With less than a week to go before the eight-day Jewish festival of Chanukah begins, I thought that this might be a good time to talk about one of Harry Kemelman's delightful books that features Rabbi David Small as the protagonist. Rabbi Small is the leader of a small congregation of Conservative Jews in the fictional Massachusetts town of Barnard's Crossing. Having enjoyed and reviewed the first mystery in the series several years ago, I decided to concentrate on the second book in the series, written in 1966, called Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry. It is the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here.
Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry begins with Rabbi Small and his very pregnant wife, Miriam, preparing to go to the synagogue to lead the congregation in the special prayers which begin the Jewish fast day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. This year (in the book), Yom Kippur falls on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and the rabbi (and most other observant Jews) will be fasting for more than 24 hours – which explains why, as the book’s title says, the rabbi went hungry on Saturday.
But the rabbi will soon have other things on his mind. Isaac Hirsh, a researcher at a science lab, is an alcoholic. On the night before the holiday, Hirsh gets hold of a bottle of liquor and proceeds to drink himself nearly to the point of passing out. As the police put the story together, it appears that Hirsh managed to drive himself home, pulled his car all the way into his garage, closed the garage door – and did pass out. The result, of course, was that Hirsh’s body was found in the car and in the garage.
To the police, it is clearly an accidental death. Or is it? Hirsh’s widow comes to Rabbi Small seeking permission to have him buried in his congregation’s small cemetery – permission needed because Hirsh was not a member of the congregation. Rabbi Small must investigate further. And the more he does, the more doubtful he becomes about whether Hirsh’s death really was an accident…or, as the insurance company which had insured Hirsh’s life was ready to claim, could it have been suicide? And, for that matter – as the rabbi’s wife, Miriam, argued – could it also have been murder?
Ultimately, it will be Rabbi Small who notices the small clues which may lead to the very large crime of murder.
It’s a strong and compelling book. The author, Harry Kemelman, gives us, in Rabbi David Small, an intelligent and appealing young man, as his protagonist and investigator. His characters ring true and I suspect many readers will find his explanations of Jewish rituals and beliefs – as they were in the mid-1960s, when Kemelman began writing the books – both believable and understandable. I think you’ll enjoy Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry.
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