Criminal Kabbalah

Description

An intriguing Anthology of Jewish Mystery & Detective Fiction

Terence Ball, The Banality of Evil

Sandra Levy Ceren, Silver Is Better Than Gold

Martin S. Cohen, Death Has Beckoned

Richard Fliegel, The Golem of Bronx Park East

Michael A. Kahn, Truth in a Plain Brown Wrapper

Stuart M. Kaminsky, The Tenth Man

Rochelle Krich,Bitter Waters

Ronald Levitsky,Thy Brother’s Bloods

Lev Raphael, Your Papers, Please

Shelley Singer, Reconciling Howard

Janice Steinberg, Hospitality in a Dry Country

Batya Swift Yasgur, Without a Trace

All-new stories from twelve of today’s masters of mystery and detective fiction—sure to delight mystery buffs of all faith traditions, and fans of the award-winning Mystery Midrash: An Anthology of Jewish Mystery & Detective Fiction.

Foreword Laurie R. King 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction Lawrence W. Raphael 11 The Banality of Evil Terence Ball 17 Silver Is Better Than Gold Sandra Levy Ceren 39 Death Has Beckoned Martin S. Cohen 57 The Golem of Bronx Park East Richard Fliegel 81 Truth in a Plain Brown Wrapper Michael A. Kahn 103 The Tenth Man Stuart M. Kaminsky 127 Bitter Waters Rochelle Krich 141 Thy Brother's Bloods Ronald Levitsky 159 Your Papers, Please Lev Raphael 183 Reconciling Howard Shelley Singer 193 Hospitality in a Dry Country Janice Steinberg 213 Without a Trace Batya Swift Yasgur 229

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Jewish literature
• Judaism
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 10 juillet 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580236539
• Langue: English

Extrait

An Intriguing Anthology of Jewish Mystery Detective Fiction
Edited by Lawrence W. Raphael
Foreword by Laurie R. King, author of O Jerusalem
T his book is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Florence Raphael, who loved books. She gave me her passion for reading and learning. It is a gift that I hope my own children, Matthew, Andrew, and Rachel, will treasure too.
Contents

Foreword Laurie R. King
Acknowledgments
Introduction Lawrence W. Raphael

The Banality of Evil Terence Ball
Silver Is Better Than Gold Sandra Levy Ceren
Death Has Beckoned Martin S. Cohen
The Golem of Bronx Park East Richard Fliegel
Truth in a Plain Brown Wrapper Michael A. Kahn
The Tenth Man Stuart M. Kaminsky
Bitter Waters Rochelle Krich
Thy Brother s Bloods Ronald Levitsky
Your Papers, Please Lev Raphael
Reconciling Howard Shelley Singer
Hospitality in a Dry Country Janice Steinberg
Without a Trace Batya Swift Yasgur
Credits
About the Editor
Copyright
Also Available
About Jewish Lights
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Foreword

Crime and Kabbalah
LAURIE R. KING, AUTHOR OF O JERUSALEM
Criminal Kabbalah, the Kabbalah of crime-what does an esoteric form of mysticism have to do with common lawbreakers? Nothing, we declare with indignation. And yet
The word Kabbalah grows from the Hebrew root kbl , which has to do with things received. Specifically, Kabbalah is a system (or, this being Judaism, a number of systems) by which a person might attain union with God, not despite everyday reality, but through it. There are divine sparks in each of us, says the Kabbalist, placed there in Creation. Tradition-the things received, the powerful symbols of everyday reality-lead us back to that spark that we might restore the perfect state in which we began.
The word Crime comes from the Latin crimen , which has to do with faults and flaws. In the context of traditional (that is, received) crime fiction, an offense is committed, establishing a flaw in the perfection of the writer s created world. The story then follows the efforts of the investigator to restore order, to set things back; not as they were, but in balance with how they used to be. The writer employs everyday reality-fingerprints and witness statements, the time of day and the human motivations of greed and fear and loyalty-to seek after the spark of truth that, once liberated, will restore order to this fictional universe.
Crime fiction, then, has essentially the same goal as Kabbalistic mysticism-on a considerably less exalted level, true, but sharing the core psychological and emotional experience of restoring harmony. A satisfying mystery imparts the feeling that the reader has been united, however briefly and frivolously, with Truth. For a short time, the reader becomes the fictional detective seeking to restore order; at the story s end, the investigator s revelation is the reader s own.
And who better to lead the way to Truth than a Jewish investigator? Judaism, more than any other tradition, recognizes the rules inherent in existence: If I do this, then such and such will happen; if I eat that, I will not remain ritually clean; if Adam and Eve choose to defy the given boundaries, they must leave the Garden-not punishment, simply consequence. A crime story reasserts the inevitability of consequence: The wrongdoer is caught, and suffers as a result. A pious Jew is described not as devout so much as observant, sensitive to the consequences when God s laws are broken. And what, after all, is the chief characteristic of an investigator but that he or she be observant?
You are receiving (kbl) here: the efforts of twelve writers seeking to restore a little order to our flawed (crimen) universe. They will bring you sparks of pleasure, and possibly even of Truth.
Acknowledgments

