Mon 15 Feb 2016
Reviewed by Jeff Meyerson: HARRY KEMELMAN – Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[6] Comments
HARRY KEMELMAN – Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet. Morrow, hardcover, 1976. Fawcett Crest, paperback, 1977. Reprinted several times.
This is the sixth in Kemelman’s acclaimed series about Rabbi David Small, and it is very good indeed, although not much of a mystery. It is as much about temple politics and Jewish life in suburban Barnard’s Crossing, Massachusetts, it is a mystery novel.
The book’s only death (murder is barely even suggested) involves an old man and his allergy to penicillin, and the possible switching of two bottles of pills. This is tied in with the temple matter of the sale of a block of stores and the purchase of land for a religious retreat, which the rabbi opposes.
Suburban Jewish life is limned as sharply as ever, with some old friends being joined by many new faces. Though the “mystery” is not great, this is a very satisfying book. It’s as if the people of Barnard’s Crossing are old friends: they’re still squabbling about temple directions, still attempting to overrule the rabbi, still givig in in the end.
Warning: Read the books in order, as this gives away the solutions of earlier books.
Bibliographic Notes: There were 11 Rabbi Small novels, beginning with Friday the Rabbi Slept Late in 1964, and after running through the days of the week, the series ended with That Day the Rabbi Left Town in 1996, the year Kemelman died. He was in his late 80s.
He also wrote a collection of short stories, The Nine Mile Walk, published in 1968, but written before he began the Rabbi series. These were primarily puzzle stories and featured college professor Nicky Welt as the amateur detective involved.
February 15th, 2016 at 9:27 pm
I was thinking the other day how much I miss this series and its gentle wisdom. It really didn’t seem like the kind of book I would have read at the time, but the series has an almost magical quality, and before that I was already a Nicky Welt fan.
February 15th, 2016 at 9:56 pm
Really liked this series. It was a big influence on me in some ways.
February 15th, 2016 at 10:30 pm
I enjoyed the Nicky Welt stories, but by the time I started thinking about trying one of the Rabbi Small books, I was told both (a) how good they were and (b) that there wasn’t a lot of detection in them. (Maybe this review by Jeff was one of the voices I heard.)
The lack of a solid mystery in them swayed me, and I never read one. But reading this review again now, I got the impression that I really missed something.
I know. It’s not too late.
February 15th, 2016 at 11:44 pm
Steve,
It is really hard to explain exactly what the pleasures of the Rabbi books are. It is cumulative for one thing, being with the community and the characters, and in part their great humanity.
There really hasn’t been much like them save perhaps Alexander McCall Smith’s books.
February 16th, 2016 at 1:00 am
At the time, the Rabbi Small series was one of my favorites but I recently tried to reread the first one Friday the Rabbi Slept Late and could make it through it.
Part of the reason for my change is opinion was how slow paced Rabbi was. In the seventies the pace would not have been a problem for me. Another problem I think was my expectations were too high.
Steve, Friday the Rabbi Slept Late is something I think you should try.
February 16th, 2016 at 7:30 am
It has been a very long time since I read one of these, and though I liked them a lot at the time I never went back and finished reading the rest of the series.