By Harry Ringel

Abraham! We know him as the father of three of the world’s great religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Yet his story begins abruptly, with two words from Genesis: “Lech Lecha” — “Go to yourself” as it is often translated. Who was the unknown Abraham of before God calls him? This unique novel uses Talmudic legends, Apocryphal writings, and Kabbalistic sources to trace Abraham’s footsteps into these hidden corners of his beginnings. We travel with him from Ur to Charan 3,000 years ago. We spend time with his wife Sarai (and Iscah, her prophetess alter ego), Shem and post-Ark Noah, the angel Gabriel. Stops are made in Babylon and at the Tower of Babel, where Abraham confronts his nemesis Nimrod. The Hand Above the Lid may be read as fiction, as historical fantasy. Yet it speaks not only to the past but to the present — in each and every one of us. The Hand Above the Lid challenges readers to “go to yourselves” as well.

Anticipated publication in June 2023