“Well, I have to admit, I don’t often get nervous … but I am a little nervous tonight.” Not what one would expect from an internationally renowned writer who has written the most successful memoir of all time, Tuesdays with Morrie. As a bestselling author with over 28 million copies sold worldwide, Mitch Albom should have little to worry about.
On Thursday night, November 19, Albom spoke at the Jewish Theological Seminary’s Feinberg Auditorium to a full house about his new novel Have A Little Faith, which was published in late September. Have A Little Faith chronicles Albom’s spiritual journey fueled by two men: Albert “Reb” Lewis, an elderly rabbi from the author’s hometown who passed away recently, and Henry Covington, a Detroit pastor struggling to revitalize a derelict church. As a true story, Albom’s novel weaves these two tales together through their common strand of living a godly and purposeful life.
“Rabbi Lewis’ family members are here,” Albom accounted for his initial jitters, nodding to Lewis’ widow and granddaughter seated in the front row. Any anxiety, however, immediately vanished. “Whatever I have to share with you is from my heart,” asserted Albom, “I don’t need any three-times-five note cards.” And so he kept his promise. Revealing his inner comedian and storyteller, Albom reached heights of humor and poignancy in detailing the lives of the two men.
Have A Little Faith bursts into action when the 82-year-old Reb, as Albom affectionately calls Lewis, asks him the critical question: “will you do my eulogy?” Referring to this incident, a smile widened on Albom’s face as he gestured helplessly, “Who was I to do a eulogy for a man who does eulogies?” Laughter rang across the fully packed auditorium.
As photographs of the Reb flashed across the screen, Albom continued to pinpoint anecdotes about their increasingly close relationship after agreeing to do the rabbi’s eulogy. While as a child Albom used to hide in mop closets upon hearing the Reb come down the hall, Albom paid the Reb regular house visits in attempt to know him better. He was “a joyous man from the inside and out” said Albom in praise of the rabbi’s endearing quirks and unwavering spirituality—“a man of God,” repeated Albom.
The Reb’s story stood in contrast to the experiences of the pastor Henry, who had “broken all of the Ten Commandments” as a former drug dealer and convict. After committing the fatal mistake of robbing his own drug dealer, however, Henry reformed to become pastor of a struggling Detroit church which was in desperate need of funds.
Henry wanted to serve God, to “see what it’s like to be good,” explained Albom. Touched by Henry’s genuine desire to help, Albom said that he donated 10% of proceeds from Have A Little Faith to a fund for construction needs. The massive rooftop hole in Henry’s church will be repaired by December 10, Albom announced, a moment in which the audience broke into roaring applause.
Ultimately, Albom did deliver the Reb’s eulogy, after he died at the age of 90. “You are in every echo…you stirred the embers of our faith,” Albom read aloud a passage from the eulogy in the book. Albom distilled the essence of the true-life stories of the Reb and Henry into a single statement by the end of his speech, “you have to have a little faith.”
