Sometimes a single quote, read at the right time, can send the reader off on a journey to
learn more about its context and origins. This is what happened to Rabbi Naomi Levy, who read a profoundly moving letter from Albert Einstein to a grieving father about our place in the universe and the unity of all things which resonated with her own work over the years with Jewish mysticism and teaching on the soul. The result is the book Einstein and the Rabbi: Searching for the Soul.
Dr. Robert S. Marcus, the father who had written to Einstein, turned out to have been a rabbi who made his own important contribution to Jewish history, rescuing almost a thousand young boys, including Elie Wiesel, who had survived the horrors of Buchenwald, and helping them make their own peace with a world that had stolen their youth and innocence all too soon.
Rabbi Levy uses this connection between the scientist and the rescuer as a springboard to trace her search for the surviving “Buchenwald Boys” (including Wiesel, whom she did manage to interview before his death), her own spiritual struggles, and the stories of many of the people who have come to her for guidance over the years. In the process, she gives us an inspiring and knowledgeable look at teachings that may come as a surprise to many Jews, especially those who are more familiar with the more pragmatic foundations of Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism.
Einstein and the Rabbi can be obtained through the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library system and is also available at the temple library.
Leslie Jaszczak