The Path to God’s Promise by Ahuva Batya Scharff; London: Austin Macauley Publishers; © 2023; ISBN 9781035-820986; 221 pages; $15.95.
SAN DIEGO – In the tradition of the 1977 Oh God! movie starring George Burns as God and John Denver as his reluctant prophet, this novel has God asking Elinor, a middle-aged fledgling novelist to write a book about what He wants humanity to do. The Divine One has many conversations with Elinor to persuade her that she is up to the task.
However, unlike the movie, this is not a comedy. It is an exploration of the many myths that impede people’s thinking about the Earth’s fragility as well as their responsibilities to each other.
God transports her in place and in time to witness at first hand some episodes that were reported in the Torah, whisks her to contemporary venues of religious or ethical significance, and sends his angels to give her a foretaste of what will happen in the future if humans don’t stop their desecration of the Earth.
These journeys occur over a year’s time. Some are pleasant, others are frightful.
God tells Elinor that He gave humans free will and even though He has the power to change the way thinks are, it’s up to humans to decide for themselves the way things will be.
I was quite taken with author Scharff’s picturesque description of the Exodus, which differs from the version offered in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 epic film, The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Pharaoh. In that movie, the waters of the Reed Sea part to form a narrow passageway through which Israelites flee. The waters then collapse onto the pursuing Egyptians, drowning them.
In Scharff’s telling, low tide and howling winds created a marsh through which the Israelites could slog through. When the Egyptians advanced too far into the same marsh, their chariots got stuck in the mud, halting their progress. They perished when high tides inundated them.
Along the way, Elinor questions God, Who at times gives specific answers and at times in enigmatic. He enunciates two rules for humanity’s self-preservation: Be considerate of each other, even if you are enemies. And treat the Earth and its creatures with respect.
God also acts as Elinor’s personal adviser. She suffers from the trauma of her father having raped her as a child. In self-loathing, she developed the life-long habit of eating too much, growing so heavy that she has made herself physically unattractive. She is unmarried but treasures the company of her two cats.
Elinor has a fine mind with which she often challenges God in their philosophical discussions.
It was her mind that attracted God’s attention in the first place.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.