The Orchard, Yochi Brandes
The Orchard, Yochi Brandes
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The Orchard

Author: Yochi Brandes, Daniel Libenson

Narrator: Dara Rosenberg

Unabridged: 13 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/17/2020


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.

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?

About Yochi Brandes

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Siv30

על פי סיפורי האגדה, רבי עקיבא היה רועה צאן של אחד מעשירי ירושלים בשם כלבא שבוע. בתו של כלבא שבוע, רחל, ראתה אותו וכי הוא איש צנוע והתאהבה בו. היא נישאה לו בסתר למורת רצון אביה ובניגוד לרצונו המפורש ועודדה אותו ללכת וללמוד תורה דבר שעשה בגיל 40. כלבא בן שבוע הדיר אותה מנכסיו ורק לאחר שרבי עקיבא חזר,......more

Goodreads review by Judy

This is an ambitious historical novel, translated from the Hebrew, about the life of one of the most monumental figures in Jewish history. Rabbi Akiva lived in a tumultuous time, during the Second Century CE, when the Jews were under harsh Roman rule. In fact, Rabbi Akiva was brutally murdered by th......more

Goodreads review by Rachel

In retrospect, this is a book I should have known I’d enjoy! :P Or maybe not. It all comes down to the deep dive Brandes does into the source material and the worldbuilding. This work in a different author’s hands might not have moved me. This is, in essence, the life story, or more accurately the re......more

Goodreads review by Gonzalo

Muy interesante, una novela histórica que abarca el periodo en el cual el Judaísmo se ve obligado a reinventarse, de ser una religión que gira completamente en torno al Templo, a ser una obligada a sobrevivir en la Diáspora. Al mismo tiempo que ilustra el pensamiento de los sabios de la época Mishna......more