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Wise Men and Their Tales

Portraits of Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Masters

Portraits of Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic Masters

By Elie Wiesel

By Elie Wiesel

By Elie Wiesel

By Elie Wiesel

Best Seller
Paperback $16.00

Mar 01, 2005 | ISBN 9780805211207

Ebook $11.99

Jan 16, 2009 | ISBN 9780307561244

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    Wise Men and Their Tales by Elie Wiesel
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    Mar 01, 2005 | ISBN 9780805211207

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    • Paperback $16.00

      Mar 01, 2005 | ISBN 9780805211207

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      Jan 16, 2009 | ISBN 9780307561244

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    About Wise Men and Their Tales

    In Wise Men and Their Tales, a master teacher gives us his fascinating insights into the lives of a wide range of biblical figures, Talmudic scholars, and Hasidic rabbis.

    The matriarch Sarah, fiercely guarding her son, Isaac, against the negative influence of his half-brother Ishmael; Samson, the solitary hero and protector of his people, whose singular weakness brought about his tragic end; Isaiah, caught in the middle of the struggle between God and man, his messages of anger and sorrow counterbalanced by his timeless, eloquent vision of a world at peace; the saintly Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who by virtue of a lifetime of good deeds was permitted to enter heaven while still alive and who tried to ensure a similar fate for all humanity by stealing the sword of the Angel of Death.

    Elie Wiesel tells the stories of these and other men and women who have been sent by God to help us find the godliness within our own lives. And what interests him most about these people is their humanity, in all its glorious complexity. They get angry—at God for demanding so much, and at people, for doing so little. They make mistakes. They get frustrated. But through it all one constant remains—their love for the people they have been charged to teach and their devotion to the Supreme Being who has sent them. In these tales of battles won and lost, of exile and redemption, of despair and renewal, we learn not only by listening to what they have come to tell us, but by watching as they live lives that are both grounded in earthly reality and that soar upward to the heavens.

    About Wise Men and Their Tales

    In Wise Men and Their Tales, a master teacher gives us his fascinating insights into the lives of a wide range of biblical figures, Talmudic scholars, and Hasidic rabbis.

    The matriarch Sarah, fiercely guarding her son, Isaac, against the negative influence of his half-brother Ishmael; Samson, the solitary hero and protector of his people, whose singular weakness brought about his tragic end; Isaiah, caught in the middle of the struggle between God and man, his messages of anger and sorrow counterbalanced by his timeless, eloquent vision of a world at peace; the saintly Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who by virtue of a lifetime of good deeds was permitted to enter heaven while still alive and who tried to ensure a similar fate for all humanity by stealing the sword of the Angel of Death.

    Elie Wiesel tells the stories of these and other men and women who have been sent by God to help us find the godliness within our own lives. And what interests him most about these people is their humanity, in all its glorious complexity. They get angry—at God for demanding so much, and at people, for doing so little. They make mistakes. They get frustrated. But through it all one constant remains—their love for the people they have been charged to teach and their devotion to the Supreme Being who has sent them. In these tales of battles won and lost, of exile and redemption, of despair and renewal, we learn not only by listening to what they have come to tell us, but by watching as they live lives that are both grounded in earthly reality and that soar upward to the heavens.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

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    See all books by Elie Wiesel

    Also by Elie Wiesel

    Filled with Fire and Light
    The Tale of a Niggun
    Open Heart
    ZALMEN OR THE MADNESS OF GOD
    Hostage
    See all books by Elie Wiesel

    About Elie Wiesel

    ELIE WIESEL was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. The author of more than fifty internationally acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction, he was Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and University Professor at Boston University for forty years…. More about Elie Wiesel

    About Elie Wiesel

    ELIE WIESEL was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. The author of more than fifty internationally acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction, he was Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and University Professor at Boston University for forty years…. More about Elie Wiesel

    Product Details

    Category: Biography & Memoir | Religion

    Paperback | $16.00
    Published by Schocken
    Mar 01, 2005 | 368 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780805211207

    Category: Biography & Memoir | Religion

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Schocken
    Jan 16, 2009 | 368 Pages | ISBN 9780307561244

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    Table Of Contents

    CONTENTS

    Preface
    Introduction: And What Does Rashi Say?

    IN THE BIBLE
    Ishmael and Hagar
    Lot’s Wife
    Aaron and His Problem of Innocence
    Miriam the Prophetess and Her Melancholy Fate
    Nadab and Abihu: A Story of Fire and Silence
    Esau and Jethro: Gentiles in the Bible
    Gideon, a Judge Who Is Special
    Samson: The Weakness of a Hero
    Saul and His Lost Kingdom
    Samuel and the Quest for Mercy
    Isaiah, a Prince of Prophets
    Hoshea: The Strangest of All Prophets

    IN THE TALMUD
    Rabbi Tarfon’s Humility
    Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi
    Abbaye and Rava: The Greatness of Dialogue
    Converts in the Talmud
    Talmudic Sketches
    Zanz and Sadigur
    The World of the Shtetl

    Acknowledgments

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