This book is unusual and was formed under unusual circumstances. These stories were told by Rav Menashe Chaba, who came from the fabled Bagdad to the fabled Jerusalem in the beginning of the 20th century. Being a head of a large family, he did not sit idly around. For parnasa a grocery store was open, and for the soul he became a rabbi in a synagogue for Iraqi immigrants. But even his parnasa was steeped in soul. While selling coffee or raisins to customers, he used to tell tales, where they would see themselves in the main characters. A Jew from the East, Rav Menashe loved the poetry of the trivial life and could show its wisdom and depth.
The «tales» take place in the countries of Arabia, in Palestine during the time of the first Aliyah, or during the Israeli War of Independence. But they all have a common factor: grandfather Menashe, weighing out raisins, teaches us how to love the Creator, ourselves and this world; how to live peacefully and happily even amidst surging waves.
Writer and journalist Ezra Hovkin, author of many books about the spiritual legacy of Hassidic Judaism, has retold these tales in Russian, putting these gems of the Sephardic sage in a worthy setting.
English
Russian