THE PROCESS THAT LED TO THE PUBLICATION of this book began in 1995 at a now-defunct New York City bookstore. There one evening my wife, Terrie, and I were browsing, and we found Paula Woods s important study Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes: Black Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction (Doubleday, 1995). Inspired by that book, Terrie suggested that I should consider putting together something about the Jewish contribution to crime and detective fiction.
Not long after that evening I participated on several mystery writers panels with two wonderful mystery writers, S. J. Rozan and Marissa Piesman. Those experiences, and the many conversations that the three of us have had, were instrumental in my approaching established mystery writers and asking them to contribute Jewish mystery stories to an anthology. Stuart Kaminsky encouraged my efforts very early on. To these three superb writers I owe many thanks.
In the spring of 1998 I met with Stuart Matlins, publisher of Jewish Lights Publishing, and his enthusiastic response to my idea to collect and publish such an anthology led to Mystery Midrash: An Anthology of Jewish Mystery Detective Fiction . Working with Stuart and his staff helped me create that first volume of stories. This volume owes much to the excellent editorial efforts of Bryna Fischer. Her expertise in Judaica and editing has improved this book immeasurably.
Throughout this experience of soliciting, reading, evaluating, and editing these mystery stories Terrie was and continues to be all that I could ask for in a life companion. She is supportive, constructive, imaginative, and willing to take the time necessary to give me her valued opinion about contributions to this genre. My efforts would not have been possible without her.
My continued interest in Jewish mystery fiction has led me to create a web site where an annotated bibliography of contemporary American Jewish mysteries is listed. Readers who are interested in this field, and anyone who has suggestions for stories that might be included in future volumes of Jewish stories, should visit www.jewishmysteries.com .
Introduction

LAWRENCE W. RAPHAEL
YOU ARE HOLDING IN YOUR HANDS a mystery trip into Jewish culture and philosophy through well-crafted stories. If you love a good tale, if you want to know more about Jewish tradition, if you would like to create order out of chaos and the complexities of daily life-turn to any story in this collection. Crime stories that illuminate the mysteries of life are as old as Jewish tradition and as new as today s temptations.
In the fall of 1999 the first collection of Jewish mystery stories, Mystery Midrash , was published. Since that time I have traveled all over the country lecturing about Jewish identity and mystery fiction. My audience has included synagogue groups, book fair attendees at Jewish community centers, rabbinic associations, and the dedicated fans of mystery who have gathered in bookstores from Phoenix to New York City. In each location I have been delighted by the response and the interest from readers who enjoy good stories, find pleasure in reading quality whodunits, and want to expand their knowledge of Judaism through the medium of interesting fiction.
That first collection of Jewish mystery stories was groundbreaking. Other collections have featured mystery stories written by women, mysteries centered on cats, mysteries focused on food, or mysteries that pinpoint a particular place. Mystery Midrash was the first anthology that included only Jewish mystery stories. And now, Criminal Kabbalah offers all of us who are intrigued by this fascinating genre a collection of more Jewish mysteries and more ways to explore the uncertainties that are a part of contemporary Jewish identity.
Why Criminal Kabbalah? Most people think of Kabbalah as Jewish mysticism, especially the forms it assumed in the Middle Ages from the twelfth century onward, which address the problems of evil and sinful behavior in the world. According to a major kabbalistic source, the Zohar , the realms of good and evil are to an extent commingled, and it is our human mission to separate them. The general kabbalistic position is that evil is a necessary component of our unredeemed world. It is not until the time of the Redemption and the day of final judgment that the power of evil will be destroyed and will thus disappear. The principal instrument for repairing the broken world, according to Judaism, is the activity of good deeds. Solving crimes, righting wrongs, establishing order from chaos, then, parallels the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah. These acts of righting wrongs are exactly what happens in the stories in Criminal Kabbalah.
The Hebrew term kabbalah has a literal second meaning: received, as in received tradition. Kabbalah is used in shalshelet ha-kabbalah , the chain of tradition that includes important customs, teachings, or wisdom, frequently in the form of stories that are passed from one generation to the next. For example, in early rabbinic literature, the chain of tradition traces the passing of Jewish leadership from Moses to Joshua, then to the prophets, and on and on until it reaches the rabbis of the first century.
Why do so many of us have such a passion for solving riddles? Such a fascination is one reason why mysteries are part of traditional and popular culture. The passion and fascination of this type of problem solving addresses a human interest that long preceded any classic crime story. The classic mystery story is about good triumphing over evil. In separate interviews that appear in The Fatal Art of Entertainment , 1 the writer Sue Grafton, creator of the private investigator Kinsey Millhone, notes, I always think of mystery writers as the great moralists of fiction (p. 48). Popular British mystery writer P. D. James concurs: I think there can be little argument that the crime novel can be literature. After all, man has always concerned himself with problems of moral choice, with the nature of good and evil, and with that unique crime for which there can be no reparation to the victim, murder. Our earliest myths are concerned with violent