What the rabbis desire

Audiobook What Rabbis Desire by Tuvia Tenenbom, translated by David Weiner. Read by Václav Neužil, directed by Ondřej Černý. A writer who is extremely popular in the Czech Republic comes with a brand new book and a world premiere. This time Tuvia Tenenbom did not have to travel thousands of kilometres or miles across a foreign country. Although, unlike other journeys, it was not for his health or even his life, it was his hardest journey yet. He went to the world where he himself grew up. Into the difficult to understand and penetrate world of Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem. And in a world that most people know nothing about, he was trying to find his way around after all these years. Years ago, he left his life in Orthodox Jewish society to ask out loud any questions that came to mind. After years of living in liberal New York, he found that he had to be increasingly careful about the questions he asked. Gradually, he became aware of the fact that his former rabbis from the Orthodox community, bound by the laws of God, would like life in today's "liberal" New York, bound by universal correctness. So he set off across the ocean to pick up where he left off years ago. Question: Why Jewish men are not allowed to look at Jewish women. And it didn't just stop at this one clever and at the same time seemingly naive question. Tuvia fired one question after another in an Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood: How come some Orthodox Jews don't know the Bible at all? Why do they worship the rabbi more than God? Why do they answer a question with a question? Why are there more rabbis than cats in Jerusalem? Is he more of a rabbi or a rebbe? Why aren't men allowed to look at women? Why are women laughing at men? Why do some people go around dressed like the Middle Ages? And what happens when God raises everyone up? And why can't you say God? And who's coming on a white donkey? In order to find the answers, the Israeli-American author has walked the Holy City through the streets. He visited schools and graves, ate a lot of food and drank hectolitres of cola. He talked to hundreds of people, from ordinary Jews to rabbis, from Ashkenazim to Sephardim, from beggars to millionaires, from shysters to holy men. Tuvia's questions served their purpose. He provoked them and often found out what they were really thinking. From the answers, he then pieced together a picture that is an extremely funny and at the same time "politically" incorrect account of today's Orthodox Jews and their lives. His book is full of entertaining dialogue and insightful observations. And Tuvia Tenenbom is also looking for a little bit of himself on this journey.