Apples, Honey, and Books

By Elizabeth Applebaum

First comes prayer. Then comes a delicious holiday meal with plenty of apples and honey. Next is a nice, long nap (unless you have young children, who have never, ever been tired—just ask them). And after that? Rosh Hashanah provides the perfect opportunity for a late afternoon of family reading. But while Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are two of the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar, this doesn't necessarily prove true for publishers. Check in any library or bookstore and you'll find an amazing array of titles with the word "Hanukkah" and a number, as well, with "Passover." Those focusing on the High Holidays are much more limited. If you're looking for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur reading, here are some books you may consider.

THE MAGIC OF KOL NIDRE
By Bruce H. Siegel.
Illustrated by Shelly O. Haas.
32 pages. Kar-Ben Copies, Inc. $6.95.

This story begins with a boy sitting beside his grandfather in the synagogue. It is Yom Kippur, and the two are about to hear Kol Nidre. The grandfather says that the prayer will be chanted three times, and "When Kol Nidre is sung there is magic." Magic! The boy is delighted. But what kind of magic, he wonders? Years later, he still wonders. He goes with his wife and child to the synagogue, but there is no magic. Finally, he is a grandfather himself, and he is in the synagogue with his grandson, and at last he discovers the magic: "It is the people," he says, "The people who every year on Yom Kippur fill the synagogues of the world to hear a simple, sad melody sung in a language most of them hardly know." And why is it sung three times? "First, the cantor sings it very softly for our ancestors...Then he sings the prayer a little louder. This time it's for you and me..." he tells his grandson. "Finally, when he sings Kol Nidre the third time, he sings as loud as he can, so that your children and your grandchildren, and all the children yet to be born can hear it." The story is nicely and simply told and is one of the few holiday books available that will appeal both to children and adults. Be forewarned, however, that the illustrations are not particularly impressive and, at times a bit odd (one drawing shows a cantor apparently singing Kol Nidre; he's holding a microphone, smiling and looking a lot more like he's about to belt out a Led Zeppelin song than a solemn Jewish prayer).

THE WORLD'S BIRTHDAY
By Barbara Diamond Goldin.
Illustrated by Jeanette Winter.
30 pages. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. $4.50.

Daniel knows that it's Rosh Hashanah, and so it's time for a celebration. But how, he wonders, does one throw a birthday party for the whole world? The World's Birthday is the story of his quest. The first challenge: dealing with big sister Naomi, who thinks that a party for the world is "a stupid idea." (Of course she comes around in the end.) Then there's the question of what to eat. That's solved thanks to Mr. Gutman, the baker, who gives Daniel a very big cake. Grandpa advises Daniel to make a card, which he does: "As he drew, he remembered the story Papa had told him of how God created the world. Of how God made darkness and light first, then the sky and the land and all the other things." The family goes outside and presents the cake to the world. Mama helps Daniel light the many candles; then whoosh, along comes a breeze to blow them all out. Daniel calls to the sky, "I hope you remembered to make a wish first." Some Jewish families may take exception to that last line, the book's end (wishing on candles is a decidedly pagan tradition). Still, this is sweet book and one of the best out there for the holidays. Also, the illustrations are exceptional. They're bright and charming and absolutely engaging, offering warm fall trees and delicious-looking bakery concoctions and faces of hope and kindness.

Sophie and the Shofar
By Fran Manushkin.
Illustrated by Rosalind Charney Kaye.
28 pages. Union of American Hebrew Congregations Press. $12.95.
 

This is a great book to read immediately after completing your Rosh Hashanah main course, because it's so sugary you can skip dessert and save the calories. Sophie and her cousin Sasha, a Russian immigrant, are happily cooking and playing until they begin discussing just who will play the shofar. Then an even bigger crises erupts: the shofar is missing. Sophie is certain Sasha stole it. At last Rosh Hashanah is here, and Sophie is with her family at synagogue, and Sasha is there with his, as well. In runs Sophie's dog Farfel, who had buried the shofar and now suddenly comes running in with it just in time (Wow! What a coincidence!). And guess what else happens? Sophie and Sasha become pals again, too. The illustrations in this book are no better than the text, so don't look for fun there. The UAHC publishes some of the best, most innovative Jewish books on the market today. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them.

Yussel's Prayer
Retold by Barbara Cohen.
Illustrated by Michael J. Deraney.
30 pages. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. $3.95.
 

