{"id":29364,"date":"2024-12-18T14:55:50","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T14:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/?p=29364"},"modified":"2024-12-24T18:13:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T18:13:23","slug":"books-that-shine-two-inspirational-books-for-kids-this-chanukah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/web-exclusive\/books-that-shine-two-inspirational-books-for-kids-this-chanukah\/","title":{"rendered":"Books That Shine: Two Inspirational Books for Kids This Chanukah\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Heroes of October 7th: Heroic Stories for children<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By<\/span><\/i> Hadassa Ben Ari, Illustrations by Tehila Bar-Hama<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yedioth Books<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tel Aviv, 2024<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

160 pages<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reviewed by Steve Lipman<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hadassa Ben Ari and her family were far away\u2014about fifty miles\u2014from the border of Gaza at her parents\u2019 home in Jerusalem when Hamas terrorists swarmed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to commit unspeakable acts of murder, torture and kidnapping.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the events of that Simchat Torah were not far from her mind.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She had gathered with her children in the family\u2019s shelter; like any children, they wanted to know what had taken place in their country.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How would Ben Ari, a religious poet and editor on maternity leave, explain the hate-motivated pogrom to her seven children?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I don\u2019t tell them what I know about the war, they will get their information from broken sources, from the Internet, from friends or from their imagination. How could I<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0tell children the real story? How could I introduce them to the incredible heroes of our nation?\u201d she asked herself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her answer: instead of focusing on the day\u2019s bloodshed, she would tell her children about \u201cacts of heroism and courage.\u201d About the goodness that arose that day. About people who refused to be victims. About the selflessness that rose above the cruelty of Hamas. About the light that conquered the darkness. Her goal was to write \u201ca story of heroism each day,\u201d to tell \u201cthe Jewish story, the Israeli story.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon after October 7, Ben Ari, who lives in the town of Pardes Hanna, began collecting stories of bravery and posting them online. As the collection grew, a team of volunteers translated the content into English.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The result is <\/span>The Heroes of October 7th<\/span><\/i>, written and edited in consultation with psychologists and trauma experts, omitting graphic details or gory background. While an estimated 170 books have emerged from the October 7 tragedy and its aftermath, Ben Ari\u2019s is one of the few geared specifically to young readers, in both content and style.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The book\u2019s goal is to \u201cexplain the horrors in a way that also protects our children, and to tell them about moments of grace and heroism from the war,\u201d Ben Ari said in an interview with The Times of Israel.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Her writing \u201cproject\u201d had a personal motivation, she explains in the book\u2019s introduction: \u201cto help my children connect to what was going on in the State of Israel.\u201d Then she took her project national: \u201cWe were being warned from every possible source not to expose our children to the horror stories.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What to tell? What not to tell? <\/span><\/i>\u201cWhat then would be ok to show them?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben Ari decided to reach a balance\u2014between the evil of the perpetrators, and the often-life-risking <\/span>chesed<\/span><\/i> of the people who fought back.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe antisemitism which has reared its head in unexpected placers has served as a call to translate these heroic tales into other languages, to let Jewish children worldwide know that there is a tiny country where Jews can always stand proudly,\u201d she writes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The original Hebrew edition was aimed at children aged nine and up; child psychologists suggested that the English version be recommended for children aged eleven and over, and some passages were altered slightly, since \u201cAmericans are so sensitive with their children,\u201d Ben-Ari said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yedioth Books, based in Tel Aviv, plans to publish another two volumes of the 200 stories it has received under Ben Ari\u2019s direction. Profits from the book will be donated to \u201cBrothers for Life\u201d (Achim Le\u2019Chaim), a non-profit organization that aids IDF soldiers injured while serving on active duty.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each short chapter has a catchy title that captures the story\u2019s essence: \u201cMy Brother the Hero.\u201d \u201cGeneral Grandpa.