December 09-January - Washtenaw Jewish News

New kids’ books hitting the shelves for ChanukahBy Penny SchwartzBOSTON (JTA)—From all corners of theglobe, to under the sea and above the skies, anew crop of children’s books for Chanukahtakes readers on a worldwide spin with delightfuland informative books for kids of all ages.Hanukkah Around the Worldby Tami Lehman-Wilzig,illustrated by Vicki WehrmanKar-Ben; $16.95 hardcover; $7.95 paper; ages 8-11Move over latkes, make room for precipizi.And sufganiyot, debla cookies andburmelos. These are among the traditionalsweets eaten in Jewish homes from Italy toIsrael, Tunisia and Turkey during the eightdayFestival of Lights. Recipes for the treatsare featured in Hanukkah Around the Worldby Israeli-American children’s writer TamiLehman-Wilzig. The illustrated traveloguetakes young readers to eight faraway placesaround the globe.First stop, the Israeli city of Modi’in, theancient biblical home of the Maccabees wherethe Chanukah story began 2,000 years ago. Todaythe city comes alive to celebrate its belovedholiday with a relay race to Jerusalem and eightdays of kid-friendly festivities, Lehman-Wilzigwrites in an e-mail from her home in Israel.Each of the eight cities featured includes ashort fictional story that highlights local customs,historical notes, current events and easyto-followrecipes. Back pages include Chanukahpotpourri from other locales and a glossary.The custom that most impressed Lehman-Wilzigwas in Turin, where a customconnects the summertime observance ofTisha B’Av, commemorating the ancientAt Chanukah, lighting up the tzedakah stairwayBy Edmon J. RodmanLOS ANGELES (JTA)—What lights the Festivalof Lights? What really ignites the eightdays, turning them into a hot winter glow?Is it the oil, the candles, the songs, the latkes,the gifts?What would you give for an answer?It’s dark and I am walking to Canter’s, a famousLos Angeles delicatessen, to buy a halfdozenbagels. I see by the blue and white cookiesin their bakery window that it’s Chanukah.Near the entrance, seated on a crate, is a guywho appears to be homeless. Is this his home?As I pass he holds out a paper cup andshakes it. Coins jingle.“Any spare change?” he asks.It’s an exchange that happens daily in bigcities and small, at the Mobil station, outsidethe Piggly Wiggly, in the mall parking lot,outside the restaurant. No matter where orhow high up you live, it happens. It’s happenedto me in Beverly Hills.The question is always same: “Do youhave any change?” Yet our responses vary.At Chanukah time or anytime—on thestreet, at your door, in the mail or online—there are many ways you can respond to requestsfor tzedakah.Maimonides, the influential 12th centuryJewish philosopher, wrote that there are“eight degrees of tzedakah, each higher thanthe next.” That is, eight distinct, clarifyingways you can respond to human need. Thedestruction of the Temple, with Chanukah,recalling the rededication of the Temple.“It’s a wonderful way to close the circleand is a custom to be cherished,” she writes.Menorah Under the Seaby Esther Susan HellerKar-Ben, $17.95; ages 4-8Menorah Under the Sea is a photo essaystylebook that follows the explorations ofDavid Ginsburg, a marine ecologist fromLos Angeles who takes readers on an adventureto McMurdo station in Antarctica. Thejournal-like narrative describes how Ginsburgand his research partner, who arrivedin Antarctica on the first night of Chanukah,use rubber dry suits to emerge under thetreacherous waters.While collecting sea urchins and starfishfor his research, Ginsburg is inspired suddenlyto create a menorah on the sea floorusing the neon-like sea urchins and starfish.Captured on film, and reproduced in thebook, the glowing menorah is a sparklingand inspiring wonder. Notes at the book’send explain that sea urchins are invertebratesand have no central nervous system. DuringGinsburg’s menorah assembly, readers arereassured that no animals were harmed.degrees are like steps progressively rising;kind of an early stairway to heaven.Proverbs tell us that a “mitzvah is a lamp.”On Chanukah we can light up the nights withgiving. Consider each step of the tzedakahstairway a candle that is lit each night; eachlight is an act of giving tzedakah, of doingjustice in the world.The lowest level is giving like a Grinch,too little and with a cheapster attitude, aswhen a panhandler is in your face and youfeel put out.“Do I look like a sucker?” you wonder.