in which i read with
•
my ears…
but first the book I read with my eyes..
MeAm Lo’ez: The Book of Esther by Rabbi Yaakov Culi; translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, zt”l.
This commentary is incredibly readable in its prose. It does have one small issue which always bothers me about this type of commentary, but really my issue should be no different for this than Rashi.. Mostly I’m just reading page after page of English translation. Don’t get me wrong, I trust Rabbi Kaplan and highly respect him, it’s just how can I compare the translation myself (let’s pretend for a moment that I could read Ladino)? But I need to remember these are commentaries and interpretation. I don’t need to accept them. Anyway, I greatly enjoyed this commentary and think that reading it enhanced my enjoyment of megillah reading. In my research for this post, I came across this fascinating essay My Search for Me’Am Lo’ez by Dr. David Neiman, zt”l. From the bio linked on the site, he seemed to be a fascinating man.
Now what I read with my ears.
It should tell you how sick I felt (feel?) that I had no desire to hold up a book or turn pages. Thus I caught up on one podiobook and made progress on others.
I completed Shadowmagic by John Lenahan. This was a fun ride which went great with my cold. It was quite enjoyable and I want to know what happens NEXT; I’m sad that all attempts to listen to chapter 8 failed (itunes insisted on downloading a corrupted copy). It was weird listening to a book I didn’t have access to, but it was very nice to lie there and be read to. That hasn’t happened to me in years. [added 3/24 @ 2:45p including chapter 8 which was lots of fun, thanks for fixing it!]
I love listening to audio books. I seem to fall more deeply into the story these days.
Hey P Girl
Chapter 8 of Shadowmagic should now be working.
Thnaks for the kind words.
John L