This transformation of a person from young man to one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century is every person's story. Reb Yosel Horowitz, the founder of one of the most powerful networks of institutions of higher learning in Europe, is at the center of this amazing story about how moments in our lives shape who we are.
The product of his father Reb Shlomo, was often the victim of his brother Kopel''s cruelty but rose above it in order to be able to endure the Russian revolution and thrive in its aftermath. The people, the times, the accidents and the plans all come together to create the man.
This imagined biography his story and the story of one student who adored his teacher and only wanted to be close to him. It is through the student's eyes we see Reb Yosel as only Sroel could possibly see him.
Far from an idealized version of a visionary, Sroel struggles with how very human Reb Yosel is. Reluctant husband, father, son he emerges as an innovator and a personal guide.
This highly charged novel brings together the events of a WWI and the emergence of the Mussar method of understanding Jewish tradition planted squarely in the private and public lives of Reb Yosel Horowitz, the Alte Rebbe of Navoroduk.