LITERATURE

"Some say the last Rebbe of Bialystok died as a young man in the Treblinka death camp." So begins this soulful rendering from Neil Levy. A sort of gestalt of the legendary figure, this volume traces the rebbe's thoughts on each parashah of the Torah. The author has collected these fables from such far-flung locations as New York, Tel Aviv, Prague and, amazingly, the Cook Islands of the South Pacific. The Last Rebbe of Bialystok emerges as a figure of profound wisdom, reflecting upon the questions of his disciples with clarity, reason and conviction.

Author Neil Levy will discuss his book The Last Rebbe of Bialystok in which he comments on midrash (explanations of Torah) though the anecdotes of his fictional Rebbe. As with Jill Nathanson's art, on display at the PJCC gallery through November 22, Neil Levy takes a creative approach to studying Torah. Author Neil Levy is a professor of law at UC Berkeley.