This is probably one of the most enduring Jewish stories: the tale of a little boy (in this case named Yussel) who knows no prayers but, unlike all the adults around him, "prays" from the heart on Yom Kippur by playing a song for God. It's best, when reading this book, to "willingly suspend disbelief." For example, you have to pretend that the rabbi, Reb Meir, would really tell a child to work when he's begging to go to synagogue on Yom Kippur ("The cows must be taken to pasture today," the rabbi says. "The cows don't know it's Yom Kippur. You must do your job, as you do any other time.") You also have to believe that an esteemed rabbi spends most of his time thinking about business on Yom Kippur, and that his sons are planning which restaurants to visit. You also have to believe that the man conducting services doesn't begin the day's concluding services because he has a vision in which "Our prayers weren't acceptable [to God]." You also have to believe in happy endings, as Reb Meir realizes Yussel's great deed and invites him into his house. But that's what stories are all about. And while this book doesn't always ring true, it offers a wonderful message: God yearns to hear the prayers from our hearts, just as our hearts yearn to reach God.

It's Rosh Hashanah
By Ellie Gellman.
Illustrted by Katherine Janus Kahn.
10 pages. Kar-Ben Copies, Inc. $4.95.
 

This is a very cute board book for little children. Follow Benjy and Sara as they mark changes in their lives since last year. They have grown taller. Sara is now able to braid the challah. Benjy knows how to put on his own shoes, and both children can now wish their friends "Happy Rosh Hashanah" in Hebrew.

A Sound To Remember
By Sonia Levitin.
Illustrated by Gabriel Lisowski.
30 pages. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Inc. $15.
 

Like Yussel's Prayer, A Sound To Remember is the story of a boy who seemingly knows nothing, and a community that thinks it does but does not. Jacov is the town joke. "He was a fine boy, but slow of speech and a big clumsy, so that some of the villagers made him an object of scorn ... Even a few of the good wives were known to cluck-cluck-cluck about Jacov should he chance to stumble in their path or stutter a greeting." The exception is the town's rabbi, who invites—of all people—Jacov to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Jacov is terribly fearful, but the rabbi assures him, "Allow God to guide you. All will be well." In an interesting twist, however, all is not well. When Jacov blows the shofar, it sounds terrible. Everyone in the synagogue is angry; "the entire congregation had been cheated of its Rosh Hashanah call, because of clumsy, halting Jacov." Then it is Yom Kippur. As the rabbi stands on the bimah, or platform at the head of the synagogue, he invites Jacov to join him. The rabbi admonishes the congregation: "Jacov performed his duty with love, and so do we receive it. For it is written, 'I desire love, not sacrifice.' Love for each other and for God is more important than ritual.'" And this time the rabbi and Jacov blow the shofar together, and its music is beautiful. This is a nice enough story, though it would have been better had the end seemed not to suggest that Jewish tradition is only nominal in importance. In fact, tradition and ritual help define us as a people, and much of it is mandated by the Torah. Instead, the rabbi could have reminded the congregation that a key aspect of the Torah is love for one's fellow human being.

The Jewish New Year
By Molly Cone.
Illustrated by Jerome Snyder.
36 pages. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. $4.50.
 

If you're looking for the facts, just the facts, and nothing but the facts, you can't do better than this book. The Jewish New Year offers no cute or fun stories, has no deep messages, no activities. But it presents all the information you will need about the holidays, and does so in a clear and interesting way. "The ten days all together are known as Days of Awe," the author writes. "Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called High Holy Days, or High Holidays, because they are so important. The world itself must have begun on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish people say. That was the time the new moon first rose on the new earth. The fresh waters came. The sun shone. Life began." Very nice illustrations, too.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BENI
Story and pictures by Jane Breskin Zalben.
28 pages. Henry Holt. $13.95.

There probably is not a more delightful illustrator than Jane Breskin Zalben. Zalben has written a number of books about Beni the bear, and they are always endearing and much-loved by children. This Rosh Hashanah story tells of Beni and his cousin Max, Beni's grandfather, and a fun family celebration. They eat figs and dates, enjoy apples and honey, and toss bits of bread into the water for tashlich, a ritual in which Jews symbolically cast away their sins. At the end, too, readers get a bonus: a recipe for Tante Rose's round raisin challah. Some books are meant to be checked out from the library, read and enjoyed once or twice, then returned. Happy New Year, Beni is meant to be bought, read and reread, and always enjoyed.