Ben Yehuda Press Blog

Rabbi Jack Riemer reviews Esau's Blessing

There are a thousand different perspectives from which to read the Torah. A poet reads it one way, a grammarian reads it another way, a historian reads it a third way. I never noticed until now, but concern about disability is a useful lens through which to read the Torah too. Disability is a major theme in the Bible. Within Genesis alone, we have two patriarchs--Isaac and Jacob--who become blind in their old age, one who suffers a serious injury to his leg--Jacob--and three women who have difficulty giving birth---Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel. In Exodus, we have a leader--Moses--who has a speech impediment. In Leviticus we have the rules for what kohanim who are handicapped can and cannot do. And the list goes on.

Ora Horn Prouser has written this study of some of the main biblical characters from the point of view of their disabilities, which opens many passages to a whole new understanding. She suggests that Sarah was overprotective of Isaac because she waited so long to have him, and because he seemed weak and helpless from the beginning. She suggests that Esau may have been hypoglycemic and therefore had to have something to eat immediately and this is why he was ready to sell his birthright in exchange for some lentils. And she suggests that he may have had AHDD, which accounts for his quick temper and his emotional outbursts. She reads Jonah as a classic case of depression, and Samson as a case study in conduct disorder.

'Special needs'--the term she uses--is a much kinder word than 'crippled' or 'handicapped',, and it reminds us that all human beings, with no exceptions, are made in the Image of God. Her book will not only enlighten the reader to new ways of understanding the Bible. It will also give strength and encouragement to those people who struggle to live meaningful lives, despite their illnesses and their limitations.

Peter Pitzele praises Esau's Blessing

Ora Prouser's moving book Esau's Blessings offers "a compassionate reading of the biblical text," as she focuses on a range of biblical characters who are challenged by what we call today "special needs." Esau, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Miriam are only a few of the ancestral figures whose lives are shaped around their "disabilities." Prouser's beautifully written and classically argued book allows us to see how these characters' strengths are inseparable from their infirmities, and also how the God of the Bible models for us a way of loving and learning from those who are exceptional. Professor Prouser has done a great service both to the Bible and to her readers, renewing our sense of Scripture as a text of hope and humanity.

"I urge Jewish professionals and parents raising children and teens with special needs to take the time to read this new book"

Michelle Wolf reviews Esau's Blessing at her Jews and Special Needs Blog::

As Jews, we are told to take the Torah and "turn it and turn it again." This can result in the proverbial, "2 Jews and 3 arguments" experience, but can also provide a whole new perspective on an old text.

For example, I recently learned that Jewish tradition teaches us that Jacob, as a result of his wrestling with an angel, ends up with a dislocated hip and was physically disabled for life with a permanent limp. Who knew? I always thought it was a description of a metaphysical experience, with Jacob confronting his "darker" side and having emerged victorious, is given a new, stronger name, "Yisrael"

In a new book titled, Esau's Blessing: How the Bible Embraces those with Special Needs by Ora Horn Prouser, the author explores how this disability impacts the rest of Jacob's life, resulting in a more passive and vulnerable personality.

She writes:

"...Jacob seems far more subdued than his (new) name might suggest. When Jacob's daughter, Dinah is raped, a devastating affront not only to Dinah but to the honor of her whole family, Jacob refuses to take any stand without his sons present (Genesis 34:5)"

As a Jewish educator, Prouser has worked with many Jewish children who had special needs and hopes that by using a disability lens to re-examine the lives of such Biblical notables as Moses, Esau and Samson, it will result in a kinder, more compassionate Jewish community.

One of most intriguing profiles she writes is the chapter devoted to Isaac, and her hypothesis is that he was mildly mentally retarded, the same conclusion drawn by Rabbi Judith Z. Abrams in her 1990 article in the Reconstructionist magazine, "Was Isaac Disabled? "

Here's the facts:
• Isaac is born to older parents (Sarah was supposed to have been 80!) who are themselves close relatives.
• When his father, Abraham almost sacrifices him, why doesn't he protest or fight back? Why does it take him so long to figure out was going on?
• He is easily tricked by Joseph into giving him the blessing instead of to Esau

I'm not fully convinced that these facts, plus other textual nuggets, truly add up to a definitive DSM diagnosis, but it's pretty intriguing to think about.

