Avner Gold

Avner Gold is the pen name used by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Reinman of Lakewood, New Jersey, co-author of "One People, Two Worlds", [ [http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780805211405 One People, Two Worlds by Ammiel Hirsch and Yosef Reinman - Books - Random House ] ] in authoring the Ruach Ami series. The Ruach Ami series of historical novels focuses on the plight of the Jewish people of Europe during the middle 17th century. Although the central characters mostly hail from Poland, the series detours to many other European countries including Turkey, Spain, Austria and the Germanic states.

Ruach Ami Books

There are eight books in the Ruach Ami series:

The Promised Child

This book, one of Reinman's first, is among the shortest and most straighforward of the series. Not much attention is paid to developing the character's personalities and the participants are often one-dimensional; either really really good or evil re-incarnate. the lack of "gray" characters is a recurring theme in the series, although it becomes less and less pronounced with each passing book. The book is clearly meant as a story in itself, although it also sets the stage for the books that follow.

The promised child follows Mendel Pulichever, a childless rabbi in the fictitious Polish town of Pulichev. After hoping and praying for many years, he is finally blessed with a baby Shloime (nicknamed Shloimele by his mother) who turns into a brilliant little boy and becomes the toast of the town and the heir apparent to Mendel's job as rabbi of the city. Unfortunately, the boy is kidnapped by a local priest, Zbignew Mzlateslavsky, who is a bitter man, jealous of Mendel's happiness. All of Mendel's efforts to search for the boy are fruitless as he is hidden in an orphanage and is brought up as a Catholic. Eventually, Shloime, who grows up under the name Gregor Tal, attains the rank of bishop within the Catholic church and has little memory of his early childhood.

Some 20 years later, the same Priest Mzlateslavsky has convinced the Cardinal in charge of the Crakow, Poland region that the Jews of the city should be expelled. The Cardinal decrees that there be a debate between a Rabbi and a representative of the Church on the subject of the Talmud and that the Jews would be expelled if, in his judgment, the Jewish representative loses the debate. After Mendel is chosen as the Jewish representaive, Mzlateslavsky arranges for Shloime to be the Church representative, secretly savoring the idea that Shloime will defeat his own father and cause the expulsion of the Jews of Crakow.

Unfortunately for Mzlateslavsky, "Gregor" (disguised as a Jew) goes to Pulichev to scout his opponent. While talking to Mendele, the two discuss their pasts and eventually realize the truth- that they are father and son. Together, they hatch a plan to expose Mzlateslavsky at the debate. At the debate, "Gregor" announces what has happened and begs the Cardinal to spare the Jews of Crakow. Mzlateslavsky is disgraced and the Cardinal, calling the incident a manifestation of divine providence cancels the order of expulsion. Shloime and Mendel then return to Pulichev as father and son.

The Dream

The Dream follows Shloime Pulichever after the events described in The Promised Child as he goes away to study more about his Jewish heritage and later returns to his parents' home in Pulichev. When Shloime returns home to Pulichev he finds his mother ill and a new plot afoot to discredit the Jews of the city. Although a third-person narrative, the book follows Shloime as an individual throughout the story and the reader knows as much and only as much as does Shloime as the story progresses. Like The Purple Ring (the 6th book of the series) but unlike the most of the other books in the series, this book is entirely fictional, has very little actual history and reads more like a suspense/mystery than most of the dramas played out in the series.

The Year of the Sword

The third book in the series turns to a much darker era in Jewish history; the Cossack uprising of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and his hordes, during which the Cossacks murdered as many as 100,000 Jews. [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/ukraine.html The Virtual Jewish History Tour - Ukraine ] ] While attending a conference in northern Poland, Shloime and his stepson are forced to run and are almost trapped by the Cossack invasion. The story follows their exploits and they seek to survive one of the worst pogroms of all time.

Twilight

Twilight, the fourth book in the series, is unlike the other books in the series in that it is almost entirely meant as a transitional book, linking the early books in the series (through the Cossack revolution) with the later books in the series that cover historical events such as the Sabbatai Zevi affair and the Spanish Inquisition. The book itself features a relatively insignificant plot of the marriage of Shloime Pulichever's stepson, but it mainly serves to explain to the reader of the series the fates and futures of various characters introduced in the series' first three books and to introduce some of those who will be key characters in future books.

The Imposter

This book follows the adventures of Shabbesai Tzvi, from his early days in Smyrna, Turkey, and follows his exploits in claiming to be the Jewish Messiah. Unlike the other books in the series, which feature fictitious plots (albeit against historical backdrops), this book straddles the border between fiction and non-fiction. Although the author admits taking some poetic license at times and although there are a few fictional characters in the book, the vast majority of the information and incidents described in the book are passed off as historical.

The Purple Ring

The Purple Ring is about the effects the Shabbesai Tzvi debacle had on the Jews in far-off Poland. A group of influential people in the Pulichev area conspire against the local Jews, using the willingness of the Jews to follow Tzvi as the Jewish king as “proof” of their disloyalty to the Polish crown. The book is titled after the name this cabal gives itself.

The Polish general Jan Sobieski (later to become King John III Sobieski of Poland) plays a small but crucial role in the story.

Envoy from Vienna

This book is a fictionalization of the unsuccessful efforts of the local Jews to prevent their expulsion from Vienna (in 1670).

The Marrano Prince

Leaving behind the Pulichever family almost entirely, this book follows the fictional Marrano Don Pedro Manuel Luis Dominguez de Monteverde y Saluria (the latter estate being fictional) through his arrest and execution by the Spanish Inquisition.

References

External links

* [http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/orgs/baiskaila/html/avner_gold_s__________the_promised_child.html "The Promised Child" online]