“Satan in Goray”

Isaac Bashevis Singer's Yiddish masterpiece is historically illuminating, theologically penetrating, and as strikingly relevant as ever. Based on the true story of the seventeenth-century apostate messiah, this novel tracks the tragic twists and turns of life in a small village awaiting word from a distant land about the promised one. 

Singer gives us an interesting view of the clash between religious authority and messianism, highlighting the tenuous connection between imperfect social structures created to sustain human flourishing and eschatological hopes for their annihilation (in other words, there is a reason that apocalypticism arises in times of political unrest). In this connection, an interesting theme of the story is how religious extremism manifests as sexual violence, and how eschatological fervor can contribute to extremes of inequality. (It is clear that only the men are benefitting from this new Messianic age: whose Messiah? which kingdom of God?)

One of my takeaways is how incredibly foreign so much Jewish history and culture is to me, despite my decently broad knowledge of second-temple Judaism. This story is strange and fascinating—and the parallels with contemporary American dispensationalism are striking. The historical circumstances of the book itself are also intriguing (cf. places and dates of original publication). I doubt that a broad popular audience would know what to do with this book, as the culture and style are so strange and foreign to modern western ears, but if the subject matter interests you, it is well worth the read.