I urge Jewish professionals and parents raising children and teens with special needs to take the time to read this new book, available at www.BenYehudaPress.com

The Comic Torah: "A true invitation to study"

The Association of Jewish Libraries reviews The Comic Torah:

As Jews, we are supposed to study Torah and find meaning in our interpretation of it. This book is a unique piece of midrash. Aaron Freeman, a comedian and NPR commentator, and his wife Sharon Rosenzweig, an artist, have created a series of 54 cartoon panels, one for each weekly parashah. They tell the stories as no one has ever told them. Some readers may find them irreverent, but the approach is both humorous and thought-provoking. The portrayal of God as a woman and the use of celebrity caricatures for biblical characters (Cheech and Chong as Nadav and Abihu, Elliot Spitzer as Laban) are original. Telling the story of the Jewish people as a romantic relationship between Moses and God with elements of Family Feud added puts a different spin on it. The authors encourage readers to la’asok b’divrei Torah (immerse oneself in Torah), depicting themselves diving into a Torah scroll on the title page. This is a true invitation to study because, as the celebrity Joshua character says, “Yes we Can-aan.” This will be a great source for discussion in Torah study groups and book clubs in non-Orthodox congregations.

For the full review -- and 39 more pages of book review goodness -- download the pdf.

Iconia: Is God blood thirsty, genocidal and green-skinned?

Menachem Wecker reviews the Comic Torah at his Iconia blog:

"Moses, tell Israel to be like ME," God says. "Blood thirsty and genocidal?" Moses asks. "No. Holy, special, unique," God responds. "YHWH says, 'Absolutely no worshiping Molech," Moses informs the assembled multitudes. "Not us, Moses!" one declares. "We wouldn't even think of it!" says another, as he hides a golden statuette of the ancient near eastern horned god behind his back.

If this doesn't sound like the Leviticus 19 narrative you grew up with, you are probably not alone, particularly since the YHWH in the story is a woman with green skin and a 'YHWH'-inscribed t-shirt.

But that's how husband-and-wife-duo Aaron Freeman and Sharon Rosenzweig imagine the scriptures in their new book, The Comic Torah: Reimagining the Very Good Book (Ben Yehuda Press: October 15, 2010).

From the very first page, the origin myth of Comic Torah sets up what kind of creative and contemporary imagination of the biblical narratives Freeman and Rosenzweig have created. Standing waist-deep in a pink-ochre pool (which turns out to be a surrealist depiction of a Torah scroll), the authors draw themselves creating YHWH.

"Hey! I'm GOD! Why am I a woman?!" wonders YHWH, who is perched on Rosenzweig's hand. "The 'Divine Presence' is widely recognized as female," says Freeman, referring, perhaps, to the Kabbalistic traditions of a female shekhina. "Guess I'm widely recognized as green too, huh?" God says. Rosenzweig replies, "It was an artistic choice. Why did you make the sky blue?" God crosses her arms, "I had my reasons."

Rosenzweig and Freeman than discuss naming God YHWH ("I know my own name, and I don't answer to 'Sally,'" God says) and why they have drawn other gods like Molech.

"The Torah mentions at least three other gods by name, and refers indirectly to many," Rosenzweig says. "I know there are others, why are you drawing them?" God asks. "As foils, to show your greatness," Freeman responds. God turns to Rosenzweig and tells her that her husband sure knows how to suck up. "He studies with the best," she responds.

This kind of informal conversation -- not to mention the explicit, pictorial depiction of the authors/illustrators creating God -- is surely irreverent. Some would even call it blasphemous, though it's not the edgiest part of the book, which is arranged according to each weekly synagogue reading, or parsha.

When God tells Abraham to circumcise himself in the parsha of Lech Lecha ("go for you"), Abraham, sweating and staring with trepidation at the knife, wonders, "Couldn't I just pinky swear?" "It's called foreskin, because it's 'for' me," God says, before wearing the bloody skin as a ring in the next panel, as Abraham hunches over in pain in the distance with the bloody knife at his feet.

