October CCAR Newsletter,

We should probably declare a rabbinic moratorium on using the feather pillow story in our preaching for the next five years. Nevertheless, one has to admit that it is a very effective image. (Morinis also tells it in his book) (That's the other book on the page) It is not only in matters of speech and the laws of "unintended consequences" and "good intentions gone astray" operate. The novel weaves its plot around the difficulty of doing the right thing (and sometimes of even knowing what the right thing is). A. H. Felman is a physician who has written several works of fiction. His latest effort draws on what is clearly first-hand knowledge of the day-to-day practice of medicine, as well as the ways in which medicine and law interact. The story centers on Milton Diamond, a young Florida physician (married to a physician who happens to be Episcopalian), and his moral struggles over the ethical and legal violations engaged in by the medical practice he has joined. But the story is much more layered than this suggests including an instructive and increasingly personal relationship with the attorney who has defended him in a malpractice case. Some will find an excess of Catskill-style shtick in the writing, to the extent that a two-and-a-half page glossary of Yiddish slang is needed at the end of the book A further discomfort is that no character comes off really well, and the negative Jewish stereotypes abound (a few Italian Mafia stereotypes are thrown in, just for good measure). The rabbi, a minor character, is apparently mostly willing to go along for the sake of generous contributions, though he does engineer something of a reconciliation at the end. Reservations having been stated, the book does have narrative drive, and is a thoughtful examination by a Jewish professional (not a professional Jew) of the everyday compromises that people make and the ethical dilemmas they chose to face or turn away from. Without mentioning the term "Mussar", it raises at least a dozen issues that we and our congregants must confront in various ways throughout our lives. Rabbi Laurence Edwards Central Conference of American Rabbis

The Legend of the Feather Pillow is a thoughtful examination by a Jewish professional of the everyday compromises that people make and the ethical dilemmas they chose to face or turn away from. Without mentioning the term "Mussar", it raises at least a dozen issues that we and our congregants must confront in various ways throughout our lives.

– Rabbi Laurence Edwards, Journal of the Central Conference of American Rabbis