Title: Now, That’s a Story! Stories You Will Never Forget
By: Rabbi Yechiel Spero
Artscroll/Mesorah Publications
As much as we are the people of the book, we are the people of the story. And in each generation we have been blessed with the storytellers who keep the stories of Am Yisrael alive. In this generation, Rabbi Yechiel Spero is one of these prolific storytellers, one who must find it challenging to come up with the name for each new book of stories because he has written so many.
Since the cataclysmic tragedy of October 7, it has been a very challenging time for Klal Yisrael, as well as a reminder of the miracles and Divine Providence that the Jewish people have been privy to in every generation, including what our unique purpose is in this world, which helps us continue on our path as the chosen people.
The book inspires with the kinds of stories you will have come to expect from Rabbi Spero; stories of amazing mesirut nefesh, the kind of chesed and prayers that only Jews know how to deliver, and the amazing miracles that follow their actions.
The book includes an incredible story about how watching birds transformed Rav Shlomo Wolbe’s life, and helped turn him into the gadol hador he would become.
There are a couple of stories about bullying and its effects and repercussions, tragic both for the person bullied, as well as for the bullies. Bullying has become a scourge and is a topic that is not given enough attention, and I was happy to see that it was included here. Another issue I’m glad was addressed was the importance of paying people on time, something that even within the religious community, or sometimes, particularly in it, people have become very cavalier about, often putting the cause ahead of the person.
Of course, there is the usual fare spanning the world and the generations of Torah study, mitzvah observance and the miracles that they beget.
Especially in these trying and challenging times, there really is nothing like a good story.