The book also touches on race (in Shemot, "Exodus," God tells Moses, who is black, that the sign of leprosy on his hand will make the Egyptians think he is "turning into a white guy") and religious controversy (in Acharei Mot, "after the death, God says she will "sic the Muslims" on the Jews if they stop offering the Yom Kippur sacrifices).

One hopes the latter refers to the historical oppression of Jews in Muslim countries, and not to current events where the oppressors masquerade as Muslims. (Though a reference in Bechukotai, "in my laws," to "Your enemies will rule over you!" which shows a man -- perhaps Hassan Nasrallah -- with a keffiyeh around his neck riding on Moses' back and waving a banner that states, "Mission accomplished," is decidedly contemporary).

"Move over R. Crumb, here's the Comic Torah," wrote Chris Mautner on the site Comic Book Resources.

I'm not sure Freeman and Rosenzweig have much of a shot outselling (or eclipsing the publicity surrounding) Crumb -- nor would it be fair to expect them to -- but it is worth noting that their project involves a unique sort of meditation upon the texts, which even Crumb has not rivaled.

Anyone who has spent time cutting their teeth on the original Hebrew will soon recognize that beneath the surface of the irreverence, informality and seemingly random interpretations lies a serious, personal and very contemporary struggle with the meaning of the texts.

It is my hunch that anyone who takes a copy of Comic Torah to synagogue as a companion to the bible for following along during the weekly Sabbath Torah readings will not only not be disappointed, but might just also end up having some rare insights to share with their colleagues after the service.

We'd be remiss not to send you to the original review, where you can read the response by readers of the Houston Chronicle, where Menachem's blog appears.

In the beginning... was the pre-order!

The latest promotional art from Sharon Rosenzweig as we get ready to launch The Comic Torah.

Shoshana Hurwitz recommends Roslyn Bresnick-Perry to the Association of Jewish Libraries

Shoshana Hurwitz reviews "I Loved My Mother on Saturdays":

From Roslyn Bresnick-Perry's childhood in the shtetl to her immigration to New York and life into adulthood with a career in the fashion industry, this book cannot simply be considered a collection of short autobiographical stories, or even a transcript of the dynamic family history she has been relating orally to audiences for decades. Written mostly in the first person, which gives the reader a feeling like she is right there in your living room, a few major themes of Bresnick-Perry's stories include adventures in adjusting to Jewish life in America and ups and downs in her relationship with her mother (as illustrated in the book's title). As the captivated reader will discover once the author admits it to herself, the author's life is storytelling, which she eventually decides to make into her real career, and a very successful one it is. Recommended for all types of Jewish libraries.

Congregational Libraries Today reviews the YCT Tanakh Companion to Samuel

The Book of Samuel narrates the transition from the chaos of Judges to the establishment of the kingship through the stories of Samuel, Saul, and David. Fully half of the thirteen articles in this volume focus on the nature, necessity for, and character of the kingship held by Saul and David. Other articles deal with prayer, the Ark of the Covenant, the oracular use of the Urim and Tummim, and the Temple. The authors employ a "literary-theological" perspective, citing both modern and classic sources.

These essays come from a conference, Yemei Iyun, sponsored by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. They preserve the oral tone of the presentations—a bonus for the reader. The articles teach about the Book of Samuel, but they also stand as models of how master teachers tackle sophisticated topics. The essays are clear and engaging. The authors guide the readers through difficult material with deceptive ease.

The essays include the biblical text under discussion (in both Hebrew and English) which makes this an easy book for reading or study. This volume claims to present "Bible study in the spirit of modern and open Orthodox Judaism" and is envisioned as the first offering in a series. If they are all this good, I can hardly wait.

