The Tinker's Son

Yakov Leibovich is a talented rabbinical student whose life in an 1870's Russian shtetl is upended by a draft notice from the tsar's Imperial Army.His father and rabbi craft an unusual exemption, but the scheme to keep him safe forces Yakov to acquiesce in an unethical act. When he realizes he has harmed people he cares about to avoid service, including the woman he loves, Yakov embarks on a journey of forgiveness that propels him into war, espionagem and personal tragedy. The Tinker's Son follows Yakov's intellectual and emotional maturation as he learns how powerful forgiveness can be- when it is given as well as received.