REVIEW: Sharon Vance. The Martyrdom of a Moroccan Jewish Saint

The Martyrdom of a Moroccan Jewish Saint (Leiden: Brill, 2011)

By Sharon Vance

Leiden: Brill, 2011

240 pp.

Reviewed by Jessica Marglin, Princeton University

            It is hard to avoid Sol ha-Tzadiqah.  For members of the Moroccan Jewish diaspora, Lalla Solika (as she is also called) occupies a larger-than-life position as a saint, a heroine, and an ideal to be imitated.  As Yaëlle Azagury has put it, “In the collective imagination of Moroccan Jews, the heroic fate of Solika (Sol) Hachuel fascinates like no other historical figure from this community.”[1]  Even casual tourists are drawn to Solika’s story; some guide books to Morocco recommend Sol’s tomb as a worthy stop for the curious visitor,[2] and Jewish tourists are particularly likely to be directed to the Jewish cemetery of Fez where her grave is a star attraction.  For scholars of North African Judaism, then, Sharon Vance’s new book, The Martyrdom of a Moroccan Jewish Saint, is a welcome critical and in-depth look at this mythical figure.

            Vance offers an introduction to the basic outlines of Sol’s story as it is

REVIEW: Peter Sloterdijk. God’s Zeal: The Battle of the Three Monotheisms

Peter Sloterdijk. God’s Zeal: The Battle of the Three Monotheisms. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009

ISBN: 0745645062

$59.95. 166 pp.

Hardback

Reviewed by ROBERT RIGGS, University of Bridgeport

In God’s Zeal: The Battle of the Three Monotheisms, Peter Sloterdijk warns “none of what will be said here can, whether theologically, politically or religion-psychologically, be thought of as harmless” (4). On the surface, this book might appear to be a study of comparative religion, but it is actually the author’s attempt to encourage greater dialogue on “the path of civilization” (160). In order to encourage this dialogue, Sloterdijk challenges the followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to question their beliefs when he asserts, “the civilizing process of the monotheisms will be complete once people are ashamed of certain statements made by their respective god” (121). Throughout the book Sloterdijk acts as a provocateur, while also offering insightful critiques and

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