“It was my father’s passing that put my life on fast-forward, got me thinking about things that no one else my age was contemplating, and ultimately enabled me to write Invisible Tribe.”
In this period before Chanukah, which celebrates the lives of the Maccabees, Guardians of the Flame is a fitting preparation for the observance of the eight days that constitute, in actuality, a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar.
We reviewed two inspirational kids books: “The Heroes of October 7th: Heroic Stories for children,” by Hadassa Ben Ari, and “Ping-Pong Shabbat: The true story of champion Estee Ackerman,” by Ann Diament Koffsky.
The rabbi did not know any of the men and women of Be’eri for whom he undertook to recite Kaddish until September of 2024. Strangers, all. . . . [Except that] now they are connected by the words in Aramaic he recites three times a day.
“The goal of the Seder,” she writes in the book’s introduction, “is to leave everyone on a higher spiritual level.”
The book’s tacit message: you don’t have to be a big macher to do big things.
When we take what is a tragic event and use it to enhance our awareness of Hashem, then the merits can be used as comfort.
Even while mourning, our sights are invariably set on the future.