Blily Ray Blog #10

Jewish Folktale tradition is much different than tales of European origins, and this was proven when we read the six Jewish tales before class Tuesday. Jewish folktales all seem to have more of an obvious meaning that is pretty evident for the reader of the tale. This differs from with tales of European origin because those types of tales are sometimes more difficult to interpret. The Jewish tales were typically shorter than the tales we’re used to reading for class, which are mostly tales of European Origin. Though the tales are shorter, they do not lack in getting the moral of the story across, and we can still see similarities to tales we have read.

The Jewish tales that I thought were most similar to the tales of European origins were “The Rabbi Who Was Turned into a Werewolf,” “Chem Justice,” and “It Could Always be Worse.” All the tales we have read for class are similar to European origin tales because in all of the tales, someone is helped out of a situation, usually with the help of magic. These three stories, however, best exemplify the morals/meanings that the Jewish people were trying to get across in their tales. The main difference in “The Rabbi Who Was Turned into a Werewolf,” is that the main character is a Rabbi, someone who is seen frequently in these Jewish tales. The story shows the evil of greed which is another similarity to tht tales, we’ve read in the past, and the tale even has a falcon. The falcon is the gold wishing ring that the wife takes from the Rabbi. The person helped in this tale is the Rabbi, and the King is the one who helps turn him back. The way the King deceives the wife, and the concept of transformation are other similarities that we’ve seen in other tales.

“Chem Justice,” however, does not portray a ton of similarities to tales we have seen before. This tale reflects more on the Jewish people's morals and their view on justice. When the cobbler in Chelm, Poland, is sentenced to death for murder, the town convinces the judge to change the ruling because he is the only cobbler in town. We’ve never seen a tale where the town changes the ruling of a judge, so this tale was peculiar for that reason. The tale shows that the Jewish people were fair and considerate instead of just sentencing someone to death. “It Could Always be Worse” is another simple tale that doesn’t really portray any archetypes/motifs we have previously seen in our tales. The tale is really just to show that a person is not always grateful for what he does have. Though the man has a roof over his head, he is not satisfied because he and his family are squeezed. When the Rabbi tells the man to fill his house with various animals three times (1,2,3 repetition, another fairy tale similarity), the man notices how it has gotten much worse. When the Rabbi tells him to remove the animals he sees his house for how spacious it actually is. The title of the tale perfectly fits into the tale, as it exemplifies that we often look at what we don’t have instead of being satisfied with all we already do have.

Overall, Jewish Fairy Tales are very different, yet similar to the tales we have already read with European origins. The Jewish Tales, however, have more of a focus on the moral and character of their people.