The Book of Lights

At the center of the novel is Gershon Loran -- a young rabbi, the product of a parochial New York Jewish upbringing -- whose early life [was] shaped by darkly irrational circumstances ... It is this young man -- raised in the absolute belief that 'the Jewish religion made a fundamental difference in the world' --who at the end of the Korean War, finds himself a chaplain in a country where Judaism has played no part ... Gershon begins to see his own people -- and himself -- in a new light ... Gershon has the most disturbing ... of his visions -- encompassing both light and dark, both good and evil, just as life must; just as, he begins to understand, Judaism must, if it is to remain a living faith.