Few literary trips in Jewish life have been as enjoyable and popular as Rabbi Paysach Krohn's journeys down memory way, into the world of the maggid, the traveling storyteller of yore.

In the long-gone days of the shtetl, the traveling maggid entertained and exhorted. His stories were the sugar coating of a serious message, one that made people smile and sob, as they listened and let their imaginations wander to faraway places and soar to spiritual summits.

If there is an American Maggid, it is Rabbi Paysach Krohn. The thousands who flock to hear him, from Johannesberg to Jerusalem, are eloquent testimony to that.

His previous three “Maggid” books prove that he writes as well as he speaks, unbelievable though that may sound to those who have never had the pleasure of reading his delightful prose. The Maggid Speaks, Around the Maggid's Table, and In the Footsteps of the Maggid have become best-sellers that have delighted and inspired tens of thousands of readers.

This new collection from his treasury of tales is a place to start imbibing the joy of scores of stories. They come from many countries and many generations. They all share authenticity and the idealism, wisdom, humor, love, zest, and sensitivity for which Rabbi Krohn is so justly famous and beloved. It takes a warm and sensitive human being to assemble and spin stories that enrich so many thousands of readers throughout the English-speaking world.

Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn, a fifth-generation mohel, is the author of Bris Milah, the widely acclaimed compendium of the laws and customs from birth to circumcision.