Chag ha-Sigd

Chag ha-Sigd/ חג הסיגד   is an official Israeli holiday. It's a holiday celebrated on כ"ט בחשוון which is 50 days after Yom Kippur. This year it is celebrated on November 30th.  On this day, the Ethiopian Jewish community fasts, go up to Jerusalem and prays.  In the afternoon, the community breaks its fast and celebrates.  This link gives you a feel for how the holiday is celebrated.

Ethiopian Jewry made incredible sacrifices to come to Israel.  They were beaten, robbed, tortured and killed on their journeys through the desert to get to Sudan.  They spent years in refugee camps waiting to make aliyah.  When they finally reached Israel, they went through a tremendous culture shock living in a modern country.   In this video, former Member of Knesset Shlomo Molla tells of his life in Ethiopia and his dangerous, barefoot trek through the Sudanese desert on his way to Israel. 

The book   אבא חום/ Brown Father was written by נעמי שמואל /Naomi Shmuel.  Shmuel made aliyah from England and her husband made aliyah from Ethiopia.  This is Shmuel’s first book which she wrote to help her son Daniel, who was then in a preschool, deal with the fact that his skin color was different from the other children.  It tells the true life story of Daniel’s father who grew up in Ethiopia, where everyone's skin color is brown .  We learn about his life growing up in a village in Ethiopia and his dangerous trek to Israel.  This is a wonderful book that describes Ethiopian Jewry in simple language, accompanied by lovely pictures. Ages  4-8.

נעמי שמואל/ Naomi Shmuel is a writer, anthropologist, and parenting coach.  She has worked for many years with olim from Ethiopia. Shmuel has written books for all ages from pre-schoolers to adults.

ילדת הקשת בענן/ The Rainbow Child is  probably Shmuel’s most well-known  and popular book.  Meskerem grew up in Katzrin and has just moved to Herzliya.  The daughter of an American father and an Ethiopian mother, she is having a difficult adjustment. She misses her friends and family in Katzrin. She  also has to deal with the fact that the children in her class have never met an Ethiopian Jew. In this book, she learns to understand who she is and where she comes from. Ages 9-11.

Here are two other books that I highly recommend-

מבצע אחים/ Operation Brothers  by רונית לוינשטיין-מלץ  /Ronit Levenstein-Meltz tells the amazing true story of a secret Mossad  (the national intelligence agency of Israel) operation to bring Ethiopians Jews to Israel.  This fictionalized story tells of   the heroism of the Ethiopian Jews (code name “The Brothers”) as well as that of  the Mossad agents during the 1980s. This is one of my favorite Israeli children’s books.  It is so well written and researched.  This book grabs you from the very beginning and keeps your interest throughout, even though you know how the story will end.  Ages 10-13.

היום האחרון של פורים/  The Last Day of Purim by the husband and wife team of  יוסי ואסה וירדן ואסה/ Yossi  Vasa and Yarden Vasa.  Yossi, an Ethiopian Jewish boy, is celebrating his first Purim ever.  He wants to dress up as a ninja like his friend Ofir, but how can he convince his parents to spend money on a costume when there is so little money to go around?  The story, written by Yossi Vasa, is based on Yossi's childhood memories. The pictures were drawn by Israeli-born Yarden Vasa.

 היום האחרון של פורים is a graphic novel (a novel in comic- strip format) which presents   visual storytelling at its best.  The drawings add so much to the story of Yossi's family's life in Ethiopia, their trek to Israel and their adjustment to living in Israel.  This is not only a story of the Ethiopian Jewish experience but the story of all olim who move to Israel and must adjust to a new language and culture. Ages 11+.

Tip no. 5  In the last few years,  I’ve seen a huge selection  of  Hebrew board books  become available for babies and toddlers. It’s never too early to get a book in a child’s hand and luckily these board books can take a lot of wear and tear!

This cute boy comes from a long line of book lovers!

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't".

Every Holocaust survivor has a unique story to tell.  Every time I read  a true-life  Holocaust story, I think of the above quote by Mark Twain.