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve Got a Little Girl at Home.\u201d \u201cSagit Saves Kibbutz Erez.\u201d \u201cThe 100-Year-Old Poet.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The book\u2019s goal is to \u201cexplain the horrors in a way that also protects our children, and to tell them about moments of grace and heroism from the war,\u201d Ben Ari said in an interview with The Times of Israel. \u201cI want people from all over the world to read these stories, use them in their schools and tell their grandchildren.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want my children to have their own heroes, beyond Spider-Man and Captain America,\u201d she writes in the introduction. \u201cAnd I mean real people that overcame their personal needs in order to help others.\u201d She emphasized \u201cfriendship, camaraderie, giving, love and the warm Israeli-ness which all came vibrantly to life during the war.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her heroes \u201chad spent their lives working on their <\/span>middot<\/span><\/i> (their positive attributes), and had absorbed the education with which their parents had raised them,\u201d she writes. \u201cHeroes are not suddenly born out of nowhere, and I felt that this what I needed to tell my children.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The book is honest\u2014many of her heroes lost their lives while saving others\u2019\u2014and is meant to be read together with a grown-up; in the beginning are guidelines for parents who share the stories with their children. In the book\u2019s illustrated pages, Ben Ari and other writers tell the stories of seventy-one men and women who earned the title with their quick thinking and instinctive actions.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the individuals profiled were civilians and soldiers, youngsters and Holocaust survivors, farmers and college students, religious and secular<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25ca Grandmother Rachel Edry, from Ofakim, who was taken hostage in her own home and kept the terrorists at bay for several hours by serving them food\u2014notably, cookies. In the end, she was rescued. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25ca\u00a0Fifteen-year-old Gali Ayalon, a computer whiz, who created a map that showed the army on WhatsApp the terrorists\u2019 locations in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25ca\u00a0Yehuda, a champion chess-player-turned-commander who used his skill at anticipating an opponent\u2019s next move to take on terrorists at Kibbutz Nahal Oz.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25ca\u00a0Aner Shapira, an aspiring rapper and IDF officer who defended a group of hiding partygoers at the Nova music festival by repeatedly throwing back the terrorists\u2019 grenades.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25ca\u00a0and Camille, a non-Jewish caregiver from the Philippines who faced down a group of terrorists to protect ninety-five-year-old Nitza.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The stories of people\u2014including non-Jews such as a Bedouin, an Arab-Israeli, an emigrant from Eritrea, and a member of the army\u2019s Canine <\/span>unit<\/span>\u2014from various professions and parts of Israeli society, share a common trait: the willingness, and ability, to act, immediately and forcefully, without thought of the consequences to their own safety. The stories capture the heroes\u2019 \u201cstrength, resilience, [sense of] national unity, and hope,\u201d Ben Ari writes. \u201cThey teach the important value of helping others and rising above personal fears.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ping-Pong Shabbat: The true story of champion Estee Ackerman<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By Ann Diament Koffsky, Art by Abigail Rajunov\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Bee Books<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New York, 2024<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

32 pages<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reviewed by Steve Lipman<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is an illustrated children\u2019s book with very sophisticated themes, like conflicts, decision-making, dedication and self-sacrifice.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ann Koffsky\u2019s story tells about the early tween years of Estee Ackerman, who is now a college graduate and Navi teacher at a day school in suburban Long Island. Ackerman spent her pre-university year at a Jerusalem seminary. As a rising national star player in table tennis (serious competitors don\u2019t call it ping-pong), she faced the dual challenges of participating in matches against fellow highly ranked players, and the choice of whether she would participate in crucial matches on Shabbat.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She always opted not to play on Shabbat\u2014which earned her the reputation of \u201cthe Sandy Koufax of table tennis.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ackerman, who was raised in a Modern Orthodox family and had an extensive day school education, always picked observing Shabbat over competing (even if she could walk to events and technically not violate any halachot). Her choices negatively affected her national rankings and kept her out of important tournaments, thou<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

