Rabbi Plotkin is approaching middle age. His children are self-sufficient teens, and his large congregation is running efficiently and effectively. He should be happy and satisfied at where he is in life, yet he knows something is missing. He used to wake up to anxiety and long to-do lists. Now he wakes up concerned about his zucchinis. The change baffles him until he realizes he has a need to nurture, and right now the zucchinis are the only things that really need him. This is the first of many life lessons the garden teaches him about himself and the world around him. This book is a narrative memoir that will inform your life, amuse you in the process, and maybe even give you the itch to grow a zucchini!
Nonfiction
Wisdom Grows In My Garden
September 1, 2021
Discussion Questions
Courtesy of Paul Plotkin
1. What did you learn from the book?
2. Did any of the author’s experiences or lessons relate to you? If so, which ones?
3. Which of the life lessons were most important to you?
4. Which of the life lessons do you disagree with?
5. If you could talk to the author, what questions would you ask him?
6. Have you ever experienced the need to nurture? If so, what happened when there was no one left who needed you?
7. Did the book make you want to garden?
8. The original title of the book was The Rabbi’s Garden. Would you have preferred that title or the published one?
9. How do you feel about messages that come to you in a dream?
10. How did you feel about the war with iguanas? Do you see them as hostile enemies or creatures that should be left alone?
11. Who do you most want to read this book?
12. Of all the information presented in the book, what has stayed with you the most?
Jewish literature inspires, enriches, and educates the community.
Help support the Jewish Book Council.
Related Reading
