The Book of Life

BUY THE BOOK       🕮    October 27, 2020 is the second anniversary of a horrific act of domestic terrorism, the antisemitic shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. In memory of the lives lost on that day, I bring you a conversation with the editors of Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy . This book highlights the voices of those who were significantly affected by the deadliest antisemitic act on American soil. Although the gunman killed 11 innocent souls, injured 6, and created deep wounds within the community, he was unable to silence them or disconnect them from their ties to their faith.    I got my Masters of Library Science at the University of Pittsburgh and worked for a few years at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville Branch in the 1990s. I love Pittsburgh, so I was especially eager to hear the local perspective from co-editors Beth Kissileff and Eric Lidji . Beth and Eric, can you please each

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST   |  READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    This episode is a call to action for U.S. citizens eligible to vote, and a reminder to listeners everywhere that voting is your superpower. If you are a U.S. citizen eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election, please do so! For information about how to vote, visit VOTE.ORG . In this special 3-part series, some of your favorite Jewish kidlit authors will be sharing why they vote and they'll give some recommendations for ways to keep our democracy healthy. Listen to PART 2 | PART 3 In each episode of The Book of Life, I ask guests to suggest a tikkun olam action, a way to help repair the world. This special series is MY tikkun olam action. Please help me inspire more people to vote by sharing this podcast as widely as you can, today.   FYI, PART 2 explains how voting can be called a "mitzvah," and includes guests Elissa Brent Weissman, Lee Wind, Barbara Bietz, Jane Breskin Zalben, Jacqueline Ju

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST   |  READ THE TRANSCRIPT       🕮    Welcome to Part 2 of our 3 part series, The Mitzvah of Voting. It's October 2020 your favorite Jewish kidlit authors want all eligible US citizens to vote in the upcoming Presidential election, and listeners around the world to vote in their own local elections! My author guests will be sharing why they vote and they'll give you some recommendations for ways to keep democracy healthy. Listen to PART 1 | PART 3 Guest authors include: Elissa Brent Weissman , author of The Length of a String Lee Wind , author of Queer as a $5 Bill and No Way, They Were Gay? Barbara Bietz , author of Sweet Tamales for Purim Jane Breskin Zalben , author of A Moon for Moe and Mo Jacqueline Jules , author of The Generous Fish , Never Say a Mean Word Again , The Hardest Word Anne-Marie Asner , author of the Matzah Ball Books series  Suggestions from guests in this episode: Become a poll worker Add your Representative and Senators to your

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST   |  READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    Welcome to the third and final entry in our series, The Mitzvah of Voting. It's October 2020 your favorite Jewish kidlit authors want all eligible US citizens to vote in the upcoming Presidential election, and listeners around the world to vote in their own local elections. My author guests will be sharing why they vote and they'll give you some recommendations for ways to keep democracy healthy. This time, we will leave you with some musical inspiration to carry you through Election Day. Listen to PART 1 | PART 2 One of today's guests, Sarah Aroeste, is not only an author, she's also a singer songwriter who performs in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish dialect that became the tongue of Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. We'll hear Gracia , a tribute to the medieval Sephardic heroine, Doña Gracia Nasi who lived in the 1500s and saved hundreds of Jews from the Inquisition. The main idea of the song

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY FISH    |    BUY TURTLE     🕮    For this "Pond Life" episode, I paired the books Turtle Boy with Fish Out of Water , to highlight the similar themes I saw in both middle grade bar mitzvah novels. Wonderfully, authors Joanne Levy and Evan Wolkenstein really hit it off and they actually helped to interview each other! In fact, Joanne said she felt like their two books were holding hands and she created this adorable image: And one more thing, I just want to give a shout-out to Sidura Ludwig for becoming a Book of Life supporter at Patreon.com !      Learn More: Buy at Fish Out of Water Buy Turtle Boy   Joanne Levy's website Evan Wolkenstein's website Pardes Center for Jewish Educators curriculum for Turtle Boy Discussion guide for Fish Out of Water BimBam Jewish videos Woolgathering Jo (Joanne's Etsy shop for felted creations)  Guest recommendations: Boosting Black Voices Joanne suggests Drago

BUY THE BOOK     🕮    October 6, 2020 is the book birthday for Miriam Udel 's Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children's Literature ! I was not able to fit an audio interview into The Book of Life's schedule, but to bring your attention to this worthy book I offer you this conversation-in-print with Miriam. Enjoy! THE BOOK OF LIFE: What inspired you to create Honey on the Page ? MIRIAM UDEL : Honey on the Page represents the convergence between my vocation as a language instructor and my avocation as a mother. I sought authentic materials that my second-semester Yiddish students would be able to read profitably and without frustration. At the same time, I was searching for representations of Yiddish-speaking life and childhood that I could share with my own children. When I discovered the large, mostly untranslated and forgotten corpus of Yiddish children’s literature, I knew that I had to create at least one anthology that would help to retrieve these texts for