The Search Committee--Novel by Rabbi Marc D. Angel
Rabbi Marc D. Angel has come out with a new novel--THE SEARCH COMMITTEE, published by Urim Fiction. This is a powerful story about two rabbinical scholars who seek to become head of a leading Lithuanian-type yeshiva. The novel unfolds as a series of presentations to the Search Committee--by the candidates, their wives, colleagues, students, and philanthropic supporters. The struggle is not just between two men, but between two very different views of Judaism, Torah education, modernity, the role of women, and freedom of thought and expression.
The best-selling novelist Naomi Ragen has written: "I have never read anything quite like The Search Committee, a fascinating novel....The author leads us with breathtaking insight through the maze of religion and politics that is at the heart of the Orthodox Jewish world. This novel is a true contribution to Jewish-American literature." Dr. Ezra Cappell, author of American Talmud: The Cultural Work of Jewish American Fiction, has stated that The Search Committee "should be required reading of every divinity student as well as anyone interested in the future of our pluralistic culture. The Search Committee is a modern mystery novel for the theologically inclined."
Copies of The Search Committee are available through the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. You may order copies on our website's online store.
Rabbi Marc Angel is available for lectures and book-signing programs. For more information about arranging a program in your community, please contact Rabbi Angel at mdangel@jewishideas.org.
Bulk rate orders of 25 or more copies receive a 30% discount. To arrange a bulk order, please email info@jewishideas.org with your request.
ARI GOLDMAN'S Comments to Rabbi Angel about The Search Committee:
I read The Search Committee with grat interest and enjoyment. The device of talks before the Committee was very effective. Although we never hear from the members of the Committee, we get a real sense of what they are struggling with. I especially like how you let the reader know the results. You never tell us directly, you just give the post-decision talks. It's a very inventive and engaging way to tell a story. Lastly, I think it contains an important message for the Orthodox world. I hope someone is listening!
“The Search Committee”
A Novel by (Rabbi) Marc Angel
(Published by Urim Fiction)
Reviewed By
Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen
“The Search Committee” a first novel by (Rabbi) Marc Angel, Rabbi Emeritus, of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is a powerful, vivid portrayal of the divergent ideals, personalities, and social views of the traditional leadership of the Yeshiva world versus the cosmopolitan orientation of Modern Orthodox Torah institutions and rabbis.. Though both perspectives are described as committed to Torah scholarship and observance, each orientation has both defenders as well as critics detailing the foibles as well as its positive features.Each side fervently believes that it represents the key to the survival and growth of Torah in America. The drama of the choices seem so real, the reader is actually transformed into a member of the Search committee personally listening to two radically different Torah personalities striving to be crowned as the leader of a Yeshivah. The difficulty is that a third model is not even articulated. Namely, a Torah scholar who has the ability and sagacity to integrate the best of both worlds .Is it because in the real world such a personality does not exist? Or, is it because one simply cannot have worldly views and still be recognized by the right wing world as a Torah scholar?
The crucial issue is that the choices are not who shall be the Rosh Yeshiva of a work of fiction ,but, rather, who serves as the guiding light for Torah and Halacha for modern life. .Accordingly, the book should be a “must read” for all segments of the Jewish community. Rabbi Angel has outlined the issues. It is up to the readers to decide whether the views articulated remain within the works of a novel or become a formula for life.
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Review By Israel Drazin The Search Committee, by Marc Angel Urim Publications, Jerusalem, 2008 155 pages, $19.95. Marc Angel, rabbi emeritus of the prestigious Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City, and founder of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, has written his first novel, an engaging and entertaining debut. He draws upon the current conflicts between ultra and modern Orthodox Jews, and depicts how two applicants vie for the position as head of a New York yeshiva. A search committee is examining both the qualifications and the ideology of two rabbis for this position of rosh yeshiva. Should the head of the academy in the twenty first century be the son of its prior leader because of his obvious piety and knowledge of Talmud or another rabbi with both a Jewish and secular education and a desire to modernize the methods of Judaic study that would allow rational inquiry? Ten people present their views to the search committee, five for the son of the prior rosh yeshiva and five for his more secular-minded competitor. The ideological battle described in this well-written novel will grasp and hold the attention of readers, Jew and non-Jew alike, and allow them to catch more than a glimpse of the Torah world of Judaism. The son of the recently deceased rosh yeshiva staunchly questions the right and competence of the search committee, composed of business people, to pass judgment on what is true Judaism. He insists that Jews should “walk in the ways of our fathers, veering neither to the right nor to the left.” He sees the non-yeshiva world as a befouled cesspool, and contends that no mention should be made during Jewish learning of non-Jewish ideas. Thus, the yeshiva study halls, both symbolically and actually, should be closed in without windows. Yeshiva students should wear uniform clothes that set them apart, white shirts, black suits, and a wide-brimmed black hat. Women have no place in this holy world other than aiding their husbands, running their homes, and, if at all possible, being the family bread-winner while husbands and fathers sit and learn. The other applicant differs with each idea. Although the novel is short and to the point, and although the issues are not articulated as questions, readers of the drama find themselves engrossed by a host of thought provoking reflections, ideas that help define Judaism, such as the following. Who are the true Jews? Is a Jew “contaminated” by a secular education? May women write fiction or non-fiction, secular or biblical works? Should yeshiva students be prohibited from engaging in courtships and must they have arranged marriages? Must orthodox women wear an unbecoming wig when their husbands see other women with uncovered heads daily, and thus their wives may become less attractive to them? Or, conversely, does it make sense for a wife to wear a wig that is more attractive than her own hair? Is western civilization a colossal failure in matters of spirit and holiness? Is Talmud study in a yeshiva much like treading water, going nowhere, the goal of Talmud study being just more Talmud study? Should Jews observe the secular holiday of Thanksgiving by saying psalms as part of the synagogue service, as if the day were a Jewish holiday? The reader may be surprised by the search committee’s decision; they will certainly be surprised by the reaction of one of the two candidates. They will also find themselves addressing the question of what makes a religious person, faithful adherence to the traditions of the past or an open-minded constant rational confrontation of religion and modernity. Dr. Israel Drazin is the author of a series of books on Maimonides, the latest being Maimonides: The Exceptional Mind, and a series of volumes on Targum Onkelos, which he writes with Rabbi Dr. Stanley Wagner.
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