Benyamin Ben-Akiva es un huerfano polaco criado por una rica familia judia. Su interes intelectual lo aleja de la posibilidad de volverse un rico comerciante y lo acerca al conocimiento de la tradicion oral judia consignada por muchos rabinos durante siglos en el Talmud. Su matrimonio con Reizl, una chica de ciudad hija de una prospera familia checa dedicada a la imprenta, va camino al fracaso: sus intereses intelectuales no son compatibles con las aspiraciones economicas de Reizl y su familia. Sin embargo, justamente su trabajo como asistente en la sinagoga de Praga de la mano del Rabino Loew, en la investigacion de un crimen en el que resulta involucrado un miembro de comunidad judia, le brinda la posibilidad de ser aceptado por este cerrado circulo. Poco a poco, Benyamin y el rabino iran desentranando el misterio y encontraran al verdadero culpable de la muerte de Gerta. Valiendose para ello de todo su conocimiento y sus habilidades deductivas, Benyamin utilizaran incluso las supersticiones de los cristianos sobre los judios para demostrar la verdad de los hechos y salvar la vida a un judio inocente.

I didn't think this was much of a mystery, but very entertaining all the same. ( )

The Fifth Servant – Kenneth Wishnia
4 stars
In 1592, Benyamin Ben-Akiva is a newcomer to Prague. He is employed as the fifth shames (servant) of the reformist Rabbi Judah Loew. The book opens at a time of religious celebration; Good Friday through Easter for the Christian majority and Passover in the Jewish ghetto. “And spring is open season on Jews. Holy Week and Eastertide were especially risky, and a gambling man would say that we were long overdue for old-fashioned Jew-hatred.” A Christian child is murdered. Her body, drained of blood, is found in a Jewish shop. The shopkeeper, his wife and daughter are arrested. Desperately pleading their innocence, Ben-Akiva is given three days to find the actual killers and prevent a pogrom of retribution.
This book is a whirlwind of activity, personalities, and conflicting ideologies. As Ben Akiva dashes from one encounter to another, Wishnia touches on religious schisms within Judaism and Christianity. He introduces deceitful Jews and righteous Christians. There is one divorce, a Judeo-Christian marriage, a witch hunt, a whore with a golden heart, and much time spent in prayer and discussion of the Talmud.
The historical context and atmosphere of this book is fascinating. I felt I could smell the cooking and the offal. I could hear the prayers, the debates and the screams. Sadly, I was not able to follow the action. In the end, I wasn’t completely sure who committed the murder and why. I found myself side-tracked by the ethical and philosophical dilemmas to the point that I lost track of clues and key players in the mystery. This is a book that requires not only careful reading, but a score card. It did interest me enough that I’m ready to grab my score card to go back over what I missed.

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History 16th C Inquisition (Jewish perspective), set in Prague. Powerful evocation of people under persecution, densely philosophical, great use of well-timed humor, witty, enjoyable characters and Talmud examples, golem. ( )

I liked this book. A lot. But let me just say what I din´t like about it: I found the narrator´s and the protagonist´s voices far from historically accurate. Their voices were flippant, glib and far too modern.The modern turns of phrase employed detracted from the story´s historicity and served to detract from its authenticity. having said that, I did like this novel. A lot :) ( )