—Rabbi Louis A. Rieser

(Congregational Libraries Today, November/December 2007, p.14)

Yo, Yenta! previews The Comic Torah

Yo, Yenta! applauds the funding of The Comic Torah, which it notes is "Probably Not Coming to A Shul Near You…"

Excellent news! Ben Yehudah Press has raised the funds it needed to publish Aaron Freeman and Sharon Rosenzweig’s The Comic Torah, which means those of us who pre-ordered this fabulous and colorful piece of holy heresy can expect our copies … soon?
By Passover, me hopes, ’cause it’d be super fun to spice up the seder with its hubba-hubba characters and manaically hilarious — yet sincere — interpretations of the Good Book. (Yes! Would the authors consider a comic hagaddah as their next project? It might keep El Yenta Man from falling asleep after the third cup of wine…)

Check out this week’s parsha, Shmot, featuring a dark Moses encountering the purple-haired goblin who lives in the burning bush. Good gawsh, I do love these people’s dark sense of humor. Charming as The Comic Torah might be, however, even I in my newly-amped blash-feemous glory can tell it isn’t appropriate material for the Shalom School kinders. But b’nai mitvot kids will loooooove it!

New Voices reviews The Comic Torah

Elle Mikulincer-Weiss reviews The Comic Torah and interviews creators Aaron Freeman and Sharon Rosenzweig for New Voices, the national Jewish student magazine and decides: "Torah classes will never be the same."

Bottom line: "The book could be the perfect bar or bat mitzvah gift to inspire the birthday kid to keep reading the Torah in a new and innovative way."
Full article:

Book Review: Aaron Freeman and Sharon Rosenzweig's "The Comic Torah"
December 31, 2009 | Elle Mikulincer-Weiss

Redrawing the Very Good Book
The final commandment in the Torah is to write a torah scroll for oneself, but few expect to take it literally.

While the Good Book has always been a best seller, it’s not exactly a page-turner or a beach read. Half of the joy of the Bar or Bat Mitzvah is an end to the tedium of reading an endless line of who begat whom.

But “The Comic Torah,” created by husband and wife Sharon Rosenzweig and Aaron Freeman, is far from boring. In the book the authors present what they call “the cutting edge of the lunatic fringe,” as they wrote in an email to New Voices. Torah classes will never be the same.

In the beginning

Rosenzweig, who was trained as a painter, discovered her husband’s cartoons of Torah scenes in their house one day. Freeman been using the comics as a way to connect with the Jewish world: the comics would be a memorable way of showing that he “was down with the program of parsha and midrash,” he wrote.

But Freeman is a standup comedian, not an artist. And while the work showed promise, Rosenzweig could not let it remain as it was.

“I wasn’t planning to take his work over, but I had to do something,” she said.

So, like Adam and Eve, they started work on the fruit of their labor, pushing the boundaries of biblical discussion with their own unique twist:

God as a Woman.

I am YHWH, hear me roar

Feminism aside, it takes a lot of guts to show the Almighty as a curvy, beautiful young woman.

“At first, we avoided depicting the deity, or used bearded white men,” Rosenzweig said but “later, when God appeared in the burning bush, a flirtation developed in the drawing, which was completely unexpected."

Having based Moses on her husband Aaron, “It seemed logical that I play YHWH,” she said.

Perhaps more daring than the feminine divine is the character of “Honey,” based on the Bollywood starlet Shilpa Sheti, who is the personification of the land of Israel, a sultry temptress of a land giving new meaning to the phrase Jewish geography.
The love triangle between God, Moses and the land comes across poignantly. It recalls the Song of Solomon, with the scorching subtext that allows the viewer to see the intimacy of the situation while keeping her interest.

It’s hard not to feel a flutter in your chest at the revelation at Mt. Sinai, where, the authors wrote, readers see “Ya and Moses on their 40 night tryst by the light of a flaming volcano.” Yeshiva never made it sound quite so interesting.

Strangely enough, despite what most rabbis say, God as a woman may not be so radical a concept.

“God is neither woman nor man,” said Sharona Segal, who teaches Jewish women’s classes in Boston. “Reading references to God as 'He' is very disturbing, but I imagine it's due to the lack of a neutral pronoun in both English and Hebrew.”

