important story element about midway through that the cat never figures out, but my wife did - it is an exchange, not a loss. This will make more sense after you've finished the book.

One does not have to be Jewish or a scholar to appreciate the story and humor, but we gave a copy to our Rabbi as a gift and he loved it too. A couple more gift copies are planned too. Is that a positive endorsement or what?

Parents of small children be warned - you might want to edit out the use of one bad word and some discussions of sexual topics.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the most wonderful, charming Jewish book to come out in the last ten years. September 26, 2005

By The Immigrant

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

What can I say? The cat is one of the most charming, insightful, and funny characters to appear since Philip Roth's more audacious characters. This book is both laugh-out-loud funny, sad, sardonic, and ultimately life-affirming. It is an extremely offbeat book - trying to describe it is almost impossible. You really have to see it to "get" it. Unfortunately, no preview pages appear on the site, because that would greatly help to convey the character of the book.

To give you an idea: in the first section, the cat eats a parrot and gains the power of speech. He explores all of the things one can do with that: taunt, lie, blaspheme, and bait. The rabbi wants to teach him Torah, but he wants to learn Kabalah. The issue is brought to "the rabbi's rabbi," where the cat informs him that:

"I want to convert to Judaism. He asks me why.

I tell him that if I am a good Jew, the rabbi will let me spend time with his daughter.

I explain to him that the rabbi's daughter is my mistress.

That I can't live without her, because she is my joy, and love is a beautiful thing.

He tells me that my motives for converting to Judaism are unsatisfactory, that my love of God isn't sincere.

I never said anything about love of God....

He says that thinking of God fills even the grayest days with sunlight. He says that the love of God should be almost carnal. He tells me that it is an intellectual love but you should always feel as though you were cradled in the arms of a master who is invincible, benevolent, and just.

I tell him that this is exactly what I feel for my mistress. ...I answer that he blasphemes, that my mistress is true.

He says that only God is true.

I say that God is a reassuring myth. I say that he doesn't have anyone to take care of him because he is old and his parents are dead.

I say that I have my mistress and I will never be alone because I will die before she does. He throws my master and me out."

Couple dialog like this with the wonderful drawings, the cat's flashing green naughty eyes, the gentle rabbi and his beloved daughter, and you have an amazingly odd, touching, and engaging book.

Be advised: this is not a children's book (although if you are liberal with your older children and don't mind them dealing with some adult themes, I'm sure a lot would love it). The themes are theology, faith, death, existential fear, love, religion versus secularity, jealousy, and even class differences in France. Don't be put off though; it's an easy, fun, and quick read. Sfar is immensely talented, and the sparse prose has been carefully thought out and apparently translates well. Don't miss this one!