העדי של עדי/ Adi’s Locket by נאוה מקמל-עתיר/Nava Macmel-Atir  is based on a Holocaust survivor’s true story.   Right before Adi’s 8^th birthday, Adi received a locket as a gift from her grandmother Savta Roza.  The locket had been given to Savta Roza by her own grandmother when Savta Roza was eight years old.  Ten years later as the Germans invaded her town, Roza hid the locket in the family piano.  Saved by a friend of the family, she was hidden in a monastery until the end of the war.  After the war, Roza and her parents returned to their home to find not a piece of furniture was left.  After many years, how was the lost locket eventually found?  Ages 9-10.

נאוה מקמל-עתיר/Nava Macmel-Atir  is an author, playwright,  and poet.  She writes books for children of all ages as well as adults. Her best-known books are   her children’s book העדי של עדי  and her adult novel אות מאבשלום/ A Letter  from Avshalom.  

נקודה למחשבה/  A Spot for Thought  (The title is a play on words which is hard to translate).  The book tells the story of a princess born to the tiny kingdom of Ashleer.  She is the first princess ever to be born without a beauty mark above her upper lip!  The only solution was to have a beauty mark painted on the princess early every morning. What happens one morning when the royal painter oversleeps?  Does the princess even care about her ”beauty mark”? Ages 7-9.

מבחן קבלה/ The Audition  is a coming- of- age book for young teens ages 12- 14.  Sol, the daughter of a Russian oleh family, is having a roller coaster of a year.   She doesn’t get a role in the local play, she has an argument with her best friend, and she’s shunned by a group of girls in her class.  She meets a boy and there is an instant attraction. With all this going on, Sol will also help a young girl running from the police, and the result of that help will change everything.

Tip no. 4    Invite Hebrew into your home!  But building up a library of Israeli children’s books can be expensive.  You can save money by buying books at your local second-hand bookstore.  Over the next few months, I will be posting the names and contact information for second- hand books stores all around the country.  I’m starting today with my two favorite bookstores.

דני ספרים/ Dani Sefarim, רח' אבן ישראל 3 , Jerusalem,  02-6248293.  This  second-hand bookstore is just around the corner from the full price  Dani Sefarim store which is on the corner of Yaffo St. and King George St.  I have been buying second-hand children’s books at this store for at least 20 years.

  

The store is located in the underground parking of  the Modiin Azrielli Mall.

ESRA Bookshop, Azrieli mall, first parking level, end of row 18, near the exit to Emek Hachula, Modiin, 08-6346528. Only this ESRA Bookshop sells children’s books in Hebrew.  The ESRA bookshops in Ra’anana and Binyamina only sell books in English.

Rain, Rain, Rain

My Israeli-born children were always as excited by the first rain of the season as I used to be by the first snow fall. The book מגפיים/Boots by מרים רות/

Miriam Roth brings that excitement to the reader.  Tsafrir can’t wait to get his first pair of shiny, red boots and splash around in the mud with them.  Recently, a new edition of this book came out with a new name מגפיים אדומים /Red Boots and new illustrations.  The old edition is on the left side and the new edition is on the right.  Which one do you and your children prefer?

   

   

מרים רות/ Miriam Roth (1910-2005) has written some of the most beloved children’s books in Israel.  She was a respected educator with degrees from Hebrew University, Columbia University and from the City College of New York.  She also studied at the Bank Street College of Education.  Roth started writing in her early 60’s and never stopped.  Her books are for children ages 3-6.  Her iconic trio is -

Hot Corn -  תירס חם

Yael’s House   - הבית של יעל

A Tale of Five Balloons -  מעשה בחמישה בלונים

תירס חם  is the story of a boy named Ofir.   Ofir sings about hot corn and soon has a whole parade of children following him and singing the refrain בים-בם-בם תירס חם, תירס חם בים-בם-בם (try singing it out loud – it’s fun to do).

הבית של יעל is the story of  Yael, who keeps  looking for the perfect house for herself.  She finally finds the perfect crate for her house and goes inside. All of a sudden she hears noise from outside. What's happening to her crate while she is still inside!?

מעשה בחמישה בלונים   is the story of five children and five balloons.  After three of the balloons burst, there is the famous refrain "זה סופו של כל בלון" (that’s the end of every balloon).  As the last balloon flies away, the children wave goodbye. But what happened to the first balloon?