In fact, in Judaism, “God is as much woman as man,” says Segal, and that is why when teaching students, she has “tried not to use 'He' to describe God, because it's very inaccurate. God encompasses both genders, and should be shown as such.”

Segal noted that at the beginning of the Friday night service, God appears in the text in a feminine form.

She added that the “Comic Torah” may serve a vital need in the community, since “the image of the fierce, paternal God is not, I think, a healthy one where it comes to observance.”

The celebrity bible

One of the most enjoyable parts of the comic is how contemporary and hip it is. The couple drew the biblical characters after celebrities, with the intention that readers will connect with the characters as people they know from the news.

Still, some of the character choices seem a bit unusual, such as Cheech and Chong as Nadav and Avihu, Aaron’s rebellious sons. In fact, this may alienate some viewers, who find that the fast and loose approach a little tongue in cheek. The Bible is not Saturday Night Live.

Rosenzweig and Freeman acknowledge that their approach may be risqué and may push buttons, but see that as an asset rather than a flaw. As time goes on, certain cameos (“Yes, we Canaan”) will date the work and force a constant updating every few years as old celebrities fade from the public radar and new ones replace them.

The book may also struggle to find an audience. The comics require a high level of Jewish knowledge for the jokes to work, such as Elliot Spitzer playing the biblical character Laban, “The White Guy.” The pun works only if the reader understands that Laban means “white” in Hebrew.

Rosenzweig and Freeman, however, succeed with brilliant illustrations and the book could be the perfect bar or bat mitzvah gift to inspire the birthday kid to keep reading the Torah in a new and innovative way.

As for those who find the work too controversial, the creators acknowledge that it won’t fit every single household, but sees that as an asset.

“We don’t mind if others disapprove," they wrote. “Hopefully, it will inspire them to write a Torah of their own.”

We have winners! Prizes awarded for our Twitter it Romantic contest

A big thank you to all who participated in our Tu b'Av twitter contest. We asked you to send a romantic twitter to or about your loved one, and the response was heartwarming.

Our judges have picked the winning entries, who will receive copies of Shefa Gold's new book, In the Fever of Love: An Illumination of the Song of Songs.

@velveteenrabbi : My love plans built-in bookshelves, buys paint for the nursery, shapes where our child will dwell. We find home in each other. #15av
@vegdem : to my true love, the one who completes me: Thank you for pursuing me relentlessly. Relentlessly! #15av
@KatiBlack : chickpea & wilted spinach salad for lunch. thx @n_q_mainstream for being my #vegan meal pimp. u know how to keep ur girl happy #15av

And to keep the fever of love alive as the month of Av winds down, here is the first chapter of In the Fever of Love featuring the love poetry of The Song of Songs (in bold) and Shefa Gold's intimate, poetic response.

Contest: Tweet to your love on Tu b'Av #15av

The date

Tu b'Av -- The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av -- the full moon at the height of summer -- this year, Tuesday night August 4 and Wednesday August 5 -- is the Jewish Valentine's Day.

In ancient times, "There were no better [i.e. happier] days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, since on these days the daughters of Israel/Jerusalem go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards. What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose [to be your wife]..." (Mishna Taanit, Chapter 4)." (Learn more about Tu b'Av at MyJewishLearning.com.

Our celebration

Ben Yehuda Press and MyJewishLearning.com are sponsoring a twitter-wide celebration of love on Tu b'av. Go to Twitter.com. Join if you aren't already a member. And then post a note to or about your true love. Add #15av to the end of your note (that's hash-one-five-ay-vee) so we'll know that it's an entry.

The contest begins Tuesday night and continuing until Wednesday night. You can follow the entries in real time on the Ben Yehuda Press home page.

The prizes

The three best tweets with the #15av label -- best as defined arbitrarily by the heart of each individual judge -- will receive a free copy of In the Fever of Love: An Illumination of the Song of Songs by Shefa Gold.

(Here's how poet Alice Ostriker described In the Fever of Love:

"For Shefa Gold, the Song of Songs is--as Rabbi Akiba said--a Holy of Holies. It is at once God's word to us, ours to God, and the loving words of human lovers to each other. Readers of In the Fever of Love will be inspired and led deeper into their own souls by her shimmering interpretations.")

