More on The Rabbi's Cat

One thing that that really struck me as interesting during our class discussion yesterday was the comparison of “The Rabbi’s Cat” and “A Contract With God.” It was mentioned that they saw this parallel when the rabbi was eating the meal of non-kosher foods and in “A Contract With God” when Frimme changes his attitude about life when his daughter died and stopped practicing the Jewish traditions. Before being mentioned, I would have never sought out this similarity, and although they are different stories I still like being able to compare certain themes or aspects of other stories.

The class had mixed feelings about the ending of “The Rabbi’s Cat” because it left a lot of questions unanswered. The rabbi confessed that he did not know what was actually right in life. A few people in class thought this contradicted the rabbi’s original views. However, I liked the ending because I think there is a lesson to be learned. Although the rabbi had complete faith throughout the story, at the end he decided he wasn’t so sure as to what was correct for a person to do. I think the trip to France gave him a better perspective of other people and allowed him to diversify his beliefs. I think by leaving his followers with a sense of uncertainty at the end was pretty affective. I liked the fact that the rabbi was questioning his beliefs, but left it up to everyone to decide for themselves what they would do with this information. Also mentioned in class, Jewish faith revolves around questioning everything. I think the rabbi changing his perceptions and considering new options can be a theme related to Judaism in general.