As A Driven Leaf Paperback – June 1, 2015

I read this historical novel as part of my temple reading group. I loved it. I have already spoken with a few other members of my temple who did not care for it, however I am not exagerating when I write that I did not want to put it down. I found Elisha ben Abuyah's story fascinating from his Hellenistic roots, to becoming entrenched in Judaism, to rejecting the religion when the question many ask could not be answered through his faith: why do bad things happen to good people? Ultimately, Elisha's ex-communication from his people brings him back to his Hellenstic roots, and then to the realization that faith might not have all the answers but that doesn't mean one cannot keep searching. "As a Driven Leaf" is full of lessons, sadness, joy, and self-discovery for Elisha as well as for this reader. I like epics so this book was perfect for me. I hope you will try it. Note: I skipped two brutal scenes near the end of the novel, one involving a lion and the other a flaying. I probably don't have to comment more on that.

Descriptive, pictorial, the informative, historical novel centers on the conflict between Jews and Rome in the period 90 CE to 133 CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple, 70 CE. The author portrays primarily historical personages with an intermix of fictional, background characters.The central figure, Rabbi Elisha Ben Abuyah, after witnessing a tragic incident, begins to doubt his faith and looks to Greek philosophy in search for Reason to prove the existence of G-d. In depicting Ben Abuyah ‘s travels, Steinberg pinpoints differences between religious Jews and Hellenized (secular Jews) and life under the dichotomy of Greek philosophy (based on humaneness in theory), while living in the brutal reality of the Roman world. As Jews prepare for another revolt against Rome, Elisha struggles to complete his quest and clear his doubts.The novel, well written and expressive, introduces Greek philosophers and expounds in detail on Greek philosophy as well as Rabbinical and Talmudic philosophies.

I’ve been reading for a long time. This is something that never happened before.There are excellent books that I’ve read repeatedly. This one rose to a different level. As I finished page 480, I immediately turned to the first page and started over. It’s that good.As A Driven Leaf tells a story loosely based on the life of Elisha ben Abuyah, a rabbi in Palestine in the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. It chronicles a quest for the truth that ultimately founders on the rocks of disillusionment. Everything about this novel is profound; the depiction of the historical context, the human drama of the various characters, the philosophical debate, and the enveloping spirituality of it all.To give you a flavor, here is the paragraph with which this masterpiece ends,“Thunder rolled in the misty vault of the heavens. From the cemetery down the hill, from the grave at his feet and from out dead yesterdays ghosts came stealing. And he wept not alone for his master, but for himself as well, for a woman who rarely smiled, for sweet children who slept near by, for a people crushed and persecuted, for all the sons of men, their aches of the body and soul, and their dreams that die”.

Exceptional. There is no other way to describe this book. Someone could literally fill an entire college class on discussing this book alone - from the history of the Jewish people to the modern divisions in secularism and orthodoxy. One could turn it into a class entirely based on the philosophy of reason vs faith.If anything someone should make a sequel of this book to reflect the changes in Judaism over the 20th and 21st century since the death of Steinberg and the original publication of this book.One suggestion for readers who are not familiar with Jewish history: Read through wikipedia the history of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. It will help to understand the politics and geographical issues going on during this period. Also, some readers may not understand various words or customs that are singular to Judaism (such as the Sanhedrin - which is just a Jewish court) and may benefit from looking these things up from time to time. The book is certainly not exclusive to Jews - anyone could relate this to their own life or their own culture/religion - but Judaism is the premise and it was written for a Jewish audience.

In this novel Milton Steinberg brings the world of the Talmudic sages and the sages themselves to life. I frist read this book around the time of my Bar Mitzvah. (It was one of my presents). It focuses on the life of Elisha ben Abuyah know in the tradition as Acher (The Other). As well as such great rabbis as Akivah and Meir and others. It is set around, or just before the time of Mishnah and in the period of the Bar Kockba revolt. So the book is filled with political intrigue. But it is so much more than a historical novel. I think that it is the fact that i read this book that frist started my interest in Talmud. It is a fun and exciting novel to read, as well as being litereature and not simply fiction. It is also highly informative but manges to wear its scholarship lightly.

Purchased as a gift.

Una novela que alude a la inquietud intelectual de un hombre por ahondar sus conocimientos religiosos a través de la razón y pierde el significado de la fe y la razón misma al verse entre dos mundos que no pudo conciliar.