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Church in the East Village and is found on the roof of an iconoclastic synagogue — the Synagogue of Evolutionary Judaism. Located on the Upper West Side, it is led by Rabbi Joshua Gruen and his wife, Rabbi Sarah Blumenthal. In trying to solve the mystery of his church, Father Thomas Pemberton, known here as Pem, finds kindred souls in the rab- binic couple, even as his own faith is fading. Everett seeks to tell the story of the cross' disap- pearance and recovery in his new novel, based on Pem's life. This is a novel in which char- acters speak of a "moral scorecard," where even the believ- ers are question- ers. Some non-believ ers are said to "lack in holy re- trou bi Ies a r CAPRARO S 1477 John R. at Maple ITALIAN RESTAURANT (S.W. Corner) • Troy (248) 588-6000 MI NM MIN MEI MIN INN MI MI MI NIM Simeha with Simone "The Simone Vitale Band is an assurance of a great evening... One of the hottest bands in town." 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T: 4:eAsott ers is beciiiig:WS:. to this terrifying century. this novel set at the millennium, Doctorow is a moral and al urban witness, in his story- sPintu- telling as well as in its form . — &melee Brawarsky repeated messages is that the Inquisition has no ideological justification, and that Jesus himself would never have approved of it: "The seed planted by gentle Jesus is wrapped in ignorant dogma and made an instrument of death." The second is that the principal motivation for the Inquisition was not Christian sympathy for the sinners or well-meaning adherence to the will of God but the Christians' insecurity about their own religion. This argu- ment manifests in the final conversa- tion between Gabriel and Perez: "Why are you so afraid? Are you really con- cerned for the souls of Jews who don't accept Jesus? Or are you terrified that your own faith will collapse if it's opened to question?" Passages of The Heretic seem to have been written solely to dissuade people who think that the Spanish Inquisition was the hippest thang hap- pening since the destruction of the Second Temple. One might ask, who are such people? I have no idea, but I would bet they're not the type who would read a selection of the Jewish Book Club. Despite his tendency to preach to the converted, Weinstein, president of a biomedical research institute in New York City, has much to commend him. His descriptions of Jewish rituals and holidays are vivid and touching, and he has a remarkable talent for cre- ating cinematic action on paper. What most impressed me about The Heretic, however, was its willing- ness to ask the tough questions my Hebrew schoolteachers avoided. For example, Gabriel refuses to print the 19th benediction of the Shemoneh Esrei, arguing, "Why should Jews call God's curse against those who believe differently than us? When we say these words, we're no better than the Christians who curse us." A character who has just been made to watch the brutal rape of his wife and daughter cries, "Why does God permit such atrocities?" "Why do we always get screwed?" Late in the novel, Gabriel attempts an answer: "Do you think God has aban- doned His chosen people? Never! He tests us. He makes our lives difficult. But that's because He loves us." Instead of clearing things up, how- ever, this argument only befuddles me further: I fail to understand the neces- sity of persecution in love. To retort with yet another ques- tion, I quote Tevye: "I know, I know. We are your chosen people. But, once in a while, can't you choose someone else?" ❑