A Tasty Guest Post for Passover!

Kelly Easton Ruben is the author behind Kar-Ben's newest Passover story, A Place for Elijah. As Sarah's family prepares for Passover, Sarah makes sure to save a chair at the table for the prophet Elijah who is said to visit every seder. But when the electricity goes out in the buildings across the street and the neighbors start arriving at Sarah's apartment, her parents invite each visitor to join the seder. Sarah adds another place setting for Elijah, and then another, but soon the table is full with people from her neighborhood and there are no more chairs to spare! How can Sarah honor the Passover tradition of saving a place for Elijah?

Read Kelly's guest blog post below, and then check out her book over on the Kar-Ben website!

Writing My First Picture Book, I Think About Food! An Unleavened Blog, by Kelly Easton Ruben

My favorite Jewish Holiday is Passover. For one thing, there is the wonderful meal. I grew up with a mother who often referenced the family’s cook from her childhood, as in the question to my Dad: “Why don’t I get a cook like my mother did?” For some reason, she never tried to learn. A typical childhood supper cooked by my mother was baked steak, similar to a piece of tire, over-boiled pasty potatoes, and frozen peas, which once, were still icy on the inside. We were all skinny. Only the beagle was fat, since the leathery meat was passed under the table to him. The one Jewish food she “made” was lox and bagels, which we all loved. When I grew up, I was astonished to find that cooking was quite simple. On Passover we serve the traditional meal, personalized by special touches. My husband’s matzoh balls are like clouds from whipping the eggs into a frenzy. The broth has simmered for 24 hours, and is dotted with slivers of fresh dill. My matzoh kugel contains rosemary, roasted garlic, and sherry-poached mushrooms.

An aspect of Passover that is of equal import is storytelling. Each year we look for a different Haggadah for variations. Some of the food-related rituals that accompany the story of Passover exemplify one of Judaism’s most important edicts: compassion. The salty water on the Passover plate reminds us of the tears of the slaves. The ten drops of wine spilled expresses sympathy for the plagues suffered even by those who oppressed us. In a time when so many view “the other” as an enemy, Passover reminds us of our unity. Another aspect of this is setting a place for Elijah. This represents not only opening the door to spirituality itself, of unseen holiness, but caring for strangers, for “the other.” The principle of loving the stranger is central to Judaism. As it says in Leviticus 19:34: “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” In “A Place for Elijah,” I wanted to demonstrate the family’s lovingkindness to their neighbors, and the joy they have of sharing their common humanity. With food, naturally. Joanne Friar’s illustrations captured that beautifully. I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.

The Story Behind the Patchwork Torah

Our October book of the month is The Patchwork Torah, by Allison Ofanansky. There are so many things we love about this book! It has warm, beautiful illustrations that accompany a touching and unique intergenerational story. Books for Simchat Torah aren't that easy to come by, but this is a great one, as it features two celebrations of the holiday. A message about recycling means that this book is a good fit for the spring and Earth Day as well. Below, watch the book trailer and read a guest post from author Allison Ofanansky about her inspiration for this very special story!

"The story of the Patchwork Torah was inspired by a real Torah put together from rescued and repaired remnants of old and damaged scrolls. Like the scroll that David puts together in the story, this Torah contains sections that were written by a number of soferim (scribes) that lived in different times and places. We don’t know the stories behind the sections in this Torah. The stories of the scrolls that David collects in the book are made up, though some are based on real historic events (the Holocaust, Hurricane Katrina).

A real patchwork Torah was purchased by my community in Tzfat, Israel in 2009. There are many Torah scrolls in synagogues in the city of Tzfat, but these are strictly Orthodox and women can’t come up for an aliyah or read from the Torah or dance with it on holidays. So a group of friends decided to buy a Torah to which women could have access.

We held an auction to raise money. People donated things to be auctioned off. (I donated some of the books in the Nature in Israel series.) Then we bid to buy each others’ donations (I bought a funny wax sculpture). We raised a fair amount of money at the auction, but not enough for a new Torah scroll, which costs between $15,000 and $30,000. Then we heard about a ‘recycled’ Torah which had been put together with parts of several damaged scrolls to make a whole, kosher Torah. We had enough money to buy it!

