The Dirt from Tripp Street: Everyday Lessons about Life--Love and Loss, Sadness and Joy, and All the In-Betweens

The rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El in New York's Westchester County, Wolk here recalls making a home with his wife Marion in a 100-year-old country house. Although accustomed to cities, the world-traveling Wolks quickly became active in their new community, as the the book's larky, poignant and reflective essays prove. The author depicts their Tripp Street neighborhood as ecumenical and downright bucolic: neighbors old and young are a family of sorts, sharing in celebrations of birthdays and Christian and Jewish holidays, planting gardens, caring for children and pets and offering comfort when trouble strikes. Each piece describes an epiphany, affirming Wolk's belief that God is present everywhere, even (as in ``Moving Day'') in their driveway. Like the rest of the rabbi's observations here, this one is wonderfully lighthearted and virtually impossible to doubt. Jewish Book Club alternate. (Oct.)