The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

A Mitzvah for George Washington by Rachelle Burk, illustrated by Chiara Fedele Creston Books, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Marcia M. Rosenthal Buy at Bookshop.org A Mitzvah for George Washington is a historical fiction picture book based on an authentic event. On August 17, 1790, Washington arrived in Newport, Rhode Island. The leader of the Hebrew Congregation of Newport prepared for Washington’s visit by writing a letter of gratitude to him for being a “guiding light to religious freedom.”    In this fictional story, the leader tells his daughter Bella that expressing gratitude is a mitzvah. She is so inspired by Washington’s advocacy for freedom of religion that she gathers the children of the Congregation to prepare signs to welcome and thank him. Upon his arrival, Washington is escorted by a large crowd, but the children are obstructed from his view. Undeterred, they make candles to give to Washington the next day, but the children are unable to see him. Bella’s final

Space Torah: Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman’s Cosmic Mitzvah by Rachelle Burk, illustrated by Craig Orback Intergalactic Afikomen, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Space Torah tells the story of astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, who flew into space five times between 1985 and 1996. In its opening pages, this beautiful picture book brings readers back to Hoffman’s childhood and adolescence, when his dreams of going into space begin in earnest. When he is finally able to join a space mission, he feels profound peace and gratitude in the vastness of the cosmos and thinks about God being up there with him. He even brings Jewish items with him on his missions- a siddur, a dreidel, a mezuzah. On his flight on the space shuttle Columbia, he brings a miniature Torah scroll and as he floats in zero gravity, he performs the mitzvah of reading from the Torah. Space Torah ’s strength comes from the way it shows the deep connection that Hoffman feels between himself a

Matzah Ball Chase by Rachelle Burk, illustrated by Brittany Lakin Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishers), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Chava Pinchuck Buy at Bookshop.org There is, of course, “On Top of Spaghetti.” Then there’s The Matzah Man by Naomi Howland (Clarion Books, 2002), The Matzo Ball Boy by Lisa Shulman (Puffin Books, 2007), and The Ball of Clay that Rolled Away by Elizabeth Lenhard (Two Lions, 2012). This latest tale of silliness and runaway Jewish food has a different spin. The rhyming couplets describe the pursuit of Savta’s matzah ball through Israel, from the amazing Baha’i Gardens in Haifa, to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem (the City of Gold), then to the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea, and Masada. The matzah ball finally ends up in Eilat, the southernmost city in Israel, and playful dolphins take it out in the Red Sea. The moral of the story – make matza squares instead of balls! The use of “savta” as grandmother will alert the reader that the

She's a Mensch! Jewish Women Who Rocked the World by Rachelle Burk and Alana Barouch, illustrated by Arielle Trenk Intergalactic Afikomen, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Intergalactic Afikomen In this collection of short biographical sketches, authors Rachelle Burk and Alana Barouch (a mother and daughter team) tell readers about twenty Jewish women of extraordinary achievement. Yes, the book includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a few other well-known luminaries, but She’s a Mensch also offers readers a glimpse into the lives of women whose stories are not often told. Some of the stars of the book are people readers have probably never even heard of, such as Australian mountaineers Cheryl and Nikki Bart, a mother-daughter team who climbed the highest peaks of all seven continents. Activist April N. Baskin and scientist Nalini Nadkarni are examples of Jews of color discussed. Each of the nineteen, two-page spreads includes a four-line poem, a paragraph of