THE TORAH SCROLL OF TÓTKOMLÓS and Other Stories / István Gábor Benedek / Corvina Kiadó, 2019 / Paperback

ISBN-13: 9789631365931 / 978-9631365931

Printed in Hungary

Pages 184

A Slovak maidservant wants her black son converted to rest of the Jews; after the war, a chief rabbi is appointed chief department head, a job that he foolishly considers his life's achievement; also after the war, a Soviet soldier asks a Jewish family if he could join them for Chanuk- ka dinner; a family of Jews is lauded as the ideal Com- munist family, then are ignominiously dumped when their presence at a Party resort makes people feel uncomfortable; and in October, 1956 a cantor goes up to Budapest to buy a new Torah for his dwindling congregation only to find himself smack in the middle of the Revolution.

The ten stories that comprise The Torah Scroll of Tótkomlós could be taken for pure fic- tion, were it not for the fact that they are based on the lives of people the author knew first-hand or had heard about in the God-forsaken village of Tótkomlós on the Great Hungarian Plain. Thanks to his engaging narrative presence, wisdom and good cheer, these stories make us want to visit the small town of Tótkomlós to see if we can dig up more of the same.