Word: orthodox
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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What form that self-rule would take is still undecided. One problem is that parts of Kosovo--particularly in the north and west--contain the Serbian Orthodox Church's holiest shrines. Giving Milosevic access to the region in a postwar world would reward Serb aggression. But not letting the Serbs in might be worse, making lasting peace impossible...
...Santa Claus and a Christian Jew, are Just of unusual characters in Nathan Englander's new collection of short stories. In each of the nine tales of For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, Englander explores the tensions and the humor of a secular modern world inhabited by deeply traditional Orthodox Jews. These are stories of people trapped in unhappy marriages, the seemingly mundane fantasies of housewives, the strange behaviors of old and young men in crisis, and the fateful coincidences which save or end a life. Englander imbues his stories with a wry, intelligent sense of humor and a fresh...
...collection's title story, Englander follows the sufferings of an Orthodox man who must seek alternative satisfaction when his wife refuses to make love to him. Finding his sexual desires "unbearable," Dov Binyamin receives a "special dispensation" from the Rebbe to visit a prostitute. In theory, this excused adultery will save the marriage by reducing sexual pressure. Not surprisingly, the Rebbe's solution causes as many problems as it solves, and after a series of funny and uncomfortable dialogues with two prostitutes and a cab driver, the story ends with a sorrowfully ironic twist rather similar to that...
Drawing on the traditions of Yiddish storytelling and on his visions of nearly identical Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and in Jerusalem, Englander presents a group of stories relevant both in and outside of the religious sphere. The readers may find some of Englander's untranslated Yiddish and Hebrew phrases and his references to Orthodox Jewish customs unfamiliar, but the collection is accessible to anyone. It is not necessary to come from a demanding religious tradition in order to empathize with his characters...
...only story to take place outside of the Orthodox world, this tale serves as an interesting complement and contrast to The Twenty-seventh Man, the first in the collection. Both stories feature a young man trapped in a situation outside of his control; one survives and the other does not, but more important than the outcome of the plot are the ways in which these two characters cope with their circumstances. One, Pinchas, is trapped in Stalin's vengeful Russia, and the other, Natan, lives in a nation experiencing a different sort of convulsive conflict. One story is told...