Moshe is a cobbler in 1960's Manhattan. He runs the same cobbler shop that his father began as a immigrant and where Moshe discovered that he was a tzaddik. In Judaism a tzaddik is a righteous person who is given powers by the Almighty. Moshe had the ability to comfort people in times of great pain, but hasn't felt the connection for awhile. Moshe's skills as a tzaddik are called upon one day by a man named Gray who works for city councilman Arnold Lieberman. Arnold has come upon a rasha, the enemy of the tzaddik who uses their powers for evil. The rasha is Solomon Blass who uses his prophetic dreams for his own benefit and has become part of New York City's crime ring. As Solomon ages he seeks to put his son Myron in control by making him mayor. In order to stop the rasha, Moshe begins training in the dream world in order to destroy the rasha's soul.
The Righteous One is a follow up to A Cobbler's Tale. While it is not necessary to read A Cobbler's Tale first, it does help to understand how Moshe's gift originated. The Righteous One creates an intersection between the organized crime of New York City in the 1960's and Jewish magical realism or the tzaddik, rasha and the dream world. It did take me a little while to get into the story as the points of view bounced between Solomon and Myron and Moshe and Arnold. I felt more grounded in the story as Moshe learned more about the dream world with Noa and Gray. I would have loved to learn more about these two, especially Noa's lineage. I also enjoyed the character development of Myron's character. Through Myron, the effect of organized crime on New York City's infrastructure becomes apparent. His character was also one who went through a lot of transformation and I wish his story wasn't cut short. Moshe's revelations as a tzaddik and his abilities in the dream world were intriguing and I would have loved to spend some more time there.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )