Malka Drucker
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By: Little, Brown
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
Treasure chest 5 out of 5 stars.
18 of 18 people found this review helpful.
This wonderful book is divided into 11 sections for 11 holidays, each section with several delicious entries. The book begins at the beginning, with 12 entries on Rosh Hashanah (the birthday of the world) and Yom Kippur. Like all the sections, this one opens with a description of the holidays and their spiritual significance. Next comes a biblical story of Moshe's mistake, whose epigraph explains that there is no Hebrew word for sin. "Het" (pronounced with a guttural "ch") actually means "to miss the mark."
One of these is the tale of Zuzya, adapted from the Yiddish genius, I.L. Peretz. When Zuzya missed prayers, the villagers claimed he was speaking to God. A stranger laughed. The next day, he followed Zuzya as he dressed as a peasant, walked to the woods, gave an old widow wood and lit her hearth comforting her with the assurance that God would provide her funds to pay him later. The section also gives recipes for honey cake and challah, explains the Shofar blasts, and recounts the Torah portion from Yom Kippur afternoon--the story of Jonah and the great fish.
The Sukkot section explains significance of the harvest festival, the booth (open to the sky) that must be built to mark it and the 4 plant species that help to celebrate the feast. Readers are treated to a story for Sukkot from Chelm, the realm of fools; one on invisible guests and the importance of hospitality; and a short David Adler tale of a city family whose landlord objects to their hut on the apartment building roof. Two entries on Simchat Torah follow a recipe for stuffed pumpkin.
For Chanukah, readers will find the music and words to Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages), a recipe for potato pancakes (latkes), the rules for a game of dreidel--and a delightful Isaac Bashevis Singer tale, Zlateh the Goat.
The remaining sections are each as rich as the first three. The Tu B'Sh'vat (birthday of trees) section includes a Midrashic tale, Honi and the Carob Tree and a story by Janice May Udry. Purim features a play and a story from Sadie Rose Weilerstein on K'tonton, the Jewish Tom Thumb. Pesach (Passover) includes stories about Moses, the Jewish flight from slavery in Egypt and its significance for every Jew today, and Barbara Cohen's modern-day classic, The Carp in the Bathtub.
Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust remembrance day, features the most famous entry from Anne Frank's diary and the famous Hannah Senesh poem, Eili, Eili. It is followed by a moving section on Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, including Brothers, a story on Jewish flight from the Nazis by Shalom Hetkin.
The book closes with a delightful section on most important Jewish holiday of all, Shabbat. Here we find several prayers and traditions, along with Mrs. Markowitz and the Sabbath Candlesticks by Amy Schwartz.
This book is a treasure chest. Alyssa A. Lappen
Editorial Review:
A richly illustrated collection of facts, activities, and stories about Jewish holidays and celebrations gathers information from both old and new traditions and features selections by writers including Barbara Cohen and Isaac Bashevis Singer.
