Back­stage at The Tonight Show and a World War I Pol­ish shtetl may not seem to have much in com­mon, but they’re among the set­tings found among the 32 gen­tle sto­ries offered by Rab­bi Bob Alper in this new col­lec­tion, fol­low­ing his ear­li­er book which a Detroit Free Press review­er called ​“a vol­ume of spir­i­tu­al gems.” Bob guides the read­er to places as diverse as syn­a­gogues in Ken­tucky and Lon­don, a small plane fly­ing over Okla­homa, a refusenik’s Moscow apart­ment, com­e­dy clubs, Ver­mont towns and forests, and even a rab­bis’ con­ven­tion. Read­ers meet, among oth­ers, Tony Mako, a remark­able syn­a­gogue stained glass artist whose grand­daugh­ter is Drew Bar­ry­more. There’s also an elder­ly lady and her small dog who attend ser­vices at The West Lon­don Syn­a­gogue; a five-year-old grief coun­selor; and a holo­caust sur­vivor who speaks of his lost sis­ters for the first time. Bob’s unique expe­ri­ences, from lead­ing large con­gre­ga­tions to per­form­ing stand-up at Toron­to’s ​“Mus­lim­fest,” make for a wealth of engag­ing sto­ries that touch peo­ple of all back­grounds with warmth, humor, and wisdom.