As a Jew that is both Ashkenazi and Persian that lives in Hong Kong where I’m raising my Jewish Chinese children, I see Judaism for its rich diversity. I’m passionate about changing people’s perceptions about what Jews look like and where we hail from. We are not a single story. To further that goal, in 2009, I founded Asian Jewish Life - a journal of spirit, society, and culture, have penned book chapters and articles on Jewish Asia, have written children’s books about communities that are Jewish&, and have lectured internationally on related topics. These books are about Jewish communities, but they’re really about family and tradition. Read diverse books!
Long ago, in the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, a girl named Zhen Yu wanders away from her father at a busy market. A mysterious fortune teller helps Zhen Yu’s father find her, but also warns him his daughter will be bitten by a snake on her wedding night. Years later, as Zhen Yu is dressing for her wedding, there’s a knock on the door. Although it’s her wedding day, she’s not too busy to show kindness to a stranger. She opens the door, sticking her hairpin into the silk wall, unknowingly killing the lurking snake.
“It was the mitzvah of giving to the poor that kept you safe,” says her father. Based on the Talmudic tale of Rabbi Akiva’s daughter and a snake.
This book is a beautiful marriage of Chinese and Jewish cultures.
Living in Hong Kong and raising Chinese Jewish children, it was a joy to find another book that shows where these traditions merge. The lively illustrations and simple text make it the perfect way to show these parallels to children. It is a story about the love of family and tradition.
This warm and welcoming New Year celebration invites readers to learn about Rosh Hashanah and Lunar New Year traditions and to reflect on the rich blends of cultures and traditions in their own lives. For this multicultural family, inspired by the author's own, two New Years mean twice as much to celebrate! In the fall, the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah offers an opportunity to bake challah, dip apples in honey, and lift voices in song. In the spring, the Chinese Lunar New Year brings a chance to eat dumplings, watch dragon dances, and release glowing lanterns that light up…
There’s a beautiful rhythm to this book that will keep readers coming back.
Spanish and Ladino are woven into the English text in a way that reflects what it’s like to live within several identities. It is a wonderfully told story about the meaning of home and the importance of tradition. The brightly-colored, rich illustrations make this an easy story to get lost in though home is never far.
A poignant multicultural ode to family and what it means to create a home as one girl helps her Tía move away from her beloved Miami apartment.
When Estrella's Tía Fortuna has to say goodbye to her longtime Miami apartment building, The Seaway, to move to an assisted living community, Estrella spends the day with her. Tía explains the significance of her most important possessions from both her Cuban and Jewish culture, as they learn to say goodbye together and explore a new beginning for Tía.
A lyrical book about tradition, culture, and togetherness, Tía Fortuna's New Home explores Tía…
Osnat and her Dove is so much more than a book that reflects Iraqi Jewish culture.
It is a book that will inspire girls to see the limitless possibilities that they have to choose their own paths. It’s a window into a community and history that readers likely know little about. The layered gouache illustrations create the illusion of texture and make the book even more magical.
Osnat was born five hundred years ago - at a time when almost everyone
believed in miracles. But very few believed that girls should learn to
read.
Yet Osnat's father was a great scholar whose house was
filled with books. And she convinced him to teach her. Then she in turn
grew up to teach others, becoming a wise scholar in her own right, the
world's first female rabbi!
Some say Osnat performed miracles - like healing a dove who had been shot by a hunter! Or saving a congregation from fire!
The Jewish community of Uganda comes to life in this book.
In addition to being a story about family and tradition and the importance of community, it is a look at a community that most readers will have little familiarity with. The illustrations alone transport the reader to a place that is different and at the same time familiar as the message is one that hits home no matter where you live.
Sukkot is Shoshi's favorite Jewish holiday. She and her brothers love to decorate their sukkah, the hut where her family will celebrate. But who will win the Ugandan Abayudaya community's annual sukkah contest? While only one sukkah can be the best, everybody wins when neighbors work together.
This is an important book that represents the forced migration of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Arab lands.
The story is presented in a way that expresses the nostalgia the Iraqi community has for the home they left while also gently painting a picture of the trauma that they experienced. The story expresses the importance of family and tradition.
Tablet Magazine's Best Jewish Kids Books of the Year
Shoham's bangle jingles and jangles, clinks and clacks.
Shoham wears a golden bangle on her wrist, just like her Nana Aziza. Their bangles jingle when they cook, and glitter in the sun. When Shoham and her family must leave Iraq, they are allowed to take only one suitcase each. They may take no jewelry. Shoham has the important job of carrying Nana’s homemade pita bread, which Nana says they will eat when they get to Israel. But when they finally…
This is a picture book created to help children learn how to determine Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, in countries where the summer sun remains high in the sky.
Tova travels with her mother to Alaska during the summer solstice. In the Land of the Midnight Sun, she is uncertain how to tell time because the sun never rises or sets. Tova wonders how she will know when the Sabbath begins or ends. Eventually, she talks to a wise orca. The whale shares her secret to understanding time with a circular sun and reminds Tova of the magic of Shabbat is more than telling time.
A Whale of a Tale: A Sabbath Summer Solstice Story
A Whale of a Tale: A Sabbath Summer Solstice Story is a picture book created to help children learn how to determine Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, in countries where the summer sun remains high in the sky. Tova travels with her mother to Alaska during the summer solstice. In the Land of the Midnight Sun, she is uncertain how to tell time because the sun never rises or sets. Tova wonders how she will know when Sabbath begins or ends. Eventually, she talks to a wise orca. The whale shares her secret to understanding time with a circular sun and…
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