An easy and pleasant read that builds its plot on situations that could become dark and disastrous. Instead the reader has the experience (rare in current issue related novels) of good overcoming evil without any smarm or ideological point of view.

Following the path of former Michael Chabon
Phillip Roth, this author creates religious fiction with a Jewish slant that features the better parts of mankind. A fascinating read.

A joyful look at a newly formed Jewish boarding school staffed by members of the retirement center and a Russian refugee. As his actions demonstrate universal love and acceptance, the public questions: is he Jesus returned? Lessons of love can be learned here. Recommended.

What do you do with a Jewish retirement home after all but five elderly residents have left for newer, more modern facilities with more amenities and activities? Open a Jewish boarding school and make the residents a part of the plan! This sounded like a good idea to Nudelman, who wanted his son Isaac to attend a school better than the local public school and who convinced others to go along with his plan.

When the Jewish community is faced with losing the endowment that has supported the retirement home, plans for the school are endangered from the start. When the only qualified applicant for the directorship, an eccentric Russian named Lev Kyol, must relocate to small town Pennsylvania to launch a school already on the verge of economic collapse, readers can guess that they are in for an adventure, especially when Lev decides to admit Sami, a Palestinian boy.

The story tackles religious differences, homelessness, discipline problems, computer hacking, immigration issues, and more. Lev can be counted on to face each situation with his surprising, controversial ways.
A diverse group of students, teachers, old folks, homeless people, synagogue committee members, and a reporter who sees in outsider Lev a way to advance his journalistic career will make readers laugh, worry, and wonder.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an Advance Reader Copy of Sheldon Greene’s Waiting for the Messiah. This delightful, deeply humane, and occasionally thought-provoking story was an excellent change of pace from the heavier novels I usually read.

This is well-written and provides food for thought. Given the sensitivities around religion of some readers, it likely tick some off. But those with open minds and a willingness to laugh a little will enjoy it. The author shows a lot of talent. Recommended for lit fans.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!

Messiah dazzles with an engaging tale, a love story, and nuggets of wisdom.
To this oft-lapsed, always-questioning Christian, Waiting for the Messiah is evocative, especially of the Old and New Testament stories related to me over the years. The stories in Messiah occur in a more recent time and place as it’s a sequel to Greene’s great novel set in Pennsylvania Lost and Found (Random House). In Messiah the author masterfully weaves stories that are inclusive and embracive of all religions.
Messiah is provocative too, and in many ways. One is the creative way that Bolton’s Jewish community goes about meeting the challenges faced in starting and sustaining a prep school. Greene doesn’t shy away from dealing with the ethical issues in the Job-like challenges characters face — ethnocentrism, homelessness, immigrant deportation, and computer hacking and fraud. Somehow, Greene gets the good people of Bolton, Pa—especially the Christ-like school director and ever-wise narrator —through these challenges.
An eminently worthy and delightful read.

Mendel and his friends live in a small town that needs better schools so Nudelman convinces the local Jewish community to launch a private Jewish school. The difficulties and machinations of doing so is the crux of this book. This premise can hardly sustain one’s interest for long. Adding to that, the author introduces an illusive Christ-like figure whose altruistic methods create a cult following. This is not literary fiction at its finest. It’s a fast read but not one you are eager to finish.