From the Bookshelf of Into the Forest…

Elijah's Violin and Other Jewish Fairy Tales

Howard Schwartz,

Linda Heller

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Feb 02, 2025 Michele rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: folklore-myth-magic

A rich, engrossing, and satisfying compilation of fairy tales derived from Jewish oral traditions and written sources throughout the Middle East and Eastern Europe, going back several hundred years. Like fairy tales from Western Europe, these feature childless kings and queens, marriageable princesses, talking animals and magic spells, rich princes and poor tailors, and quests both voluntarily chosen and imposed on pain of death.

What's much more interesting, intriguing, and delightful, however, A rich, engrossing, and satisfying compilation of fairy tales derived from Jewish oral traditions and written sources throughout the Middle East and Eastern Europe, going back several hundred years. Like fairy tales from Western Europe, these feature childless kings and queens, marriageable princesses, talking animals and magic spells, rich princes and poor tailors, and quests both voluntarily chosen and imposed on pain of death.

What's much more interesting, intriguing, and delightful, however, are the many ways they are unlike. For one thing, there are plenty of demons in these tales (including Asmodeus, the king of demons), and demons are not a thing you find in stories from France, England, Germany, etc. Conversely, there are no wicked stepmothers and no dragons. For another, the antagonists who cast evil spells are nearly all male -- sorcerors or malicious ministers or enemy kings -- rather than female (cruel stepmothers, evil fairies, wicked witches, etc.). (I wonder, does this suggest there is a different view of women in the Jewish tradition vs the Christian tradition?) For a third, many of the stories explicitly reference the insecure status of Jews and the ease with which they can be persecuted; i.e., a king faced with an insoluble problem rounds up the leaders of the Jewish community and demands that they solve it, or else all the Jews in the kingdom will be killed. More than once I thought of Tevye's plaintive words in Fiddler on the Roof: "I know, I know, we are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t You choose someone else?" Finally, the stories often include biblical characters or locations -- Elijah, Solomon, Rabbi Adam, the Garden of Eden, and so on. Despite Western Europe being almost ferociously Christian, its fairy tales have very few religious elements, which is kind of odd now that I think about it.

In short, an excellent and wide-ranging collection that will be eye-opening to anyone who has only known Grimm, Perrault, and Andersen. Two thumbs up. ...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Shellie (Layers of Thought) marked it as to-read

Shelves: genre-poetry-short-stories-plays, spec-fic-fant-fairytales-fable-myth

Oct 12, 2014 Michele marked it as to-read

Shelves: folklore-myth-magic

Nov 10, 2015 Neverdust marked it as to-read

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