Almost as Told: Tales of Our Holidays

Why is Yohanan, Nevo’s dad, hiding in a cave? How did Nevo find a small jar of oil in the Temple in Jerusalem, and how is that discovery connected to the  candles that we light on Hanukkah? How was Queen Esther chosen? What happens when King Ahasueros has insomnia, and how was the wicked Haman’s mischief foiled? In what way was Moses rescued from a sad fate? What did Miriam reveal to him by the Nile when he was grown up, and how did he take the Israelites out of Egypt? What bold plan did Naomi and Ruth devise? What did Boaz promise Ruth on the threshing floor in Bethlehem, and what is the link between the Book of Ruth and the festival of Shavuot? Why is it a custom to turn your pockets inside out and shake them well on Rosh Hashanah and why, afterwards, do you feel as light as a feather, as if a heavy weight has been removed from your shoulders?

This book tells the beautiful stories of the Jewish festivals, as relayed from generation to generation over the centuries. Retold by Judith Rotem, these tales give the Jewish myths a fresh, up-to-date light and lead today’s readers to identify with the heroes of the past and with the children who lived then. “I have tried to bring the past closer to the present through the brave and clever children who are the heroes of the stories,” Rotem writes in the introduction to the book. “They can be told like this, because the festivals belong to all of us.”