The Frozen Rabbi

By Steve Stern
Algonquin Books, $24.95, 370 pages

Most tales involving enlightenment are dead serious. The Frozen Rabbi is not one of them.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Zephyr is frozen in a lake as his soul goes exploring, trapping him in a block of ice for the next 150 years. When he finally unfreezes in the modern era, he decides that he has done enough sacrificing and sets up his own cult for money and women. His rescuer, a teenage boy, takes on his own quest for enlightenment with the ability to travel other planes at the least opportune times.

The story is paralleled by a history of the Karp family and the frozen rabbi’s travels from an obscure Eastern European town to Memphis, Tennessee. It’s a nice look at the Jewish immigrant experience with a stop off in Israel as it becomes a country. Although it has little to do with the main story, besides showing the karma that seems to follow the frozen rabbi, alternately cursing and blessing the current possessor, it is an interesting story. The book itself ends a climax of mixed blessings. It’s an interesting trip, one that has its ups and downs, but definitely one that makes for a good read.

Reviewed by Jamais Jochim