To Rise Above

To Rise Above is the incredible, true story of a young thirteen-year-old American boy brought by his mother surreptitiously to Eretz Yisrael in the 1920s to fulfill a dream - that he become a Talmid Chacham. Alone, little Benny faces the daunting challenge of growing in Torah in an environment far different from his native home. In the telling, history comes alive: the shtetls of southern Lithuania; Seattle, Washington in the 1920s; Chevron Yeshiva, the Alter of Slabodka, Rav Yechezkel Sarna, and Rav Leib Chasman. Step by step, Rav Dov Cohen rises in greatness to become a Gadol b'Yisrael and an influential builder of Yiddishkeit in the nascent Jewish state. Based on personal interviews and writings, extensively indexed, and with over 600 rare photographs and documents, here is a unique, fascinating and inspiring tale of spiritual triumph in the face of adversity.