“Isn’t there an agency for this?” you think. Soyou flip him a dime.The countering Jewish idea in play here isfrom Devarim, Deuteronomy: “Give to himreadily,” it says, “and have no regrets.”The second step is the sunny side of thefirst—still giving too little, but with a smile.Like when a condolence card comes aroundat work and you pull a five out of your walletwhen it’s full of twenties. Devarim alsotells us when considering the needy, “do notharden your heart and shut your hand … .”How much is too little? Hey, this isn’t aseasonal piece on tipping but on doing justice.Do you need an accountant to paint youa picture?The third step is giving as much as isneeded, but waiting until someone asks.A tough standard, as most of us don’t giveThe Rabbi and the Twenty-Nine Witchesby Marilyn HirshMarshall Cavendish, $17.99; ages 4-9This is a republication of a Jewish children’sclassic, by the late Marilyn Hirsh, aninternationally acclaimed, award-winningartist and writer. Hirsh brings a light-heartedtouchto thisold legendfromthe Talmudabout a cavefull of witches,frightenedvillagers, thefull moon anda wise rabbi. Herwhimsical blackand-whiteline illustrations,withblue throughout, willdelight readers; eventhe wicked witches aremore slapstick than frightening.Hirsh, who died of cancer in 1988, was aconsummate professional and a uniquely talentedartist, recalls the noted children’s writerDavid Adler, who worked with Hirsh whilehe was an editor at the Jewish PublicationSociety. Adler recalls that in the early 1980s,though she was ill and hospitalized, Hirsh illustratedthe JPS’s 50th anniversary edition ofThe Adventures of K’ton Ton, the classic Jewishchildren’s series by Sadie Rose Weilerstein.The Amazing Menorah of Mazeltownby Hal Dresner and Joy Fate,illustrated by Neil ShapiroRed Rock Press, $16.95; ages 4-8.When Molly and Max find an old, grimymenorah in their father’s junk shop, they discoverthe power of the menorah to transformtheir dreary town in the dark days of winter.until we are approached. The idea here is tocut down on the humiliation for the asker.Today, when institutions do much of theasking, the concept updates to what if JewishBig Brothers Big Sisters has to ask X numberof times in letters or e-mail before werespond? Each letter costs, ultimately diminishingyour contribution.The fourth step flips the third: Giving asmuch as is needed before being asked. Thinkabout it. This puts the giver on the lookoutfor tzedakah opportunities. It gets you twitteringwith finds and on the street, takingnote of Jewish social service storefronts.People put their entire energies into lookingfor investments, why not tzedakah? Isn’t breakingthe poverty cycle the best investment?The fifth step includes the previous elementsand adds one more; giving tzedakah when youdon’t know the recipient but the recipientknows you. It’s like having your tzedekah labeled“This gift brought to you by… .”This uneven equation allows for corporateboasting about its contributions: Rememberthose ads that ran after Katrina?Still, it’s tzedakah.Sixth step: The recipient is known to thegiver, the giver is unknown to the recipient.Talk about randomness. Imagine leavinga box of groceries at some unknown yetneedful person’s doorstep. Food pantries likeSova in Los Angeles or the Harvey KornblumHappy Hanukkah, CorduroyBased on the character created by Don Freeman,illustrated by Lisa McCueViking, $5.99; ages 6 months to 3 yearsThe popular, cuddly bear of the classic DonFreeman books enlists the help of his animalfriends to celebrate Hanukkah, lighting the menorah,eating latkes, singing, and playing dreidel.A Chanukah Present for Me!by Lily Karr, illustrated by Jill McDonaldScholastic, $6.99; ages 6 months to 3 yearsThis brightly colored board book is packagedas a gift. Each two-board spread featuresa Chanukah tradition with large format wordsand collage illustrations. There are latkes,dreidels, chocolate gelt or coins, fried doughnutsand, of course, colorful candles in a menorah.In the end, a smiling family celebrates.Jewish Food Pantry in St. Louis, where “confidentialityis strictly enforced,” illustrate thisconcept. As a giver, you know the items aregoing to someone in need, but they neverknow you.No. 7: Anonymous giving and receiving.Anonymity is a tough sell today; we aretrained from birth to put our names on everything.Historically, in the Temple in Jerusalemthere was a darkened room, called “lishkatchasha’im,” literally a “chamber of secrets,”where the giver could leave money and thepoor would receive it without shame.A tzedakah box, or pushke, is a relatedidea. Pick up a box from your favorite Jewishcharity, or make one yourself, and join therighteous ranks of the famous unknown.The highest level, “exceeded by none,”Maimonides tells us, is self-sufficiency as aresult of outright gifts, loans, partnerships or“finding employment.” At a time when everydollar for the poor is debated, Maimonidesreminds us to “strengthen” the poor.In many cities, Jewish free loan societies,Jewish vocational service agencies and internationalagencies such as ORT help movepeople toward self-sufficiency. Handicraftworkshops for the needy elderly and disabledsuch as Yad Lakish in Jerusalem, beautifullykeep this concept alive. n(Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist whowrites on Jewish life from Los Angeles.)Washtenaw Jewish News A December 2009/January 20109