The Orchard - Softcover

Yochi Brandes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9652299308 ISBN 13: 9789652299307

Publisher: Gefen Publishing House, 2018

Synopsis

This spellbinding historical novel by celebrated Israeli author Yochi Brandes tells the story of the venerated yet enigmatic Rabbi Akiva, placing him in the context of his contemporaries, the Sages of Jewish tradition and of early Christianity. Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Ishmael, Rabban Gamaliel, Paul of Tarsus, and many others become flesh and blood in this stunning interweaving of biblical and Talmudic lore into a page-turning read.

At the heart of the novel is Rabbi Akiva and his complicated relationship with his wife Rachel, who meets him as a forty-year-old illiterate shepherd, marries him against her father's wishes, and compels him to study until he becomes the nation of Israel's greatest sage. Rabbi Akiva's innovative method of interpreting Scripture provides his people with a life-giving elixir after Rome's destruction of the Second Temple, but also fuels the lethal Bar Kokhba Revolt, with disastrous consequences. The Orchard offers a brilliant narrative solution to the fascinating story of four sages who entered a metaphysical orchard: one died, one lost his mind, one became a hater of God, and one - Rabbi Akiva - made it out unscathed. Or did he?

What people are saying about The Orchard:

I read this marvelous book by Yochi Brandes in a single weekend. It swept me into the orchard and into the sources of our tradition.
-Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel

A fascinating, beautiful book about the roots of the Judaism we inhabit today.
-Peter Beinart, journalist and author of The Crisis of Zionism

In this riveting one-of-a-kind novel, Yochi Brandes channels her vast knowledge of the Bible, Rabbinic teachings, and Jewish history into exquisitely crafted characters and a powerful story...supremely relevant to the questions we struggle with as we face our future.
-Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism

The novel we've been waiting 2,000 years for. I read it in one sitting. The novel breathes life into the first century and turns the anonymous group known as the Sages into complex individuals with distinct, defined personalities.
-Sarah Blau, Channel 2

About this title

About the Author:

Yochi Brandes was born in Israel to a family of Hassidic rabbis. With degrees in both biblical and Judaic studies, she has been a prominent and sought-after lecturer on the Bible and on Jewish cultural topics for many years. She has been awarded the Israel Book Publishers Association's Platinum Prize for all eight of her novels, including The Orchard.

Daniel Libenson is president of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future and co-host of the popular Judaism Unbound podcast.

Review:

This exquisite novel by the author of The Secret Book of Kings tells the story of ancient rabbis and their tremendous contributions to Judaism. The novel portrays key figures and events from sometime after the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE). It begins with Rachel, daughter of the wealthiest man in Jerusalem, who rejects her father s choice of bridegroom and marries Akiva ben Joseph, an illiterate shepherd. Although disowned and impoverished, Rachel sends Akiva away to study because she has foreseen that he is destined for greatness. Akiva angrily vows he will not return until he is a rabbi. They are reunited after 12 years, and Rabbi Akiva becomes the most famous sage in Israel, contributing unique interpretations of the Torah. During her lifetime, Rachel suffers greatly poverty, the stigma of abandonment, and the death of a child. Brandes's vivid descriptions of the legendary Rabbi Akiva, religious and scholarly disputes among the sages, and the military resistance to the oppressive Romans are stirring and often harrowing. This is an excellent contribution to the history of Judaism. --Star Review Publishers Weekly

Yochi Brandes has written a daring novel from a female perspective about the life and times of Rabbi Akiva. Brandes humanizes this hero of the Jewish people. She tells the life of Rabbi Akiva in an intriguing fiction format keeping this reader turning the pages. But this is not a history book. The Orchard is about a woman s love, family and devotion to a cause to push Akiva to become a great Torah scholar and leader like those before him. His wife and Brandes succeed. --Harold Goldmeier, The Times of Israel

This unusual historical novel furthers biblical scholar Yochi Brandes's refashioning of our understanding of Judaism's roots.
Visit the classical study houses, Yavneh in particular, where debates roiled and passionate learning refined the possibilities of a Judaism without a temple. Engage, with the author's imagination, as law is tested, affirmed, or newly understood. As learned men of God honor and betray one another.
Consider the possibilities of a strong Jewish woman's identity eons before the successive stages of gender emancipation unfolded.
Sharpen your understanding of Torah and Talmud by wrestling, as the sages did, with Rabbi Akiva's radical method of scripture interpretation. --Philip K. Jason, The Jewish Book Council

About this edition

• Publisher: Gefen Publishing House
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 9652299308
• ISBN 13: 9789652299307
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 382