The Pagan Rabbi (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Cynthia Ozick
- First Published: 1966
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1940's to 1960's
- Setting: A large American city
- Principal Characters: Sheindel Kornfeld, The unnamed narrator
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, United States or Americans, Mythology or myths, Suicide, 1940’s, Jews or Jewish life, City life, Widows or widowers, Rabbis, Paganism
- Locales: United States
The Story
After Rabbi Isaac Kornfeld commits suicide in an obscure city park, the unnamed narrator, his lifelong friend, wants to know why the rabbi has hanged himself, and visits the site. The narrator explains that his father and Isaac's were nominal friends who were, in fact, scholarly enemies. Both Isaac and the narrator attended the same seminary, but the latter dropped out, earning the silence and the hatred of his unforgiving father. Although they remained affectionate, if distant, friends, the two young men were perfect opposites. Isaac became a brilliant Talmudic...
[The entire page is 1345 words long]
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