“W. reminds me of the Hasidic lesson Scholem recounts towards the end of his great study of Jewish mysticism,” says Lars, the narrator of Spurious, late in the book. W., Lars’s unnamed friend, goes on to retell Scholem’s story of the four Rabbis: The first goes to the woods, builds a fire, meditates, prays, and the difficult task he hopes to achieve is accomplished. Three more Rabbis follow, but, with each passing generation, knowledge of the first Rabbi’s ways is gradually lost: first, how to light the fire, then how to say the prayers, and, finally, which spot to visit in the woods. The last Rabbi says, in Iyer’s words, “We cannot light the fire, we cannot speak the prayers, we do not know the place, but we can tell the story of how it was done.” W. moves Scholem’s story one generation further: “There was a fifth rabbi Scholem forgot—well, he wasn’t really a rabbi, says W. His name is Lars, about whom all too much is known. He forgot where the woods were, and that he even had a task.… He set fire to himself and his friend W. with his matches and the woods were burned to the ground. And then the whole world caught fire, the oceans boiled and the sky burned away and it was the end of days.”

via thebeliever