PRLog - Mar. 17, 2014 - MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- Chief Rabbi of Uruguay, Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz, issued a statement in response to criticism against the upcoming publication of his biblical fiction novel, Warrior Prophets - Joshua: Conqueror.
"I understand that there are Rabbis that are fearful of the publication of my book." Rabbi Spitz said. "I respect their concerns and believe that they might be valid for a very small segment of the Jewish population that might be easily confused about the differences between biblical text and tradition versus fictionalization in a literary work. By all means, such souls should be warned away from apocryphal material and such Rabbis are correct to warn their followers."
"However, for the rest of the world, I think that a work of biblical fiction that is true to the text and the rabbinic tradition yet makes it exciting for a wide audience that is mostly unfamiliar with the biblical narrative, is a long overdue necessity of the genre. Why should our children know by heart the names of all of Ron Weasley's siblings from the fictional Harry Potter series, yet be completely unfamiliar with the names of the historical twelve tribes of Israel?"
"We have failed in a major way to bring the personalities, stories and lessons of the Bible to a wider audience. We need to use all the tools of modern media, including contemporary storytelling, graphic novels, video games and however else our children consume information, to make the Bible accessible and relevant. If that involves introducing sword-play, magic and a fantasy style of writing, and if I have the skills to bring that to the world, then I'm actually obligated to do so, despite resistance, criticism and censure. In fact, such disapproval hints to me that I'm likely doing something right. We have much bigger issues in the Jewish community than whether a biblical fiction novel is "kosher" or not."
The publication of the book has been launched as a Kickstarter project with full details available on their website (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/676741209/warrior-prophets-joshua-conqueror) The project funding period expires March 26, 2014. If the project doesn't receive sufficient pledges, the book will not be published via that effort.
For more information contact:
Gabriel Silberberg, Secretary
Office of the Chief Rabbi
Kehila, Jewish Community of Uruguay
Canelones 1084
Montevideo, CP 11100
Uruguay
Tel: +598-2902-5750 x119
rabinato@kehila.org.uy
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Chief Rabbi Responds to Biblical Fiction Criticism
March 17, 2014 at 11:24 AM EDT
