''The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories'' (1971) is the second book and first collection of stories published by American author

Cynthia Ozick Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928) is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist. Biography Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City, the second of two children. She moved to the Bronx with her Belarusian-Jewish parents from Hlusk, ...

. "The Pagan Rabbi" and "Envy; or, Yiddish in America", along with an interview with the author, were later collected as an audio book in 1989 read by Ron Rifkin and Mitchell Greenberg.

Stories

*"The Pagan Rabbi" *"Envy; or, Yiddish in America" *"The Suitcase" *"The Dock-Witch" *"The Doctor's Wife" *"The Butterfly and the Traffic Light" *"Virility"

Synopsis

;The Pagan Rabbi Approximately 9,000 words, also published in ''Cynthia Ozick Collected Stories''. The story is about a rabbi who had just committed suicide by hanging himself in a public park. He is remembered by his widow for having recently discovered a passion for nature and his widow felt that he left his beliefs of

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

for

Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

. ;Envy; or, Yiddish in America Approximately 15,000 words, also published in ''Cynthia Ozick Collected Stories''. The story is about an American

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

poet who is bitterly jealous of his more-successful contemporary. The main character also has a personal vendetta against televangelists who are attempting to convert Jews to Christianity. ;The Suitcase Approximately 7,000 words, also published in ''Cynthia Ozick Collected Stories''. About a retired Imperial German fighter pilot, whose son is a well-recognized artist. One of the artist's friends finds that her purse has been stolen, and they try to figure out who stole it. The woman who lost her purse accuses the father of the artist, because he was in the Imperial German army. ;The Butterfly and the Traffic Light Approximately 3,000 words, also published in ''Cynthia Ozick Collected Stories''. The story is basically an argument between a college girl and her professor about how traffic lights are the icons of American cities. Short story collections by Cynthia Ozick 1971 short story collections Alfred A. Knopf books {{1970s-story-collection-stub