The judges

Matthue Roth wrote the novel Losers and the memoir Yom Kippur a Go-Go. He's a slam poet, an Internet filmmaker, and the associate editor of MyJewishLearning.com. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, who doesn't have Twitter, so he's disqualified from entering.

Sharon Rosenzweig and Aaron Freeman are authors of How To Say I Love You in Thirty Languages and creators of The Comic Torah.

Another judge is yet to be named. Stay tuned.

The fine print.

Prizes will be awarded to U.S. addresses only. You must be 18 years or older to enter. Decision of the judges is final. Void where prohibited by law.

Nikki Stiller reviews Isidore Century for the Home Planet News

Oy! Where to begin? FROM THE COFFEE HOUSE OF JEWISH DREAMERS is so rich, so full of life and has so much ta'am, tastiness, that it is almost daunting to review. Even the author's name seems significant (indeed, we find out his real name is Irving Centor) for these poems, in which the religious and the secular vie with each other, seem particularly suited to the last century and the current one.

]]> This book is actually two books in one. The reader must turn the tome upside down to read the second half, a trifle gimmicky, although one can see the rationale. We start out, however, with an evocation of how he became a poet when he was well into his forties. In "The Visitor," he writes, "I did not know poetry./ Poetry knew me." It was for him, "A distant cousin of Torah/ ...a long lost relative/ from the Jewish Culture Club of Warsaw." It sits in the kitchen "drinking schnapps" with him and his father. Even at the beginning of his poetic journey, there is an intimate connection with Judaism:

Before I fell asleep,
he pinched me an the cheek and sang me a niggun.
In the morning he was gone and I wrote my first poem.

People and places, places and people: these poems are definitely in the Jewish anti-pastoral tradition. What could be more urban than Coney Island? He is not interested particularly in the ocean: it is the carnival of life next to the sea of infinity that interests him. Here, where "Brooklyn Jews" wander "like land locked sea gulls," he is transported to Poland with his father's father, and meets a man wearing his life ("Journey to Coney Island"). In "Journey to Coney Island (2)", he meets his former neighbor who tells him "It is time you returned to your body/ It is time your life ceases to be a dream." It is as if Coney Island is the beginning of a meditation. As he emerges "from the dream/ on the boardwalk at Coney Island,"

Like the first amphibian
crawling onto the shore
eyes blinking, unfamiliar
with unfiltered light

he suddenly finds himself "burdened by clothes." He goes home to stare at his nakedness in the mirror. Here dream and reality mix. Tiny scars remind him of the whip in his mother's hand. (Did she really use a cat o' nine tails?) At the end he returns to his body and his mother's eyes have returned also. We are very far from the ferric wheel and from the literal sea.

The section entitled "Stories from the Thirties" contains some of the most successful poems in the book and, one suspects, were written after the Coney Island sequence. Isadore Century has an intense and intimate relationship with the dead, especially his father. His technique is to locate himself in the here and now, then give way to visions. In "Morning Service," while "saying Kaddish" for his father, his father is suddenly beside him, saying Kaddish for himself. Although "alive/ he wouldn't be caught dead in a synagogue...here he is/ all cleaned and pressed/ in the navy blue suit he was buried in." A minor miracle, and the book is full of minor miracles:

I say Amen and look up.
He is no longer there.
an old hand-knit skullcap;
it smells of paint and sweat
and his brand of cigarette.

As with so many of these poems, we are in the realm neither of reality, although we begin there, nor of dream, but, as in Kafka's stories, on the plane of imagination. We must accept the testimony of the visionary.

The midrashim that constitute a little less than half the book maintain the same enthusiastic tone as the poems in the other half. Century does not really incorporate the Torah portions, but uses them, as he did places, for journeys of his own. In Bereshith, for example, "In the Beginning," we hear not about the creation of the world, but--in two separate poems--about Cain the Wanderer. In the first poem, he is an attorney defending the culprit:

It was my first case;
Murder!
I pleaded him innocent on the grounds of ignorance.
How could he know what a blow would do?

