In "The Pagan Rabbi," The narrator, an unnamed Jewish man in his mid-thirties, hears that Isaac Kornfeld, a childhood friend, has committed suicide at the age of thirty-six. The narrator's father, a rabbi, and Isaac's father, also a rabbi, had been friends as well as professional rivals. The narrator had been in rabbinical school with Isaac but had left while Isaac had gone on to become a renowned rabbi. The narrator had married Jane, a non-Jewish woman, and worked in her father's fur business. He later divorced, and began his own business as a bookseller. His store is called the Book Cellar. When he quit rabbinical school, the narrator's father had declared him dead, observed traditional Jewish mourning practices, and never spoken to him again. His father also had a disease of the throat that made.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 695 words. This
study guide contains 20,119 words (approx. 67 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our The Pagan Rabbi Access Pass.
