The Wicked Son - Anti-semitism, Self-hatred, and the Jews

Zusatztext "A bold and blistering attack on all aspects of this enduring phenomenon! and a probing analysis of its root causes and some of its more insidious manifestations." – Chicago Sun-Times “Like everything Mamet does! [ The Wicked Son ] is blunt and bracing! honest and provocative! original and gutsy.” – The New York Times Book Review “Rare among the defenders of the Jews–and of Judaism– Mamet recognizes the romance in the story of his ancient religion and race! and finds the words beautiful enough to describe it.” – The International Jerusalem Post “[Mamet’s] clarity! insight! and passion . . . can be both devastatingly witty and scathingly angry.” – The New York Post “Incendiary.” – The Jewish Observer Informationen zum Autor David Mamet Klappentext David Mamet's interest in anti-Semitism is not limited to the modern face of an ancient hatred but encompasses as well the ways in which many Jews have internalized that hatred. Using the metaphor of the Wicked Son at the Passover seder (the child who asks, "What does this story mean to you?") Mamet confronts what he sees as an insidious predilection among some Jews to exclude themselves from the equation and to seek truth and meaning anywhere--in other religions, political movements, mindless entertainment--but in Judaism itself. He also explores the ways in which the Jewish tradition has long been and still remains the Wicked Son in the eyes of the world. Written with the searing honesty and verbal brilliance that is the hallmark of Mamet's work, The Wicked Son is a powerfully thought-provoking look at one of the most destructive and tenacious forces in contemporary life. The Four Sons of the Haggadah The rebbe was plagued by mice. The mice were eating his books, and nothing could dissuade them. He searched in vain for a deterrent. Until, reading the Shulkhan Arukh, he came across the statutes governing Passover. The Shulkhan Arukh unequivocally states that nothing may be eaten after the afikomen. So the rebbe crumpled the afikomen and sprinkled the crumbs over his books. But the mice were smarter than the rebbe; first they ate the Shulkhan Arukh, then they ate the afikomen, and then they ate his books. —As told by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner     In the section of the Passover Haggadah called “The Four Sons,” we find “What are the laws, the ordinances and the rulings which Hashem has commanded us?”      The answer being, “You should inform this child of all the laws of Pesach, including the ruling that nothing should be eaten after the afikomen. ”      Passover Haggadah, the Feast of Freedom, the Rabbinical Assembly.     The wise child asks for information, and, in my Haggadah, he receives information, humor, which is to say, welcome to his tradition. His desire to learn and participate is rewarded with love—the other sons present their requests as if information were going to cure them of their anomie. Estrangement, hurt, rancor, alienation from the world, can, in the other-than-wise, be misinterpreted as, and assigned to, a failure of their tradition.   The second of the four sons, the wicked child, asks “What does this ritual mean to you ?”   He is wicked in that his question is rhetorical—it is not even a request for information; it is an assault.   The wicked Jewish child removes himself from his tradition, and sets up as a rationalist and judge of those who would study, learn, and belong. Here is a joke for him.   The Minsker apikoros met the Pinsker apikoros. “I challenge your claim to preeminence,” said the Minsker; “defend your excellence as an apikoros.   “I’m not sure I believe in God,” said the Pink...

Product details

• Authors: David Mamet
• Publisher: Schocken Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 15.09.2009
• EAN: 9780805211573
• ISBN: 978-0-8052-1157-3
• No. of pages: 208
• Dimensions: 130 mm x 203 mm x 15 mm
• Series: Jewish Encounters Series; Jewish Encounters Series
• Subject: Non-fiction book