The dirahs. That’s what they call the tiny apartments off the narrow alley ways of Meah Shearim. Here young men who’ve come to learn in Israeli yeshivas sleep and cook and experience a life very different from the one they’ve known back home, in American or Canada or England or Australia. The heating rarely works, and the water pressure is weak, but the power and potency of life in the dirah is unmatched.

Rappaport 55 is just one more dirah on streets filled with them – but the people inside will intrigue you. Because you know them. And because real life is happening here. You’ll laugh along with this story, maybe even cry a bit, as you find yourself totally involved in the challenges and struggles and the big and little successes of this group of young men on the cusp of adulthood.

Under the drama and hilarity of this engaging novel lies a story packed with penetrating truths about people and growth. And it’s a great read besides!