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Showing posts with the label Talmudic

Review: A Rainy Day Story

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 A Rainy Day Story by Ruth Calderon, illustrated by Noa Kelner Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Kathy Bloomfield Buy at Bookshop.org This very short story is found in Talmud Taanit 24b: “Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa was traveling along a road when it began to rain. He said before God: Master of the Universe, the entire world is comfortable, because they needed rain, but Ḥanina is suffering, as he is getting wet. The rain ceased. When he arrived at his home, he said before God: Master of the Universe, the entire world is suffering that the rain stopped, and Ḥanina is comfortable? The rain began to come again.” The Talmudic Scholar and former Knesset member Ruth Calderon simply, yet eloquently expands upon it. The addition of beautiful watercolor and colored pencil illustrations by Noa Kelner provide the strong visual associations with suffering and comfort that will lead to further discussion about the appropriateness of asking God to

Review: Nicanor's Gate

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Nicanor's Gate by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Alida Massari Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel Kamin Buy at Bookshop.org Nicanor’s Gate by Eric Kimmel was first published by The Jewish Publication Society in 1979 with illustrations by Jerry Joyner (1938-2019). The undersized 7x7 inch trim had lengthy, dense text in a small font on the right side of each page along with a framed two color black and blue, difficult-to-decipher illustration on the right. It’s no wonder the book hasn’t circulated from my synagogue library since 1990! Fortunately, Eric Kimmel has penned a new, more accessible version of this wonderful, ancient Talmudic tale with lush, radiant full-color, full spread illustrations in earth tones, blues, and pinks by Alida Massari (Under the Sabbath Lamp , 2017). The simple, clear, and concise text tells the story of the wealthy merchant from Alexandria who volunteers to commission new gates for the ruined Temple in Jerusalem. But when the ship carrying N