The Patchwork Torah

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%E2%80%94ravaged by old age, the Holocaust, fire, and Hurricane Katrina%E2%80%94and 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.)