The Cubs and the Kabbalist: How a Kabbalah-Master Helped the Chicago Cubs Win Their First World Series Since 1908
by Byron L. Sherwin
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Book Summary Information
Author: Byron L. SherwinEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-04
ISBN: 0976487403
Number of pages: 260
Publisher: West Oak Press
Book Reviews of The Cubs and the Kabbalist: How a Kabbalah-Master Helped the Chicago Cubs Win Their First World Series Since 1908
Book Review: Are you ready for a little fun?
Summary: 5 Stars
Rabbi Sherwin's paean to perennial also-ran, the Chicago Cubs baseball team, in his THE CUBS AND THE KABBALIST might best be summed up with the following two word: "very cute."
It's true. It really *was* cute, and I had an exceptionally grand time turning the pages of this entertaining read, adding up to one of the more *fun* fictional pieces in my collection these past couple of weeks.
Admittedly, CUBS is safely nestled in the fictional world, folks. Sherwin blends his rigorously-researched reams of Cubs and other baseball statistics alongside the esoteric practice of Jewish Mysticism, or Kabala ("kabbalah"). I fell in love early and often with the way this story unfurled.
It begins with leading rabbi, Jay Loeb (J-Lo, anyone?), and his concerns over his wife Tamara. The author describes how the shalom bayit/bayis, or "peace of the home," chez Loeb has recently been disturbed by Tamara's frequent tirades railing against the annual stream of Cubs losses. We find ourselves at the point where it's beginning to affect her performance at work -- she's a lawyer, see -- and because of all this, Tamara's been stressing. Loeb's had enough, and he resolves on the spot to do something about it.
Like any loving husband might, the good rabbi seeks to ease his wife's pain, and rustles up a solution. Loeb eventually falls back on the mainstay of his rabbinical training and investigates the possibility of using his expertise in matters concerning the ancient Jewish Kabbalistic practice to provide a cure for what's been ailing Tamara's hapless beloved Cubs.
Soon, the Cubs begin cobbling together a series of seemingly-miraculous wins at home in the "Friendly Confines" of Shy-Town's [Chicago] Wrigley Field, mostly due to some clandestine "soul work" Loeb has been conjuring up in the silence of the night. Cue "The Golem of Prague" story -- for those of you who know it -- to explore the possibilities of what might happen to the rest of this story. (I won't give it away, but do expect a little twist at the end there. One which I think you're going to enjoy.)
This book is a pure pleasure read.
Sherwin doesn't overwhelm you with complex jargon, and while his subject material -- Jewish Mysticism -- is a very serious subject indeed, not to be trifled with lightly by any stretch (a la what Madonna, her husband Guy Ritchie, Bittney and others have been doing in Hollywood) -- he doesn't lord it over you inside the pages of this book. Delivered in a sometimes-humourous, sometimes-tongue-in-cheek style, Freud would be proud of Sherwin's cigar-is-just-a-cigar read -- I mean, c'mon!, it's baseball...our National Pastime (will it always remain so?). Don't expect some heavy non-fiction here, okay?
Byron L. Sherwin's quite obviously got the skills, ladies and gentlemen.
His narrative is tightly woven, and he leaves no stones unturned in CUBS. With a typical moviemaker's flourish, he ends his book with a cute little Epilogue a la what you might see in a happy Disney movie, and that made me smile. You'll learn of what "became" of the various players in this little drama, and I'll admit that it summed things up handily for this here reviewer.
On the beach?
A long flight across the ocean?
Or perhaps you're a baseball lover who's seeking an interesting little spin on the "Field of Dreams" narrative?
Then THE CUBS AND THE KABBALIST is probably for you.
-- ADM in Prague
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