Review: Passover on Everest
Passover on Everest
by Rachelle Burk, illustrated by Craig Orback
Intergalactic Afikoman, 2025
This nonfiction picture book introduces us to Nikki Bart, a young Jewish climber. Together with her mother, she scaled mountains of all sizes, beginning with Masada in Israel when Nikki was just a girl. When Nikki moved into teen-hood, she and her mother set an ambitious goal: to climb the highest mountains on each continent, beginning with their native Australia. They carried out this plan, from Denali to Kilimanjaro. The only one remaining was Everest.
Nikki and her family were also Jews who observed Passover, with a beloved seder where Nikki would share her adventures with those in attendance. It turned out that Nikki and her mother's trip to Mount Everest would coincide with Passover. They formed a relationship with their Buddhist sherpa, who was intrigued by the holiday. To their shock, the sherpas arranged for a makeshift Passover seder for daughter and mother at the high-altitude Everest base camp.
This is a lovely and stirring story that has everything: death-challenging adventure, strong Jewish roots, and a solid relationship between a mother and a daughter. The illustrations by Orback take us around the globe, and into an unfamiliar world high above the clouds. It's so powerful that I didn't even think about the feminist elements of it until a second reading. That the Sherpas are Buddhist, and care so much for the Barts that they would fashion a seder for them, and participate in it, can renew faith in humanity. It sure did in me.
The Jewish content of this book is excellent and up front. It starts with an ascent of Masada, notes how mountains figure in Jewish text and theology, moves into a Passover seder, and concludes with a seder on Everest. Back matter is particularly helpful to explain the seder plate.
Thank you so much for this excellent review! I am happy and humbled. Xoxo
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