I was saddened today to hear of the passing of Sid Fleishman. Sid was a gifted writer and his contributions to children's literature will continue to enlighten generations of children. More importantly, Sid was a kind and generous man. I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Sid. To honor him, I am re-posting the interview with a heavy heart. Sid, may your memory be a blessing.

Last week at the Jewish Literature for Children conference in Los Angeles, I had the honor of sitting with Newbury author Sid Fleischman. I have read and admired Sid's work for many ... [Link]

When I was a kid, the worst week of the year was the week before Passover. My mom would stop shopping and all we would eat was leftovers. It was rough. I’m still pretty scarred. And hungry. Speaking of eating as a kid, I’ve gotta admit, I’ve always loved gefilte fish except for the end piece [...] [Link]

A few days after my mother died I called T-mobile to cancel her line and to have the family plan moved over to my father’s account. The person I spoke with at T-mobile told me that my mother had to be the one to close and transfer the account. I explained that my mother had [...] [Link]

Posted by Naomi Firestone The PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature is coming up April 26 to May 2, 2010 in NYC www.pen.org/festival, which means that you’ll be able to find some wonderful Israeli authors floating around the city…check out events with: Assaf Gavron Translation Slam, War and the Novel Eshkol Nevo Conversation with Michael Orthofer, Utopia and Dystopia: Geographies of the Possible Alex Epstein Women, Sex, and Fiction; Short Stories: Past, Present, and Future; Translation Slam And, while it doesn’t like he will be at the PEN festival, Etgar Keret will be in town on April 6th at ... [Link]

“Rabbi Yehiel maintained that he had learnt from his teachers never to worry about two things–what can be corrected and what cannot be corrected. What can be corrected should be corrected at once, without any worry. And as for what cannot be corrected, worrying will not help.” –Rabbi Shmuel Avigdor Ha-Cohen. Find more [...] [Link]

Late last year, I finally got around to reading A.J. Jacobs’ Year of Living Biblically. One thing that stuck out for me was Jacobs’ struggles with not checking his e-mail on Shabbat. While he struggled with tougher assignments, like never touching women, his addiction to technology was the toughest to break. And he isn’t the only [...] [Link]

Posted by Naomi Firestone A great review of Aharon Appelfeld’s newest book, Blooms of Darkness: A Novel, here.
Filed under: Jewish Books Tagged: Aharon Appelfeld, Blooms of Darkness, Jewish Books [Link]

The "Friday Finds" meme is hosted by MizB at the Should Be Reading blog. She asks "What great books did you hear about / discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!"

I just had to participate because this very Friday morning I found a wonderful new book awaiting me in a package on my desk in the library: First Rain by Charlotte Herman, illustrated by Kathryn Mitter Albert Whitman .




It's a simple, straightforward story about a little girl whose family makes aliyah moves to Israel . Through the exchange of letters with the Grandma she left behind, we learn ... [Link]

Posted by Naomi Firestone A wonderful piece from Tablet, prompted by Judith Shulevitz’s new book The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time, which excerpts nine Jewish fiction writers on how they’ve handled the theme of the seventh day within their works. Excerpted authors included Elisa Albert, Shalom Auslander, David Bezmozgis, Nathan Englander, Tova Mirvis, Lev Raphael, Jonathan Rosen, and, of course, Philip Roth. Find the excerpts here.
Filed under: Jewish Books Tagged: David Bezmozgis, Elisa Albert, Jewish Books, Jonathan Rosen, Judith Shulevitz, Lev Raphael, Nathan Englander, Philip Roth, Shalom Auslander, The Sabbath World, Tova Mirvis [Link]

Yesterday I blogged about my friend Mat, who’d suddenly decided to bake his own last-minute matzah for Passover. This morning, on the way to the subway, I gave him a pre-Shabbos call. While we talked, I happened to mention that I’d written about him for, oh, the few thousand people who wind up on this [...] [Link]

Posted by Naomi Firestone Looking for a new Haggadah to enhance your Seder this year? Check out this new, beautiful Haggadah from the JDC: In Every Generation: The JDC Haggadah Commentary by Ari L. Goldman, Forward by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin .
Filed under: Jewish Books Tagged: Ari L. Goldman, Haggadah, In Every Generation: The JDC Haggadah, JDC, Jewish Books, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin [Link]

By now, most of us are elbow grease-deep in cleaning our houses for Passover, and getting ready to make that big and most noteworthy of transitions — from cleaning to cooking. If you’re like me, the last thing you want is to take on even more work. Unless, of course, it’s writing just a few [...] [Link]

