A Handful of Stars

Star (noun): a natural luminous body visible in the sky especially at night; a person who is preeminent in a particular field (from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

This is a book about "stars." It's about people who light up the night with their choices. It's about men and women who are "preeminent" in the daily challenges and struggles that we face. It's about courage and determination and fixing what's broken. And, of course, it's about great stories beautifully told.

Stories like Simi's, the freshly-minted CPA confronting illegal activity and an offer of a bribe. When her dream job becomes a nightmare she must choose between security... and her conscience. Stories like Mottel's, the philanthropist who takes a million dollar loan to keep his tzedakah obligations, and who finds that Hashem Himself repays the money he owes. And stories like Arianna's, who discovers her stolen heritage in an unbelievable stroke of hashgacha pratis.

Author C.B. Weinfeld has a knack for uncovering engrossing true accounts everywhere - in a tire factory, a pawn shop, a beis medrash. And as she shows us the greatness of other Jews we find, amazingly enough, that we can discover it in ourselves as well. When the sky is darkest, we see the stars' glow much more clearly. When times are tough - that's when our choices light up our world. That's when we can reach the stars.