The Rabbi's Cat

by Joann Sfar

Paperback, 2007

Status

Available

Call number

741.5 SFA

Publication

Pantheon (2007), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 152 pages

Description

When the rabbi's cat wins the gift of speech by swallowing a parakeet, he uses it both to tell lies (that he didn't eat the parakeet, for example) and to tell his own story. But now that he's lied, the rabbi forbids him from talking to his daughter, Zlabya, and vows to educate him in the Torah. For his part, the cat wants to study Kabbalah and he wants a bar mitzvah. But the question of whether a feline can be Jewish must first be intensely debated by the cat and his master. When Zlabya falls in love with a dashing young rabbi, both are crestfallen and jealous, but the journey to meet the young man's secular family in Paris provides additional opportunities for the rabbi and his cat to discuss both the important and petty details of life. Vibrant with the colors, textures, and feeling of a lost world (one where Jews and Arabs easily co-existed) "The Rabbi's Cat is populated with wholly believable and endearing people and one truly unforgettable cat.… (more)

Barcode

4472

Awards

Eisner Award (Nominee — 2006)

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member cameling
A widowed rabbi, his cat and his daughter live in Algeria spin a story and lesson in Judaism very cleverly crafted in this graphic novel. Through the cat, who having eaten the family parrot, is imparted a miraculous ability to speak, questions and challenges to the Jewish faith are presented to the
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rabbi and the rabbi's rabbi. First the cat lies about eating the parrot, and then he insists on learning the Kabbalah and wants a Bar Mitzvah.

The rabbi's daughter gets married to a French rabbi and they honeymoon in Paris to meet with the in-laws. The widowed rabbi and the cat accompany them and the rabbi's faith is tested along the way, as well as his tolerance for those who don't practice the faith as he is believes it should be practiced.

You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate this graphic novel. It's funny, sad and is a wonderful little theological study.
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LibraryThing member the_awesome_opossum
The Rabbi's Cat is deceptively cute and simple. A wise-cracking talking cat, this book's going to be awesome. But the story actually follows the rabbi and his daughter through both political and family turmoil. They must handle the French colonialism of Algeria, maintain courteous but distant
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relations with the Muslims, and define their own national identity in light of their sophisticated Parisian in-laws.

The cat, although he can be a smart aleck, is also fiercely loyal to his family and often the voice of hesitation and reluctance to change in such trying circumstances. Which, in some ways, makes him the most human of them all, as he both protests and adapts to the flurry of inevitable changes to his home.
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LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
The Rabbi's Cat is one of those books I encounter over and over again. I absolutely adore the cover, so it's not surprising that I would pick it up to look at time after time. But, when I would glance at the internal art, it wouldn't really grab me and I would put the book back on the shelf. I
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would do this every time I came across it.

Then, one day, I happened upon a beautiful copy at a fantastic local used book store. So, I gave it another shot. I opened the book and this time actually read a page at random. I literally laughed out loud. I flipped to another page, and the same thing happened. And then again.

First of all, I don't usually laugh out loud while reading; normally, I keep it to myself. Secondly, its been a very long time since I've had a good laugh. So, I decided to purchase the copy, and I haven't regretted a bit. The artwork even grew on me.

The Rabbi's Cat collects the first three tales: The Bar Mitzva, Malka of the Lions, and Exodus. The loosely connected stories take place in 1930s Algeria and follow the lives of a widowed rabbi, his beautiful daughter, and, of course, their cat (who also happens to be the narrator). In The Bar Mitzva the cat gains the power of speech by eating the family parrot and immediately begins telling lies. In Malka of the Lions a dear family friend and relative comes to visit. And in Exodus the rabbi, the cat, and the newly married daughter and her husband travel to Paris to meet the in-laws. All three stories are delightful, charming, and funny. The characters and range of themes covered in this short book are wonderful.

The cat, of course, is simply marvelous.

Experiments in Reading
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LibraryThing member nbmars
This is a graphic novel about an Algerian rabbi, his daughter Zlabya and their mangy cat, who begins to speak after eating a parrot. The story is told from the point of view of the cat, who challenges the rabbi about God, religion in general, and the Jewish religion in particular. A French
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rabbinical candidate arrives in town, and he and Zlabya marry. Cultural conflicts among Algerian Jews, Arabs, and French now add more complexity to the theological questions. The tone is reminiscent of the graphic books about Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs: irreverent, humorous, sad, and demonstrative of a sense of kindred spirits between people and animals. I liked it, and the drawings are delightful, but I would put it in the category of whimsy.
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LibraryThing member nosajeel
A great graphic novel. Beautifully drawn, beautifully told, these are three stories about a rabbi and his cat in Algeria around the middle of the last century. In the first story the cat eats a parrot and as a result becomes able to speak. He wants to get Bar Mitzvahed and has a theological debate
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with his rabbi's on the topic. It contains two other equally good stories, all told with humor and wisdom reminiscent of Issac Bashevis Singer.
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LibraryThing member alwright1
The Rabbi's cat gains the power to talk (by ingestion of parrot) and is no longer allowed to spend time with the Rabbi's daughter, whom he loves, because he is a bad influence. He asks to be bar mitzvahed so that he can be with her, and a delightful discussion ensues.

