Ever wondered if miracles could happen in everyday life, like in a small town synagogue? In Sheldon Greene’s novel “Lost and Found”, set in the 1950s in fictional Bolton, Pennsylvania, Rabbi Newman becomes the center of just that kind of wonder. This humble, unassuming rabbi, who is short and soft-spoken, suddenly finds himself with a gift for healing that shakes up the whole community. It’s a story that dives into the big question: What does it take to believe in healing, especially when science and doubt get in the way?
Rabbi Newman, or Rabbi Bing as some call him, starts off as your typical small-town spiritual leader. He’s content with his quiet life, teaching kids through simple stories and parables, never chasing fame or big achievements. However, everything changes during a routine hospital visit. As part of an ecumenical rotation where clergy cover for each other, he visits Mr. Finney, a Catholic man dying of stomach cancer. The rabbi offers comfort, strokes his shoulder, and applies a cold washcloth, nothing major. Yet, Mr. Finney feels a hot, tingling sensation that spreads, and his pain vanishes. Days later, his tumors shrink, and he’s on the mend. Coincidence? Mr. Finney doesn’t think so; he credits the rabbi’s touch as a miracle.
Word spreads like wildfire in Bolton. Soon, people flock to the rabbi for help. He heals the sick—cancer patients rally, and the emaciated regain strength. Even sterile couples, like Nudelman and his wife Sarah who’ve been childless for 24 years, suddenly conceive after his involvement. It’s magical realism at its best: subtle wonders woven into ordinary life. But Greene doesn’t make it all rosy. The rabbi gives so much of himself that he wastes away; his body shrinks, his skin pales, his eyes burn with feverish intensity. He’s in awe of this power, insisting it’s not his own, but it drains him.
This is where the question of belief really kicks in. Not everyone buys it. Skeptics in the congregation grumble that the rabbi’s neglecting his duties, quoting sayings like “What good is a golden wine goblet if there is no wine?” Scientists and a panel of big-city rabbis swoop in to investigate, setting up a “demonstration” with terminal patients. They denounce him as a charlatan, mystic, or fraud. The rabbi, heartbroken, refuses to perform like a sideshow act, saying he’s seen death and has nothing left to give.
Through Mendel’s eyes, the Holocaust survivor narrating the story, Greene explores how belief in healing isn’t just about faith; it’s tangled with doubt, science, and community pressure. Post-WWII, in a world recovering from horror, these miracles offer hope but also stir conflict. Do we accept the unexplained, or demand proof? The book doesn’t preach; it invites you to ponder, with humor and heart mixed in.
If you’re into stories that blend warmth, Jewish culture, and philosophical twists, pick up “Lost and Found”. It’s the first in Greene’s American Quartet, reissued in 2025, and it’ll leave you thinking about the “small miracles” in your own life.
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