Harry Kemelman Biography and List of Works

Mystery writer, famous for his Rabbi series about the wise Rabbi David Small. Kemelman's hero is a master of theological discourse and an analyst of human behaviour, who during the process of solving murder cases reveals ethical problems and ethnic prejudices in America.

  He smiled. "And I might add for the benefit of any ardent exponent of Women's Liberation who may be among us that by rabbinic law, only one born of a Jewish mother - note, mother, not father - is a Jew.
   "Who you kidding, Rabbi?"
(from Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red, 1974)

Harry Kemelman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied English literature at Boston University and earned in 1931 a Harvard M.A. in English philology. In 1936 he married Anne Kessin; they had three children. From 1935 to 1941 he worked as a teacher in several Boston high schools. From 1942 to 1946 he was a chief wage administrator in the United States Army Transportation Corps. He then worked for War Assets Administration, and as a free-lance writer and a private businessman. In 1963 Kemelman was appointed assistant professor of English at the Franklin Technical Institute in Boston.

"Religion!" The Rabbi was scornful. "Religion with us is ethical conduct..."
(from Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet, 1976)

Kemelman's early stories appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. His first hero, a New England college professor named Nicky Welt, solved a crime case on the basis of the overheard remark, 'A nine-mile walk is no picnic, especially in the rain.' The Nicky West stories were collected as The Nine-Mile Walk, which appeared in 1967. In the early 1960s Kemelman wrote a novel about a community of Jews in a New England town. He tried to sell it without success to get a synagogue built. It was rewritten and published as his first rabbi David Small story, Friday, the Rabbi Slept Late. The novel received in 1964 Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

In Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry (1966) Small's prayers and fasting are interrupted when a member of his congregation is found dead in his car, and only his pregnant wife, Miriam, thinks it's murder. Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home (1969) deals with drugs - one of Small's temple board members, a businessman, is rumoured to be pushing drugs and there is a group of young people who question adult values. The book also gives extensive details about the Passover celebration. Monday the Rabbi Took Off (1972) takes Rabbi David Small on a private exodus to Israel. An international incident involves a young American student, Israeli intelligence, and a group of Arab terrorists with a murder plan.

  "And you're afraid that if they get in, they'll pervert the - the -"
   "The service. Precisely. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that we Jews have always been suspicious of religiosity, in accordance with the commandment 'Thou shalt not take name of the Lord in vain.'"
(from Someday, the Rabbi Will Leave, 1985)

In Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red Small (1973) goes to teach a course on Jewish thought at a small community college. But the idyllic front is shattered by a bomb, which goes off in the dean's office. Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet (1976) brings on the scene a hurricane and a member of Small's congregation dies a mysterious death. The plot weaves together mystical religious sects and malpractice suits. Small decides to help a likable young man in trouble. He becomes fully involved with this particular crime case on page 257 of a 288-page book, which examines the different roles of mysticism in the Jewish and Christian faiths, and distinguishes between current Conservative and Reform Judaism. "With us, however, faith in the Christian sense is almost meaningless, since God is by definition unknowable... Our religion is a code of ethical behavior." (from Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet) . In Conversations with Rabbi Small (1981) a girl appears at Small's cabin door, wanting to know if the Rabbi would convert her to Judaism. Rabbi Small offers her a personal lecture into the truths and the fables of the world's oldest religion.

Someday the Rabbi Will Leave (1985) deals with political corruption and dirty campaign tricks, blackmail, and a possible murder. There are also problems in his own temple. One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross (1987) was about Small's trip to the Holy Land, in which he faces the beliefs of a controversial fundamentalist Jewish group. An American tourist is killed, weapons are sold, and it is difficult to get answers even for Small amidst Middle Eastern mysticism and intrigue. The Day the Rabbi Resigned (1992) continues Small's eternal battle with his fractious congregation at Barnard's Crossing. A drunk-driving accident is not an accident and now Small is really quitting. The Day the Rabbi Left Town (1996) depicts Small's situation after his new life. He has retired and accepted a teaching job at nearby Windermere College. This time Kemelman focuses more on the history, customs, and practices of Judaism than writing a mystery novel.

Rabbi David Small: Leader of the conservative Jewish congregation in Barnard's Crossing, Boston. His wife Ruth is a helps him and he has two well behaving children. Small's logic, learned from the Talmud, plays important part in the plots. Usually Small is drawn into the events of a murder when he tries to help a parishioner in trouble. Among his friends is Hugh Lanigan, the Irish-Catholic police chief. Small ages realistically during the series. He is constantly at odds with powerful members of his flock. Finally in The Day the Rabbi Resigned (1992) Small leaves his congregation and takes a job as a college teacher. Rabbi Small has visited Israel twice in the books: first in Monday, The Rabbi Took Off (1972) and then in One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross (1987). - See also G.K. Chesterton's priest-detective Father Brown; Ellis Peters's series about Brother Cadfel, and Father Bob Koesler novels by William X. Kienzle.

For further reading: Mystery and Suspense Writers, vol. 2, ed. by Robin W. Winks (1998); St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers, ed. by Jay P. Pederson (1996); Encyclopedia Mysteriosa by William L. DeAndrea (1994); The ethnic detective: Chester Himes, Harry Kemelman, Tony Hillerman by Peter Freese (1992)

FRIDAY, THE RABBI SLEPT LATE, (1964)