He loses the case. Cain "is still wandering./ I am still appealing." In the second poem about Cain, the poet lets himself go:

He would have loved New York.
As a fugitive and a wanderer
he could go to the movies,
eat Chinese and Italian food,
shill in Central Park
and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Is the poet spinning out of control? we ask. But no. This poem turns out to be a meditation on urban indifference:

Everyone would be too busy
to notice the man
if they did,
they would not want to get involved.

And back to Cain, a twentieth century man:

All he had to do
was mind his business
and. oh yes. control his temper.

When he does adhere to the text, the poems are quite successful, giving life and blood to the familiar Biblical personae. In "Lech Lecha," ("Betake Thyself"), in which God commands Avram (he is not Abraham the Jew yet), the speaker is a workman in the idol factory of Avram's father: Avram would "stomp and shout all day, 'False Idols. False Idols':

I didn't think they were kosher either,
but it was a living.
And for a boss's son, you couldn't find better.
He made me take coffee breaks,
no work an Saturdays, a holiday always.

Above all, we feel the tension in these poems between the man of faith and the modem skeptic. This tension gives the book its universality.

And Isidore Century has a great sense of fun. Life for him is a delight. In "Friedman Beach--Tel Aviv," a small crowd of men and women "over sixty-five"

jog and swim, bend and stretch,
creak and groan, complain and gossip,
but mostly laugh,
as though being alive each morning
is the funniest joke they know.

Leonard Maltin on Wicked Wit: "If you love vintage show business, this book is a must-read!"

Leonard Maltin has reviewed Wicked Wit of the West on LeonardMaltin.com:

Virtually the last man standing from the era of vaudeville, radio comedy, and the Marx Brothers' heyday, the screenwriter of Meet Me in St. Louis, and the creator of The Life of Riley, Irving Brecher had a long, amazing career, but he never gave serious thought to writing an autobiography. Then an ardent admirer named Hank Rosenfeld insinuated himself into the nonagenarian's life, becoming a friend and confidant and wisely taking a tape recorder along every time he spoke to Brecher or accompanied him to an event. The result is an unconventional but entertaining book, full of great stories, wonderful show business memories, rants and salty opinions. (Told by Rosenfeld that I don't credit writers in my Movie Guide--which is not entirely true--Brecher hurls a profanity in my direction.) It also offers a bittersweet portrait of old age, although Brecher refuses to surrender to sentiment. In one of their last conversations, Rosenfeld asks the 94-year-old what he would like as an epitaph. He replies, "Here lies Irv Brecher, who doesn't recommend it."
Brecher sold his first jokes to young, up-and-coming vaudevillian Milton Berle in the early 1930s, never dreaming that he could make a living as a writer. By the end of that decade he was under contract to MGM, where he crafted the scripts for two Marx Brothers movies, At the Circus and Go West, and formed a close, long-term friendship with Groucho. One of the joys of this book is its illustrations; there aren't many but what's there is cherce. Script pages from the Marx Brothers films show how Groucho's dialogue was written and revised. Pictures bear witness to Brecher's claim that he stood in at a hurried photo session for a stage tour of Go West--only to discover that his picture, in Groucho makeup, was reprinted for years to come as if it were the real Julius Marx. Another anecdote involving the writer and Jack Benny pulling a practical joke on director Mervyn LeRoy might seem like a tall tale if there weren't photographic evidence to back it up.
If you love vintage show business, this book is a must-read. Prepare yourself for conversational detours, trips to the local deli, and a lot of anger over George W. Bush. And be ready to appreciate a man who never got the attention he deserved. (Irving Brecher died just as this book was going to press, late last year. He couldn't have asked for a better testament to a life well lived.)

Wicked Wit "Like 'Tuesday with Morrie' only with laughs" -Santa Monica Daily Press

Jack Neworth reviews The Wicked Wit of the West for the Santa Monica Daily Press

To historians of American comedy, the name Irving Brecher, ought to be included among the legends. At 24 Brecher was the only writer to get sole credit on Marx Brothers' films, "At the Circus" (1939) and "Go West" (1940.) He also worked on "The Wizard of Oz," created,"The Life of Riley" as a radio show, wrote and directed it as a movie and then as the first television sitcom (Starring a young, and relatively slim, Jackie Gleason).