I loved the first story in this
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book. In fact, I might have to go back and steal it from John's so I can read it again whenever I want. The two stories that followed were great as well, but the first story made me fall in love with this clever, self-interested, but ultimately loving, cat. I was truly delighted and laughed out loud.
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LibraryThing member EvaCatHerder
I found this to be a compelling read. The art was not to my taste (although the artists representation of his cat of the protagonist was very accurate). The cat took on a very feline role in his willingness to slay sacred cows and say what needed saying.
LibraryThing member raizel
The illustrations are much more fluid than your typical comic book art and took me some time to get used to. Interesting philosophical arguments, a new rabbi from a less observant French family, a cat who can suddenly speak (eating a bird helped this happen), all sorts of strange, but interesting
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goings-on.
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LibraryThing member jasonlf
A great graphic novel. Beautifully drawn, beautifully told, these are three stories about a rabbi and his cat in Algeria around the middle of the last century. In the first story the cat eats a parrot and as a result becomes able to speak. He wants to get Bar Mitzvahed and has a theological debate
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with his rabbi's on the topic. It contains two other equally good stories, all told with humor and wisdom reminiscent of Issac Bashevis Singer.
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LibraryThing member stunik
A cat swallows a talking bird, and evermore can speak. It follows its owners (a rabbi and his daughter) and comments on their travels.
LibraryThing member posthumose
A graphic novel, 142 pages, large size. A great story and good illustrations by one of France's best comic artists. The Rabbi's Cat won the Jury Prize. I always said I wouldn't read anything serious in comic form. I was wrong. This story has something for everyone. The rabbi's cat learns to talk
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and boy does he ask questions! Philosophy, scriptural law, and shenanigans,along with a love story. A perfect combination for humour too. And a nice photo of the author and his cat ,who was the book's model, on the back inside jacket. Beautiful cover, a great gift book.
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LibraryThing member Zmrzlina
Once upon a time, Jews and Arabs got along, even shared insights. This is a story that give just a bit of glimpse into that long ago world. But more than that, it is a love story, a story of faith even an atheist can love.
LibraryThing member MikeFarquhar
One talking cat deserves another, though strictly speaking this should probably be in the trade paperback thread. Bruno recommended me The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Safr, and very good it was too. In Algeria in the 1930s, where Jews and Arab Muslims live contentedly side-by-side, the cat belonging to
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a widowed rabbi and his daughter succumbs to temptation and eats the family parrot. To everyone’s surprise, he gains the power of speech, and sends the rabbi, the cat and his daughter off into an exploration of the important (and not so important) matters in life. Warm, funny and intelligent, it’s a wonderful insight into another time and place, with some very real characters, and another superbly realised sarcastic cat. By the time I got to page 13 (where the rabbi’s cat has not only persuaded the rabbi’s rabbi that he is not an abomination, but is in fact the voice of God sent to test him) I was laughing away quietly to myself, and that’s only the beginning of the story. One of those stories that I would unreservedly recommend to almost anyone.
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LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
The graphics in this book are beautiful with rich deep colors, and the words are slyly intelligent. The Rabbi's cat eats the annoying parrot and becomes enabled to talk. His first words are a lie. He continues throughout the book to be very pragmatic in his morality while the rabbi is a letter or
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at least spirit of the law kind of Jew in Algeria. Is one happier if s/he follows god's laws? That's the question of the book with a realistic answer.

Recommended for anyone interested in artwork, Judaism, France-Algeria, or morality.
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LibraryThing member dr_zirk
Joann Sfar's The Rabbi's Cat is an outstanding work, and a light that shines very brightly in the world of comics and graphic novels. The story is unique, deep, and warmly experienced by both the reader and the artist. The panels are loose, lush, and deceptively "quick" in their execution. However,
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the fluidness of Sfar's line should not be mis-interpreted as a casual approach to his technique. As with the strict six panels-per-page layout, there is a simplicity at work here that can mask the hand of a master - Sfar knows exactly what he's doing, and he's damn good at it. There's really nothing else (in my experience) quite like The Rabbi's Cat. It's a stellar work by a major talent, and a completely joyous and rewarding read.
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LibraryThing member bostonbibliophile
I love this book! Very sweet story about family, for adults. His artwork is beautiful as well. I enjoyed the story of the cat and the story of the daughter's marriage. Joann Sfar got himself introduced to a wider audience of graphic novel readers through this book and he deserves to be well-known.
LibraryThing member chinquapin
Set in the early twentieth century in Algeria, the Rabbi's cat eats the family parrot and somehow ends up talking. In the first volume, the cat decides that he wants to convert to Judaism and he argues extensively in a sarcastic, skeptical, and sometimes even wicked way with the Rabbi, and with the
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Rabbi's Rabbi about Jewish law and philosophy. It could be funny and interesting, but there were times that it made me cringe as well.

