The Rabbi who Prayed With Fire

Locations
Call Number: Mystery / Lewis, Rachel, Adult Book / Fiction / Mystery / General / Lewis, Rachel Sharona
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Mystery / Lewis, Rachel	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Mystery / General / Lewis, Rachel Sharona	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Congregation Beth Abraham expected their newest rabbi to "sing some songs and go to an environmental rally." But Vivian Green has other ideas. She wants her flock to engage meaningfully with their city-special mayoral elections, interfaith breakfasts, fights for affordable housing and all. Also, she would like just one night off to go dancing in the leather boots that make her look like her finest gay self.
Taking on the city's old boys' club is already proving difficult...but then Beth Abraham bursts into flames. Fingers get pointed, and everyone's biases rise to the surface. It turns out that wasn't the only fire burning in town.
Vivian sticks to her instincts, raising tensions with her boss, her community, and a certain hottie in a power suit. And she learns that knowing whodunnit is only half the battle.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Excellent contemporary Jewish mystery submitted by tcramer318 on July 18, 2023, 6:54am This book pays homage to the Rabbi Small mysteries without being a carbon copy of them. Through Rabbi Vivian and the other characters, this book explores themes on race, what it is to be a part of the community, and who deserves security. The event around which the plot centers is the burning down of Beth Abraham synagogue, and after all the antisemitic violence in the country these days I'm honestly glad the incident was without deaths. The author of this book is a community organizer and that comes through strongly in her work; this is the most 2020s book I've had the pleasure to read that doesn’t mention covid (the book is set in 2019 and published in 2020).