Brecher's remarkable life is chronicled in this hilarious memoir, "The Wicked Wit of the West" (as Groucho dubbed him) as told to L.A. Times folk-journalist, and Santa Monica resident, Hank Rosenfeld.

Drawing on his early days of writing for Vaudeville and radio, the book is brimming with Irv's juicy tales about Hollywood icons, including Benny, Berle, Gleason, Burns, and of course, the Marx Brothers. It's the product of seven years of Rosenfeld's tagging along with Irv, splitting pastrami sandwiches, and recording Irv's every word of rapid-fire banter and acid wit.

Like "Tuesday with Morrie" only with laughs, the beauty of this book is the deep friendship that develops between Rosenfeld and the oft-crotchety Brecher. It began in 2001, when Turner Classic Movie channel interviewed Golden Age Hollywood participants. "I'm afraid I'm the last living MGM writer," Irv said. "And frankly I just hope I get through this interview."

In attendance, Rosenfeld was struck how much Irv sounded like Groucho, "That distinctively edgy launching of an expertly aimed zinger." Suddenly there was a beeping sound. "Unless there's a canary in here, my hearing aid just died."

"How long do those batteries last," asked the interviewer. "About two weeks," Irv replied. "Longer if you don't do any listening."

Brecher didn't want to be part of a typical, self-absorbed Hollywood biography. He agreed to do the book on one condition, "That I don't have to read it." Hank insisted on using a tape recorder to "get everything accurately." Irv quipped, "You're going to have trouble being a journalist if you insist on being accurate."

The book begins in 1931 in New York city. Irv was 17 and a ticket-take/usher at his cousin's movie house on 57th Street. He worked six, 10 hour days for $18 a week and was glad to have it as he was the only support of his parents and siblings in Depression-era Bronx.

In his spare time, Irv would occasionally send newspaper columnists Walter Winchell and Ed Sullivan topical gags and one-liners for the pure joy of seeing his name in papers with circulation of over one million. He never for a moment dreamed it would eventually lead to a career in glamorous, far-off Hollywood.

One day a reviewer for Variety, Wolf Kaufman, came into the theatre. He had recognized one of Irv's jokes in a Vaudeville act of Bob Hope! He convinced Irv to run an ad in Variety advertising his joke-writing talents. Irv didn't have the $15 for the ad, as it was almost a week's salary. Kaufman arranged for Irv to temporarily owe Variety, a publication he would wind up subscribing to for the next 70 years!

One of those responding to the Variety ad was a brash, young Vaudeville comedian named Milton Berle who was notorious for stealing other comics' material. (The chapter on Berle is entitled, "The Thief of Bad Gags."). After reviewing pages of Irv's jokes, Berle paid him the princely sum of $50. Soon Irv would quit his usher's job and would forever jokingly blame Hope and Berle for his life in show business.

Among the great Groucho stories details his and Irv's vacation at a hotel in the south that didn't accept Jews. Groucho sat on his suitcase and accused the hotel of being one in a chain of brothels. "Is it true that you're your brothel's keeper?" he asked the perplexed hotel manager.

In a scene from "Go West," a western, Groucho's knocked down a flight of stairs in a saloon by the villain. Harpo and Chico rush over to give him water. "Forget the water," Groucho says, "force brandy down my throat." That line became famous in bars all across the country. Pretty heady stuff for the 24-year-old screenwriter who wrote it.

"The Wicked Wit of the West" is a funny, charming, and ultimately touching, reminiscence. For those over 60, it may bring back fond memories of radio and early television. For those under, it represents an essential piece of American comedy history.

Irv's glaucoma made it impossible to review the book's galleys. He hired an actor to read it to him over four days. Shortly thereafter he passed away but even on his deathbed, he was cracking one-liners. Irv missed the publication but he had "read" the book, something he joked he'd never do. I'm definitely glad that I did.