Satan in Goray

by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Book Overview

As messianic zeal sweeps through medieval Poland, the Jews of Goray divide between those who, like the Rabbi, insist that no one can "force the end" and those who follow the messianic pretender Sabbatai Zevi. But as hysteria and depravity increase, it becomes clear that it is not the Messiah who has come to Goray.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374500827
• ISBN13: 9780374500825
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.

Customer Reviews

He deserved the Nobel

The only reason why I'm writing this review is that I want to publish my opinion that Isaac Singer never wrote "magical realism." I understand magical realism to be the introduction of magical events into a narrative whereby the magical is an objective part of reality that the characters see and are influenced by. I always thought that Isaac Singer only introduced the magical into certain of his character's minds - the magical never exists outside their own thoughts and perceptions. The great thing about Isaac Singer is that he writes about how private obsessions regarding magic and spirits and morality effect a character's life. That is exactly what Satan in Goray is about - the obsession and downfall of a young lady influenced by a medieval messianic Jewish movement. In that context I think Isaac Singer was an extremely compassionate, perceptive and intelligent author who understood better than anyone(probably owing to the fact both his father and grandfather were rabbis) how people mistake superstition for religion.

Literature as Anthropology

When times are desperate as they have been in many eras and many places, people tend to resort to desperate measures. They cast their lot with prophets, dreamers, and seers who foretell a bright future--the coming of the millenium, it is often called----when all problems shall be solved, the rough made plain, the poor made rich, and sick shall be healed. Movements develop. They may die away in time or they may thrive and create great civilizations. Western civilization, after all, is based on one such movement. We generally refer to these movements as "cults", unless of course they are successful. In many, but not all, millenial movements, people anticipate the immanent arrival of the New Age so strongly that they throw away their possessions and engage in dissolute behavior: singing, dancing, drinking, engaging in previously-forbidden sex, and so on. Sometimes the "pure" remove themselves to isolated spots to await the end of the world or the Great Change, in extreme cases, they may even commit suicide. Anthropologists have studied many such groups or religions; others are found in history books or newspapers. Our times are not devoid of such groups: remember Jonestown, remember the Branch Davidians, remember that group that committed suicide in California. China (the Taiping), Brazil (Antonio Conselheiro),, Papua New Guinea (the cargo cults), Africa (many studies), Burma, Europe---the list is nearly endless. The Jews have not been immune either. In the 1660s the famous "false Messiah" arose in Turkey, claiming to be ready to lead the Jews to Judgement Day and a new era. Throughout eastern Europe hope sprang up, especially in the Polish-Ukrainian regions devasted by the murderous Bogdan Chmielnitski not long before. Written as a novel, with lively, colorful characters, Singer describes perfectly the course of such a millenial movement in Goray, an isolated Polish village. Whether you are interested in literature or anthropology, this is a description you cannot afford to miss. We follow the rise and fall of a local cult leader, a prophetess, and the feverish hopes of the Jews, longing for deliverance from "singing King Alpha's song in a strange land". Amidst strange marriages, the breaking of all the strict laws of kashrut, and the wild visions of prophecy, Goray's hopes soar and crash. If you think that the rise of post-Holocaust, post-pogrom Israel is just politics and has nothing to do with any sort of millenarianism, then you should read this wonderful book and reconsider. Powerful language, dark, dreadful images full of demons and damnation only possible from a master like Singer show the strength of the ancient dream of Israel. The tragedy is, of course, that in modern times the dream was realized at somebody else's expense. Reading Abdelrahman Munif's "Cities of Salt", in conjunction with Singer's book would not be a bad idea. It illustrates the world on which such dreams impacted. SATAN IN GORAY is a wonderful book o

Amazing First Novel - Prophetic and Fabulistic

Consider that I.B. Singer wrote Satan in Goray at the age of 26 or so, and the impressiveness of this work becomes all the more clear. Few people of that age, or any age could evoke an historical era with such force or create a fractured narrative of such power. The world of religious conflict, superstition, and messianiac hysteria is Singer's main interest, subjects he would pursue for the rest of his life. Satan in Goray is a strong beginning, a prophetic book (written in the early 1930's) of a trapped people on the edge of a disaster. The book takes place as the Jews of Gory attempt to recover from the Chelmelnicki massacres of the 1640's (the worst disaster for the Jews between the Crusades and the Holocaust). The Jews of Poland believe that, as Christian would say, the End Times are here, and expect the messiah to arrive. Shabbati Shevi appears on the scene, claiming to be the messiah. Many Jews fall under his sway, but the Rabbi of Goray resists and this further wracks the town. As these political and social disasters are played out, a young orphan, Rechele, who is insane, becomes the center of interest of the town, as she is unmarried. When a holy man, Itche Mates, arrives in Goray, he marries the unfortuate Rechele, who proceeds to be posessed by Satan and do things that make Linda Blair in the Excorsist look amateur. The novel itself has some problems; it's birth as a serial leaves it episodic. One has the sense of threads stopping and starting without reason, and there really is not what could be called a plot. However, Singer's rich language, his pinpoint descriptions of people, places, and religious factions are stunning. Reading his work is an education.Satan in Goray is a look into the hearts of Polish Jews right before World War II. The sense of helpless claustrophobia is appalling, the whiff of death overwhelming here. Satan was not just in Goray, and Singer knew it.

Well worth the read

Singer may be the only winner of the Nobel Prize to write in a language considered dead. Nonetheless, his crisp prose and enticing style make it a worthwhile read to anyone who is interested in the subject or just in exploring a great novel.In the 17th Century, European Jewish civilization almost collapsed. Social norms fell apart as people abandoned their homes and their farms in something that can only be described as a mass psychosis. Satan in Goray tells the story from the perspective of one town.Singer begins to explore a life long interest in the issues of what makes society good and what is evil in this first novel. If you want to get a flavor for his genius, this is an excellent place to start.

A first-rate tale of religious hysteria.

In 17th Century Poland, a small, beleagured Jewish community falls under the sway of a charismatic would-be messiah and begins to descend into anarchy. Singer relates his simple but powerful tale in stately, "epic" prose perfectly suited to his theme