The Torah Road Trip

Transporting a Torah scroll is a more fraught endeavor than one might think, Bruce Levin learned.

First, a Sephardi scroll, ensconced in a metal casing, weighs 30-40 pounds-about twice the weight of an Ashkenazi scroll. Second, there is a lot of halacha (Jewish law) safeguarding the dignity of the Torah scroll, including the prohibition of it ever touching the ground, which make it difficult to ship or take on an airplane.

Levin’s late father donated such a Torah, in the memory of a friend, to Temple B’nai Israel in New Britain, Conn., in the 1960s. Then, in September 2007, his mother, then 83, learned the temple was closing and was asked if the family would like the Torah back.

Levin found the Torah a new home at Temple Beth-El in Northbrook. The thousand-mile delivery would prove almost as complex, as “Moses bringing the ark to the Promised Land.”

The story unfolds in Levin’s book, The Torah Road Trip: Abraham Rides Shotgun (RapSessions Publishing), released last year. While the narrative follows the logistics of Torah transportation, the subtitle hints at a deeper story that of Levin’s relationship with his father, whose Hebrew name was Abraham.

To retrieve the Torah, Levin flew to Connecticut, where he reconnected with childhood religious school friends. During the 14-hour drive back to Chicago in a rented Chevy SUV, which he dubbed the “Torah trailblazer,” he listened to tapes that his father made for him and his sister about his life story.

“The book is about my two-day journey physically, but about my relationship with my dad, spiritually,” he explained. “His memoir is all over the book.”

The elder Levin died in 2004, at age 96. Listening to, and retelling, his stories, the author said, “He comes alive for me.”

Despite its weighty subject matter, “This is not a religious book.” In the chapter titled “Holy Toledo,’ Levin recounts carrying the Torah through a hotel, to the confusion of its staff. “There was a cloth over it,” he said. “They thought I was smuggling a body!”

Upon arrival in Northbrook, it received a lot of TLC from his wife, Gail, who used several tubes of silver polish-“and a lot of elbow grease,” to restore its luster.

Being able to reclaim his family Torah, “was such a privilege,” “It was a unique experience that I lived,” Levin reflected. “The story was bubbling inside me, and I wanted to share it with the world.”

Levin will discuss his book on Sunday, Oct. 5 at Makom Solel in Highland Park. He will launch the book on Oct. 21, at Temple Beth El in Northbrook.