The Orchard

By: Yochi Brandes, Daniel Libenson - translator

Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg

This spellbinding historical novel by celebrated Israeli author Yochi Brandes tells the story of the venerated yet enigmatic Rabbi Akiva, placing him in the context of his contemporaries, the Sages of Jewish tradition and of early Christianity. Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Ishmael, Rabban Gamaliel, Paul of Tarsus, and many others become flesh and blood in this stunning interweaving of biblical and Talmudic lore.

At the heart of the novel is Rabbi Akiva and his complicated relationship with his wife Rachel, who meets him as a 40-year-old illiterate shepherd, marries him against her father's wishes, and compels him to study until he becomes the nation of Israel's greatest sage. Rabbi Akiva's innovative method of interpreting Scripture provides his people with a life-giving elixir after Rome's destruction of the Second Temple, but also fuels the lethal Bar Kokhba Revolt, with disastrous consequences.

The Orchard offers a brilliant narrative solution to the fascinating story of four sages who entered a metaphysical orchard: one died, one lost his mind, one became a hater of God, and one - Rabbi Akiva - made it out unscathed. Or did he?

©2017 Yochi Brandes (P)2020 Tantor

Great story, faithful translation, mispronounced names

Dramatic story beautifully constructed by a scholar and artist who weaves together stories from disparate sources to bring characters to life from nearly 1900 years ago.

The narrator was dramatic and enthusiastic, but I just couldn’t get past her mangling the pronunciation of names and other Hebrew words. This wonderful book deserved better than that.

Torturous!!!

So drawn out that it was near impossible to stick with this book till the end.
Factual, disheartening and eventually, somewhat hopeful.
I thank the author for the historical data, and at the same time I feel so depressed I need to read an UPLIFTING Judiac story to remind me there is a flicker of joy to being a Jew.

Fascinating, well-written story. Uninformed reading.

Like the older “As a Driven Leaf” this narrative telling gives wonderful access to the ancient tales of the time of the Mishna and the history of early rabbinic Judaism after the Temple’s destruction in 70 CE.

The reading is emotionally vibrant and compelling. Unfortunately, the reader has been provided no guidance in pronunciation of Hebrew names and terms. It is no reflection on her but when you produce a work that connects to a living culture, it is at best irresponsible and at worst offensive to not employ a language or content expert consultant.

Opera singers train for years to sing properly in French, German, Italian, Russian, English and other languages. Audiobook narrators deserve support when they have dozens of Hebrew names and terms to read. It is a distraction that pulls the educated listener out of the book to mentally correct constant mispronunciations.

This story takes into the lives of the great sages

A superior reading. A glimpse into the lives of the great Rabbis and sages at the change of the human Eras. A rare understanding of the beginnings of rabbinic Judaism.

Very poor narration

Narrator did not know how to pronounce many words and names. Painful to listen to.