Non­fic­tion

The Torah Road Trip: Abra­ham Rides Shotgun

Bruce Levin
September 1, 2024

This is based on a true sto­ry of Bruce Levin’s jour­ney in a Chevy Blaz­er (dubbed ​“The Torah Blaz­er”) trans­port­ing a Torah that his father had donat­ed to Levin’s for­mer tem­ple in Con­necti­cut — back in the 1960s — to his cur­rent tem­ple out­side of Chica­go. Levin select­ed this mode of trav­el giv­en the han­dling and ship­ping restric­tions of the Torah imposed by The Code of Jew­ish Law, which as cov­ered in his book is an inter­est­ing sto­ry unto itself.

This adven­ture brings to life the nar­ra­tive of Bruce Levin’s father, Abra­ham, whose char­ac­ter strikes a strong resem­blance to a fel­low in the Torah by the same name. Levin’s reflec­tions of his dad’s life and their rela­tion­ship, accom­pa­nied by some of the prin­ci­ples in the Torah, make for quite a ride, an inspir­ing sto­ry, and pro­vide some valu­able insights into what it takes to be a good father. It’s an upbeat, heart­felt mem­oir, along the lines of Bil­ly Crystal’s book 700 Sun­days, that blends togeth­er the beau­ty of the Torah, the Jew­ish faith, and father-and-son relationships.

1960s
fam­i­ly & parenting
jbc net­work

Discussion Questions

Cour­tesy of Bruce Levin

  1. Were there parts of the book that you relat­ed to in par­tic­u­lar? How so?
     
  2. What behav­iors have you adopt­ed from your par­ents and have tried to car­ry forth to your chil­dren?
     
  3. There were quite a few pas­sages from the Torah in the book! Are there any par­tic­u­lar ones that drew your atten­tion, that you relat­ed to? 
     
  4. What do you think the Torah sym­bol­izes in today’s Jew­ish Amer­i­can life? 
     
  5. Have your par­ents shared a lot of their sto­ries with you over the years? If so, how if at all have you tried to pre­serve them and keep these sto­ries alive?
     
  6. Have you ever tak­en a mean­ing­ful road trip with your par­ents? What do you feel you got out of it, or what feel­ings did it leave you with?

For those who have deceased parent(s):

  1. Have you ever thought about your par­ents’ lega­cies?
     
  2. Did the book stir up reflec­tions of your own par­ents lega­cies?
     
  3. How do you remem­ber them by?
     
  4. Is there any­thing you have in your pos­ses­sion as a lega­cy for your par­ents? 
     
  5. How would they would want you to remem­ber them by?
     
  6. How about for your­self? How would you want peo­ple to remem­ber you by?
     
  7. Have your par­ents ever come alive for you? 
     
  8. Are there times when you feel they are there with you? When do you feel their pres­ence? 
     
  9. How do you try to keep them alive in your life? 
     
  10. Have you every pre­tend­ed that they are there with you?
     
  11. When/​what spe­cif­ic occa­sions or moments do you tend to reflect on them?
     
  12. Is there a favorite place per­haps that reminds you of them or that you asso­ciate with them? 
     
  13. Do you some­times bring them back in your mind for advice or help you in some way?
     
  14. If you had an oppor­tu­ni­ty to take your deceased parent(s) along on a road trip with you…
    1. Where would you go?
    2. What would you want to talk about? What would you say to them? 
    3. What would you say to them that you wish you said to them when they were alive?