CHARLES WENGROV

Who would not want to step in, at least every once in a while, back to simpler, quieter time? Charles Wengrov gives you a chance to do that in "Zalman's menorah: A novel based on an old Chanukah folktale". It follows a pious peddler as he makes his trip from Chabbat to Shabbat around the villages in the Tatras Mountains of Eastern Europe. The reader follows not just his physical movements but inner ones too. What I most appreciated in this book was how it shared the liturgical structure of the life of a practicing Jew, filled it with meaning. For the non-orthodox, who may not pray three times a day or not familiar with the order and content of the services this is a great book to get a warm feel for them.

The story in a nutshell: Zalman gets attacked by a band of bandits (while lighting the Hanukkah candle in a cave during a snowstorm) but gets saved by a fox-hunting king's group. This plot may sound lacking in content, but the book is not. It is packed with wonderful descriptions of people, animals and Jewish folk wisdom. It is a great read for 11-14 year olds or interested adults. I not just enjoyed the story--which has more twists than I outlined above--, but also that I was transferred to a different time/space. The book helped making that my own.… (més)