An Extra Seat

This children's book, based on Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld's personal story growing up in 1970s New York, focuses on the plight of the Jewish Zionist prisoners in the former Soviet Union, brought to the world's attention by the highly publicized arrest of Anatoly Sharansky. Herzfeld's mentor, Rabbi Avi Weiss, plays a central role, encouraging his congregation to see the refuseniks (whose simple aim was to immigrate to Israel) as brothers and...