The second volume was my favorite of the three. It told about the Rabbi's fear for having his official position as Rabbi of the community taken away by the government because of his poor French, and of the courtship of his daughter. The mischievious cat continues narrating the story with his many sarcastic comments. And the third volume is about a trip that the family takes to Paris to visit the family of the new husband of the Rabbi's daughter. This one had a lot about the cultural and religious shock that the Rabbi faced in secular France, and showed the secularization of the Jews there. The Rabbi himself seems to have a religious transformation at the end. At one point he asks, "So, my friends, if we can be happy without respecting the Torah, why should we exhaust ourselves to apply all these precepts that make life so complicated?" and then he answers his own question, "Well, the truth is, I don't know."

I alternated between really liking this graphic novel and its humor and wit and insight, and being uneasy with the cat's sarcasm and skepticism regarding matters of faith. The artwork was uneven. Most of it was wonderful, especially the panels showing Algeria...detailed, colorful and evoking a feel for that country. The cat was weird, though. His poses were very catlike, but he just looked really strange in many of the panels...perhaps on purpose. His face would sometimes look dog-like with a long muzzle, and other times he would look rat-like with his ears and expression, and he was very straggly, which is probably pretty accurate for an Algerian cat. Finally, the discussions on sex were crude...just imagine having a discussion about sex with a tomcat. The author did a good job of showing what that might be like. Soooo, I would say enjoyable, with some reservations.
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LibraryThing member -Eva-
An inventive story partly about Judaism and partly about family relations (no matter what religion you are). The cat is a perfect mix of the most annoying human traits and the most annoying cat traits, which serves the story well since he can question things that the "educated" people take for
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granted. Plus, he's a cat, so he can ask the uncomfortable questions without batting an eye. The drawings are very good, but I wish the narrator-font was a little more legible. This volume contains the three first books: La Bar-Mitsva, Le Malka des Lions, and L'exode.
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LibraryThing member sabreuse
It's glorious. The art is striking, and very unlike any American-style comics (whether they're "indie" or otherwise), and it's just a bit fantastical in a way that matches the stories really well. The characters are complex and they stay with you -- most notably the cat, of course, but the others
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as well: the cat's rabbi's debates with his rabbi pack both great character delineation and some serious thinking into a few short scenes. Cousin Malka (who brings the lion) has all the earmarks of a tall-tale character, but is also a part of the same world that also contains the rabbi in Algiers or a bunch of very modernized Jews in Paris. And it's a great flavor of a community that felt very different from the European-derived Jewish world I know, but at the same time, it's somehow familiar. It's one of those books that periodically jumps off the shelf at me and tells me to read it again.
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LibraryThing member EBT1002
My first Graphic Novel, I enjoyed it. The cat is a charming narrator and the story explores some issues of philosophical and religious difference.
LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
The graphics in this book are beautiful with rich deep colors, and the words are slyly intelligent. The Rabbi's cat eats the annoying parrot and becomes enabled to talk. His first words are a lie. He continues throughout the book to be very pragmatic in his morality while the rabbi is a letter or
Show More
at least spirit of the law kind of Jew in Algeria. Is one happier if s/he follows god's laws? That's the question of the book with a realistic answer.

Recommended for anyone interested in artwork, Judaism, France-Algeria, or morality.
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LibraryThing member LisaMorr
The first section introduces us the the rabbi's cat, who gains the ability to speak after eating the rabbi's parrot. He tells his master he wants to have a bar mitzvah, and the rabbi takes the cat to his rabbi for advice. I found this part amusing where the cat questions the rabbi and the
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subsequent part where the master decides to teach the cat about Judaism and the cat is incredulous about some of the things he hears. The next section describes how the rabbi has to take a French test and the final part is about his daughter's marriage and their subsequent trip to Paris. I enjoyed it.
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LibraryThing member IsotropicJoseph
An excellent graphic novel. Joann Sfar's portrayal of the cat is witty, sharp, and insightful. Her characters are sympathetic and fascinating.
LibraryThing member thornton37814
This graphic novel tells the story of a cat, his master, a rabbi, his master's daughter living in Algeria. The cat eats a parrot and suddenly gains the ability to speak. He uses the ability to tell lies and asks to be taught in Jewish ways and to go through Bar Mitzvah. Later stories involve the
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rabbi's attempt to become the permanent rabbi of his synagogue and his daughter's marriage and honeymoon. I found the stories to be somewhat sacrilegious. I never warmed to the image the artist used for the cat. Some of the art work was more appealing than the primary character. The cat seemed to take a back seat in the second and third stories.
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LibraryThing member EllsbethB
It is fun to watch a cat ask sometimes irreverent, but thoughtful questions about religion. This a quirky, insightful, and enjoyable read.

ISBN

0375714642 / 9780375714641
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