Tip no. 3  Read  aloud to your children!  Start from when they are infants and continue as long as you can.  Reading a book aloud in Hebrew will enrich everyone's vocabulary and provide a relaxing, fun end to the day. 

I invited my 2nd graders' stuffed animals to a slumber party in the library.  Here I am reading them  a bedtime story before they went to sleep.

How Do You Say "Book Series" in Hebrew?

ספרי סדרות  is the correct translation of  book series.   You can also go the library and just ask for  the סדרות.

Most kids love series books.   Once they find a series that they enjoy, they are hooked!  They love the characters, the  plot and knowing that the book is at just the right reading level.  Every time they open up a new book in the series, they just know that   they are going to have a good time.  They don’t have to check out the picture on the cover and the blurb on the back of the book. They don’t have to spend the time and effort   trying to figure out if they will like the book or not. Series books are ideal  for reluctant readers and for olim children  who are beginning to  read  Hebrew books.

/ גלילה רון-פדר-עמית Glila Ron -Feder-Amit is without a doubt the most prolific children’s series author in Israel.  What’s so   amazing  about her  is  not   just that she has written so many series but  that some of these series have more than 60 books in them!  Glila Ron-Feder-Amit   has written several  hundred children’s books, That includes not only series books but also many stand-alone books. 

She and her husband were also foster parents to ten children.  Their experiences are the basis of her series on  ציון כהן  which is called  אל עצמי /About Myself.  Because this blog post is about   Glila Ron- Feder – Amit’s series for 7-10 year-olds,  אל עצמי   will have to wait for another post. 


Here are four of her most popular series:

טולי תעלולי/Tricky Tuli -  Tuli's  parents are divorced and she lives with her father who manages a vacation village. Tuli, a really sweet girl, and her four best  friends have all sorts of adventures.  My younger daughter loved this series when she was in second grade. Ages 7-9.

ג'ינג'י/Red -  Udi Sachar (the Redhead) 

is the leader of  a group of children

 who live in Jerusalem.  They have all sorts of adventures and solve all sorts of mysteries.  They have been having a great time   since 1980!  The  first  book in the series is  called
ג'ינג' או המרגל מדירת הגג/Red or the Spy from the Penthouse  Apartment.  Gingi and his friends think that Gingi’s   Russian neighbor could be a spy!  Ages 8-10.

מנהרת הזמן/Time Tunnel -  the series is about Dan , a 10 –year- old boy from Jerusalem who finds a time tunnel.  He and his friend Sharon and occasionally other people travel back   and forth in time and learn quite a bit about Jewish and Israeli history. For example, they have learned about The Six Day War, The Dreyfus Affair, Herzl, The   Battle for Eilat, NILI,   Menachem Begin and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The time tunnel has some very unusual ways of getting them back and forth from other time periods.  Each time the tunnel uses   a unique and different way to get them from place to place. What would you think if someone was knocking underneath the floor of your bedroom, a part of your floor lifted up and into your room appeared a man with a mustache speaking Arabic.  And you understood the Arabic!

Not every child loves history but it’s rare to find a child who doesn’t like this series.  Glila Ron –Feder –Amit does an amazing job of bringing  Israeli and Jewish history to life for Israeli children! Ages 8-10.

סירת המדע/ Science Patrol -  If your child loves to learn about science, nature, and technology, this is the series for her/him. Omri and his sister Adi use the power of their imagination to find out about  allergies, electricity, oil,  memory, etc.   In the first book of the series הקרב נגד הסטרפטוקוק הרשע/ The Battle against the Evil Streptococcus, Omri and Adi  want to understand how antibiotics work.  They use their imagination to shrink themselves into their mother’s antibiotic capsule and off they go to battle. Ages 8-10.

TIP  no. 2  The Israel Museum has a  wonderful children's library .  What makes this library unique is that its main focus is on illustrations.  Each book is arranged on the shelf by the illustrator's last name and not the author's. It's fun to take a break in this non- lending library and read some English and Hebrew books.

 The Youth wing also has art classes and all sorts of special activities for families.