Contains some fantastic descriptions of what it's like to grow up truly poor offered by a character who actually experienced the poverty. The book is told in the first person by a highly introverted, self-centered young man, Alexandre Mordekhai Benillouche, and tells the … Entombed in this salt pillar, she became a "monument of an unbelieving soul" (Wisdom Of Solomon 10:7). The book is told in the first person by a highly introverted, self-centered young man, Alexandre Mordekhai Benillouche, and tells the story of his life through early manhood. His family was poor and his parents were not educated. The Torah does not answer these questions. Has terrific passages about separating from one's parents and finding one's own identity in spite of parental expectations. “But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26). Lot and his wife are told by two angels to flee the area to escape the devastation. The Pillar of SaltAlbert MemmiBeacon Press, 1992342 Pages More than fifty years ago, Albert Memmi published The Pillar of Salt, which is a thinly disguised autobiography of the first two decades of his life. The Torah: A Modern Commentary, pp. Welcome back. At the time of this writing in 2000, Rabbi Betsy Torop was the director of Jewish Life and Learning at the Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center in East Hills, NY. And why was she turned into a pillar of salt as a result of this backward glance? Thank you for subscribing to emails from ReformJudaism.org! In the words of the fifteenth-century Italian commentator Sforno: " The evil will spread to you as if it were following you but will not harm you. Sinners were changed into pillars of salt and we can send off evil and deter unwanted strangers by spreading salt. A bit too long. Addresses the conundrum of not fitting in anywhere, how it happens, what it feels like, and how it shapes life choices. Where were Lot and his wife in relation to each other when she looked back? At the time of this writing in 2000, Michael Torop was the associate rabbi and director of education at The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, NY. Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA). I had this book assigned to me for a French Cinema and Culture class with a concentration on French Jews in North Africa. But her tragedy highlights our challenge: to develop our own "ethic of observation" and to strive to move beyond voyeurism to an open-eyed view of the world that leads us l'taken olam―"to repair the world.". Can you see her in the picture? If I taught a literature class, this book would be on the reading list. She feels lost in the crowd, but also "trapped" by the countless sky-rises and apartment buildings, which all … We should have expected "from behind her." . Lot's wife looked back [literally, "from behind him"], and she thereupon turned into a pillar of salt. . This is a remarkable novel (although I don't know that I would call it a novel, it reads more like a memoir and many scholars argue that it is semi-autobiographical). A country's most iconic book: Americas, Africa. It always the sama story of children born and raised in a culture and educated in another, especially for those who grow up in colonized country... And then, if the writer/hero is jewish, life tends to get even more complicated. Was it simply looking back? To what sin is Rashi referring? Pretty incredible,honest, disturbing, and has one of the most memorable (and hard to like/ impossible to hate) narrators I've ever come across. I am ill at ease in my own land and I know of no other. Fascinating. To gain access to privileged French society, he must reject his many identities – Jew, Arab, and African. We begin our study with a text from the Zohar, a mystical, thirteenth-century Spanish commentary: "But his wife looked back from behind him." The Bible mentions that Sodom and Gomorrah were purified with salt. ", I had this book assigned to me for a French Cinema and Culture class with a concentration on French Jews in North Africa. It was written by Carla Ching and directed by Gerardo Naranjo. Memmi also wrote The Colonizer and The Colonized, an account of Tunisia’s first year of independence, Tunisie, An I and numerous other books. Pillar of Salt, a road sign in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England, thought to be the first internally illuminated road sign in the country. Contains some fantastic descriptions of what it's like to grow up truly poor offered by a character who actually experienced the poverty. “A magnificent fireworks began: magnesium flares blindingly white, yellow, and then red, like dying stars; straight bright red streaks of machine-gun fire; elegant and clear lines of bullets traced like fugitive neon light; and scarlet, sinister rugged patches from antiaircraft artillery. 150 Chapter 13. I am poor but desperately anxious not to be poor, and at the same time, I refuse to take the necessary steps to avoid poverty.". They didn’t stop for a moment, and they didn’t look back. A section of it is a formation resembling a pillar, aptly named “Lot’s Wife.” While this landform is probably not actually her, we can appreciate the scientific plausibility of her turning into salt in this very area. Pillar of Salt. Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever. If I taught a literature cla. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. All weekdays kids eat for a £1with any full paying adult meal .So why not take a break from cooking and let us do it for you ???!! Very honest critique and an account of Mordekhai's turbulent life and murky waters that are his beliefs and his 'civilisation'. This book read like postcolonial theory made flesh and blood, with a very real, aching heartbeat that felt intimately familiar. We'll never know what motivated Lot's wife to turn around and look. - Genesis 19:23-24, 26 You can't. Another memoir that is poetic, but essentially reads like a slideshow of a vacation. This book ended up reminding me--rather surprisingly--of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which is not a book I'm particularly fond of. Learned a lot. 1056). We’d love your help. The Torah: A Women's Commentary, pp. Please check your inbox for our emails, and to manage your subscription. His family was poor and his parents were not educated. Rashi [Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzhak] 1040-1105, France, "Lot's wife looked back [from behind him], and she thereupon turned into a pillar of salt." Originally published in 1953 (in English in 1955), The Pillar of Salt the semi-autobiographical novel about a young boy growing up in French colonized Tunisia. 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