The Patchwork Torah

As a child, David watches his grandfather, a Torah scribe or sofer, finish a Torah scroll for the synagogue. "A Torah is not something to be thrown away," his Grandfather explains. David's grandfather carefully stores the old Torah his new one has replaced in his cabinet, hoping to one day repair the letters so the Torah can be used again.

David grows up and becomes a sofer just like his grandfather. Through the years, people bring him damaged Torahs they have saved from danger and disaster - one damaged by Nazi soldiers during World War II, one damaged in a fire in a synagogue, and one in flooding during Hurricane Katrina. David stores each of these precious Torahs in his cabinet, until his granddaughter Leah gives him the idea to make a recycled Torah from the salvaged Torah scrolls.

"David's grandfather is a sofer, a scribe who carefully, painstakingly, and lovingly letters Torah scrolls for Jewish communities to learn from, live by, and treasure. He teaches his craft to David who, in turn, teaches it to his own children and grandchildren so that the valued traditions can live on through the generations. Damaged Torah scrolls, treasures in their own right but unusable in their imperfect states, find their way over the years into the hands of these dedicated sofrim. The scrolls have been rescued from the Holocaust or from a synagogue fire or from a devastating hurricane by caring, loving, courageous Jews who understand the need for preserving these links to the world of their ancestors. David thinks about restoring them but there is so much damage to each that he is not sure that such a major project would result in success. Then his granddaughter, who has learned about recycling, has an idea. Why not take the undamaged sections of each Torah and see if they can be put together into a useable whole - a patchwork Torah with its own unique beauty, combining so many pieces of the past to be used joyfully onward into the future. This beautifully conceived and written book encompasses so much: tradition, care for the earth, the Holocaust, Hurricane Katrina, relationships through the generations . . . It doesn't seem as if all the elements can possible fit into one coherent story. And yet the author pulls all the pieces together into an innovative and unique whole; it's a patchwork story, somewhat like a patchwork quilt or a patchwork Torah--and isn't patchwork art often the most beautiful kind of all? Soft color paintings with beautifully rendered facial expressions enhance the artistry of the whole; idea, text, and illustrations perfectly merge into a special reading experience." -- AJL Reviews

"This book will be read more than once, and that seems only appropriate, as Jews are never finished reading the Torah.

In a traditional synagogue, the congregation spends an entire year reading the Hebrew Bible out loud, immediately flipping back to the first chapter to start again. So it makes a sort of sense that David's family has spent many generations creating the same Torah scroll out of disparate parts. One part has been hidden during World War II and needs repair. Other sections of the parchment are damaged in a fire and in Hurricane Katrina. David's grandfather was a scribe--a sofer--and David learns from him, splicing pieces of the damaged scrolls together as an adult to make a new one. 'This is a very unusual scroll, ' David tells the congregation. 'I wrote part of it. Other sofers, in other places and at other times, wrote other parts.' Even less-than-traditional Jews may be moved as the scroll is passed from one family member to another. David teaches his grandchildren to write Hebrew letters and reads the first lines of the scroll to his granddaughter: 'In the beginning....' Even the most trivial sentences in the book start to seem oddly beautiful. A passage about scrap drives becomes profound: Nothing is ever lost or wasted; nothing--and no one--is ever unimportant.

Readers may close the cover thinking that a picture book--like a Torah scroll--can be essential. (Picture book. 5-9)" -- Kirkus Reviews

"In the tradition of the much beloved book, The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco, The Patchwork Torah teaches us how Jews connect across time and place. During the Holocaust, David's grandfather, a sofer (scribe), saves damaged Torah scrolls to repair 'someday maybe.' As David grows and becomes a sofer too, he also holds on to damaged Torahs. His granddaughter asks why there are unused scrolls in his closet and she suggests that he put the undamaged parts of each together to make a 'patchwork Torah.'

Through its serene, oil-painted illustrations and warm language, The Patchwork Torah demonstrates the importance of cycles in Judaism - the cycle of the reading of the Torah ending and beginning on the holiday of Simchat Torah, the cycle of the genera-tions and re-cycling. It also takes readers on a quick trip across the twentieth century in American Jewish life, from scrap drives to the fight against Hitler to welcoming refugees to Hurricane Katrina.

Recommended for ages 7-11 with Holo-caust references." -- Jewish Book World

"Inspired by tradition, deep faith, and an understanding that to 'repair and reuse things' makes the world a better place, a sofer (the Hebrew word for a craftsman-scribe who transcribes sacred documents) takes pieces of four damaged Torah scrolls--ravaged by old age, the Holocaust, fire, and Hurricane Katrina--and creates a wonderful new Torah. Although Ofanansky's (Harvest of Light) prose and Oriol's acrylic and gouache vignettes strike a thoughtful, serious mood (as befits a story about an intensely spiritual labor of love), an unmistakable momentum and sense of suspense build as one by one the stories of the rescued Torahs are told, and the scrolls are put into a special cabinet for a yet-to-be-determined future. David, the hero, starts out as boy learning the art of the sofer from his grandfather during World War II, and ends as a grandfather himself in a joyous present-day Simchat Torah celebration, carrying his patchwork Torah as his young granddaughter 'walked proudly alongside him.' Surprisingly inventive and genuinely uplifting, this story beautifully and subtly ties together two key Jewish precepts: l'dor v'dor (generation to generation) and tikkum olam (repair the world). Ages 4-8. (Mar.)" -- Publisher's Weekly