I will be writing a readers response to The Rabbi’s Cat written by Joann Sfar. The main thesis of this book is how religion and tradition influence a person.
The text has much to do with me personally since I am a believer of following tradition and also of religion. In my culture our religion is our culture and our culture is deeply rooted in tradition. It is quite difficult to separate the two, but it can be done. No matter where one may venture off too their religion and tradition will follow closely behind them because that is what makes the person who she/he is.
The text agrees with how I view the world especially when the donkey and kitty are arguing over where the name Safr comes from. The author was indicating that it does not matter where the name came from because in the end they are still going to pray to the same higher being. Another part of the text that I agree with is when Juan returns home from Paris and wants to follow all the traditional rules to bury his grandfather. For many people that travel abroad to study or to live they try to follow the traditional ways as if they were home in their native land. This shows that tradition is kept regardless of where ones goes.
Joann Sfar made it a point for the kitty to challenge his rabbi’s master about religion. From this I learned that one can never know all the information about what is being taught in religion. Some things just have to be unknown because there is no other way to explain them.
My views were not challenged by this text. This text just allowed my views to expand and see them from other’s point of view.
Religion is important to everyone if they believe in a higher power. When a person has no other person to turn to or cannot find an answer to why something has happened we turn to religion. We turn to what comforts us when no one or anything ever will. The higher power is forgiving of your sins and therefore, we can do no wrong in the higher powers eyes. This relates to when the rabbi went to Paris and had a feast that was non kosher. Upon his arrival home he informed the others that nothing happened to him when he did not eat kosher and that he asked for forgiveness from God. The rabbi stated, “ 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”(147)?
The Rabbi’s Cat written by Joann Sfar is a wonderful book. It opens the readers mind to how religion and tradition is questioned by different people within the same religion. It allows the reader to see everyone’s point of view including the kitty, who at one point did not know if he wanted to be a Jewish kitty or not. When the kitty got his voice was some of the most interesting parts of the book.
I enjoyed reading this book and am also interested in reading the Rabbi’s Cat part 2. This book could be used as entertainment but it is better suited for arguments of religion seen from different people’s view point. I would recommend this text to many because it is a graphic novel which means you get the best of both worlds while reading.
