Non­fic­tion

The Torah Road Trip: Abra­ham Rides Shotgun

  • From the Publisher
September 1, 2024

This is based on a true sto­ry of Bruce Levin’s jour­ney in a Chevy Blaz­er (dubbed The Torah Blaz­er”) trans­port­ing a Torah that his father had donat­ed to Levin’s for­mer tem­ple in Con­necti­cut — back in the 1960s — to his cur­rent tem­ple out­side of Chica­go. Levin select­ed this mode of trav­el giv­en the han­dling and ship­ping restric­tions of the Torah imposed by The Code of Jew­ish Law, which as cov­ered in his book is an inter­est­ing sto­ry unto itself.

This adven­ture brings to life the nar­ra­tive of Bruce Levin’s father, Abra­ham, whose char­ac­ter strikes a strong resem­blance to a fel­low in the Torah by the same name. Levin’s reflec­tions of his dad’s life and their rela­tion­ship, accom­pa­nied by some of the prin­ci­ples in the Torah, make for quite a ride, an inspir­ing sto­ry, and pro­vide some valu­able insights into what it takes to be a good father. It’s an upbeat, heart­felt mem­oir, along the lines of Bil­ly Crystal’s book 700 Sun­days, that blends togeth­er the beau­ty of the Torah, the Jew­ish faith, and father-and-son relationships.

Discussion Questions