The Orchard

Yochi Brandes

A fictionalize portrayal of the life of Rabbi Akiva, told from the perspective of his loving, but long suffering wife.

Akiva is a luminary of early rabbinic Judaism and one of the central figures in the Talmud. He was, allegedly, a simple Shepard, who won the heart of the daughter of one of the richest men in Judea. At her insistence, he began the study of Torah while already in middle age and became one of the most importance forces in the development of Judaism, working to establish the cannon of the tanakh, the development of halakha and more. In this novel, he even comes into contact with the early strains of Christianity and is part of the development of early kabbalah. Eventually, he was tortured and murdered by the Romans for his support of the Bar Kokhba revolt.

According to the Talmud and associated stories, he was a humble, good, man, but it was not an easy life. Scores of sacrifices had to be made for his place as a Torah scholar and his wife bore the brunt of most of it. This is the story that is told here.

The writing is uneven, but perhaps that’s the translation. The story is compelling and at times, clever in how it centers Akiva and the other Tannaim in so many aspects of not only Judaism, but early Christianity. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and despite it being a work of fiction, learned quite a bit. The book assumes no knowledge of the Talmud, but I’m sure a deeper understanding that I have would have open up much more.

I do quickly want to note that the title refers to the story of four rabbis of the Tannaim visiting “the Orchard”. In this book, they do so using some sort of magic, and what they see, when they get there is some version of paradise, or the divine. It changes them all forever, killing one, driving another mad, sending one into blasphemy, and brining Akiva to a place as the most prominent rabbi of his generation.

Just trying to write a single paragraph on the Orchard story reflected back to me how little I understand the story, and the Talmud in general.

So much more to learn.

Recommended for the enthusiast.