Once we got this Torah, we realized how special and beautiful it is. Throughout the year, as we read through the scroll, we can see the distinctive calligraphy of seven soferim who wrote various parts (three large sections and four small ones). Some wrote simple letters, others added fancy decorations. Even though there are strict laws for writing a kosher Torah, and each letter must be perfect, there is still room for soferim to express their individual styles. This Torah suits our community, because we also come from many different places, with our own individual styles, and together make something new.

We have enjoyed celebrating with this Torah over the past few years. My daughter Aravah (whose pictures you may have seen in my Nature in Israel books) read from it at her bat mitzvah. All four of her grandparents came up for an aliyah. On Simchat Torah, women and girls dance with the scroll. I’ve seen women who never had a chance before to touch a Torah scroll cradling it like a baby, with tears in their eyes.

I’d like to imagine that David’s granddaughter, who gives him the idea to make the recycled Torah, will read from their patchwork Torah at her bat mitzvah—maybe even become a sofer herself! (On women scribes-- soferot -- see http://www.womenstorah.com/)"

Aravah reading from the real ‘patchwork Torah’ at her bat mitzvah, with both her grandmothers beside her.

Aravah holding the Torah at her bat mitzvah.

Photographs by Eliyhu Alpern, 2012

 

 

 

Happy 20th Birthday, Sammy!



Sammy Spider and the Shapiro family have been teaching children about Jewish holidays and values for 20 years!

 

 

 

 

Throw a birthday party for your favorite spider (or a Sammy-themed birthday for your child)! Then, spend the whole year celebrating with Sammy-related activities!

 

 

 Check out the Kar-Ben website for fun birthday printables like invitations, party hats, coloring pages and a pin-the-legs-on-Sammy game!

 

 

 

 

 

You can also find activities, recipes, and crafts for every month and many holidays! Make your own afikomen cover for Passover, a Sammy Spider grogger for Purim, or try Mrs. Shapiro's challah and blintz recipes!

 

 

 

 

 

Hear from author Sylvia A. Rouss and illustrator Katherine Janus Kahn about the creation of Sammy Spider in this video from Kar-Ben eBook partner Open Road Media!

 



 

 

In celebration of Sammy's birthday, Kar-Ben introduces the 19th and 20th books in the Sammy Spider series!

 

Sammy Spider's First Book of Jewish Holidays is a book of Jewish holidays for very young children, with one simple holiday fact per page and illustrated with iconic Sammy Spider art.

 

Sammy Spider's First Yom Kippur is a story about saying "I'm sorry." When Josh breaks the rules and plays ball indoors, he finds himself apologizing not only to his parents, but to Sammy Spider as well.

For Interfaith Families: “I love you just like Papa Jethro loved Gershom”

With Passover and Easter in the next few coming days, many families with members of different faiths will come together to celebrate these holidays. Sometimes difference can make people feel separated, but often love spans this divide.

In Papa Jethro by prolific children's author and rabbi, Deborah Bodin Cohen, the book's only characters, a grandfather and his young granddaughter, are of different religious faiths: 

Rachel and Grandpa Nick have just about everything in common. They like to play with model trains, paint with watercolors, and go to the park. But Rachel goes to synagogue and Grandpa Nick goes to church. “Shouldn’t we have the same religion?” Rachel asks. “You are my grandpa.”

In answer, her Grandpa Nick tells her the biblical story of Jethro, Moses’ non-Jewish father-in-law, whose relationship with his grandson Gershom is a model of love and respect. With warm watercolor artwork and a gentle storyline, Papa Jethro sensitively looks at the issue of interfaith families and reminds us that the Bible has timely lessons for every generation.
Stories can have the power to connect children and grandparents in special ways. This book would be a lovely way for a non-Jewish grandparent to connect with their Jewish grandchildren, making real Grandpa Nick's sentiment to Rachel: “I love you just like Papa Jethro loved Gershom.” 

Want the book in time for a Passover visit?
Get the eBook now from Kar-Ben's parent company, LernerBooks.com.  Or, order a paperback or hardcover copy directly from Kar-Ben.