Posted by Naomi Firestone
Have you seen the Weekly Yiderati from Jewcy we love the name! ? This week’s roundup includes Allen Ginsberg, Kafkacotton, Sam Lipsyte, and more: http://www.jewcy.com/post/weekly_yiderat~
Filed under: Jewish Books Tagged: Jewcy, Jewish Books [Link]

I am still holding out for a holiday where we’re required to enjoy four cups of good whiskey, but until then, I will just have to make do with this four cups of wine business, which isn’t that bad. You can go crazy in the wine aisle trying to choose just the right wines for your [...] [Link]

I went on Ha’aretz yesterday and read an article that made me feel mixed with emotions. I don’t know how I should feel. Should I support the Americans or shouldn’t I? I’m speaking, of course, about the upcoming Simpsons episode where the family takes a trip to Israel. Here’s what you have to understand. And if [...] [Link]

Posted by Naomi Firestone Our wonderful friends over at the Forward are so good at keeping us up-to-date on their literary treasures… Their special Spring book section includes: And On The Seventh Day She Rested: Judith Shulevitz On The Tradition Of Sabbath Re-creation Mark Oppenheimer No Biblical Bodice-Ripper: Milton Steinberg’s Unfinished Novel Lawrence Grossman An Eloquent Meditation on Memory: Blooms of Darkness Ranen Omer-Sherman The Beaten Cannoneer: Seymour Krim’s Unmissable Rants Joshua Cohen A Murder Mystery In Little Palestine Brings Middle East to America Amy Klein
Filed under: Jewish Books Tagged: Aharon Appelfeld, Amy Klein, Blooms of Darkness, Forward, Jewish Books, Judith ... [Link]

Posted by Libi Adler In 2007 Robert Satloff published his book Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust’s Long Reach into Arab Lands. In it he considers the role Arabs played in the Holocaust. North Africa is not often included in discussions about World War II. In fact, Arabs in countries like Tunisia and Morocco assisted the Nazis’ roundup of North African Jews. There was active collaboration with anti-Semitic policies—Arabs helped run Bizerte, one of 60 labor camps for Jews in Morocco and Algeria established by the Vichy government. In an interview, Satloff said that “To a greater extent ... [Link]

Posted by Naomi Firestone This summer, the Third Annual Jerusalem Summer Writing Seminars, sponsored by the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar-Ilan University in Israel will be: June 27-28 9 AM – 4 PM Writing from Character with Elana Feldman While the impulse to write may come from many sources—an image, idea, or first line—character is what makes a work solid. In this two-day workshop we will investigate character, whether it be character in a narrative sense or the character of a landscape or experience. The seminar will consist of intensive writing exercises and workshopping designed to ... [Link]

Erez Safar always has an eye for interesting and unique musical talents. In the past I’ve talked about Erez’s awesome Lecha Dodi vs. Akon remix and the rhyming of Kosha Dillz. This time though, I gotta give a shout out to Erez’s newest prodigy, DeScribe. If you were just to look at DeScribe, you might think [...] [Link]

I know some pretty free and easy rabbis, but I came across a question that even I might squirm before posing to a rabbinic authority. Via The Slog Via Facebook: Anyone know the answer to this: So apparently docs are getting really good at skin grafts using pig skin derivatives called Strattice. There’s a chance they will [...] [Link]

I’m pleased to announce a major development here at MyJewishLearning.com. Recently, we received a significant grant from the Commission on Jewish Identity and Renewal COJIR at UJA-Federation of NY to build a new website aimed at parents of Jewish kids age 0-5. The new parenting website will cover Jewish concerns related to getting pregnant, pregnancy, baby [...] [Link]

No one ever said keeping kosher was easy — or cheap. As we get closer to Passover, things like this become painfully apparent to anyone who’s walking in the vicinity of any supermarket: small bottles of grape juice for $5? Marshmallows for $10!? And let’s not even start with the matzah cakes…. Although, of course, you [...] [Link]

Baby Hitler? Cat Hitler? Both exist. First, let’s cover Baby Hitler. Danish artist Nina Maria Kleivan wanted to prove that everyone starts out the same, and that everyone has the opportunity to either do good or bad. How did she prove it? She did it just like any other normal, rational thinking person would [...] [Link]

We’re in the last week of submissions for the Best Seder Ever contest. So if you’ve got a great Passover story, send it to us, quick. In the meantime, though, we’re sharing our own stories of favorite Passovers from the MyJewishLearning staff. In the Passover Hagaddah, we read that each person is supposed to lirot the [...] [Link]

My kitchen is overflowing with gadgets and appliances. We have a seltzer maker, 2 crock pots, a hot water heater, a coffee maker, a toaster, a coffee grinder, a food processor, two hand mixers, and a few I’m embarrassed to even admit we own. Also, I’m dying for an ice cream maker. But on Passover, [...] [Link]