gh over the years she won several singles and doubles trophies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEstee Ackerman loved Ping-Pong more than anything else,\u201d Koffsky writes in the introduction to her book. Estee was a natural. \u201cShe wanted to play anyone, anywhere, anytime! Except on Saturdays.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Shabbat, Estee would play informally with friends. As many Modern Orthodox families do.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But no tournaments.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Estee \u201cloved and honored the Jewish tradition of the Sabbath,\u201d Koffsky writes. \u201cOn Shabbat, Estee shared long meals with her family and friends. On Shabbat, Estee went to synagogue and connected with G-d. It was the day when she felt the most Jewish.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Koffsky, a veteran author who lives in the Ackermans\u2019 neighborhood, tells how young Estee was introduced to the sport in the basement of the family home by her father (he wanted his daughter and her older brother, Akiva, to get physical exercise and reduce their time on electronic devices).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The book shows Estee\u2019s early potential in ping-pong\u2014soon she was able to beat her ping-pong-proficient father and sibling.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019re ready to sign up for tournaments so you can win against people besides me and Akiva,\u201d Estee\u2019s father told her.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes!\u201d she cheered. She played and practiced all the time. But Shabbat was different. \u201cFor Estee, Shabbat wasn\u2019t just an ordinary day like Tuesday or Wednesday. On Shabbat, Estee shared long meals with her family and friends. They\u2019d laugh and tell stories.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor Estee,\u201d the book relates, \u201cShabbat was a day of calm, a break from the exciting <\/span>pop, pop, ker-pops <\/span><\/i>of the week.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Weekdays meant more ping-pong. Koffsky tells how Estee trained; Estee gave up such activities as \u201cshopping, hanging out with my friends\u201d and began entering local competitions. \u201cEstee won. A lot.\u201d First, she checked tournament schedules in advance to ensure she would not have to play on Shabbat. \u201cShe became one of the best Ping-Pong players in the United States,\u201d climbing in her age-group rankings. At one point, she was the third-ranked eleven-year-old female table tennis player in the country.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs important as being a champion [is],\u201d she said, \u201cit\u2019s more important that I represent the Jewish people.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Her presence at out-of-town tournaments, in which she took part wearing a modest, loose-fitting T-shirt and long skirt, necessitated shlepping kosher food and often arranging for home hospitality with local Orthodox families. In time she became a known quantity and was asked to give speeches about her unique athletic success.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though she set her sights on competing in the Olympics, she did not qualify in 2016 or 2020. She wasn\u2019t in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris; the US qualifying tournament was held on Taanit Esther, and this Esther fasted, knowing she would not be at full strength for the day\u2019s matches.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now her sights are set on the 2025 Maccabiah Games in Israel.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Koffsky\u2019s book focuses on one tournament, the US National Table Tennis Championships tournament that Estee entered at eleven years old, and on her play-or-pray decision.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In early rounds, she beat competitors of various ages and genders. She moved on. Until the tournament officials informed her that her next match would take place on Friday after sunset.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The book describes Estee\u2019s reaction: \u201cIt\u2019s on Shabbat! Could you please move the game?\u201d she asked the officials. \u201cI don\u2019t play on Shabbat.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The officials\u2019 answer was \u201cNO.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey never moved games,\u201d Koffsky writes. \u201cNot even for Shabbat.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Estee asked her parents what to do, \u201cIt\u2019s up to you,\u201d they answered.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEstee knew gold medal chances didn\u2019t come every day . . . Estee thought hard . . . playing in a tournament on even one Shabbat felt like giving up a piece of herself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEstee made up her mind.\u201d Shabbat won this match.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She forfeited the match, eliminating herself from the competition and from contention for winning the title.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had to choose my religion or the love of the sport,\u201d she said then. Playing on Shabbat would not be \u201cin the spirit\u201d of the day. \u201cThis is not what Hashem would want me to do.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs important as being a champion [is],\u201d she said, \u201cit\u2019s more important that I represent the Jewish people.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She spent Shabbat, Koffsky writes, \u201cat the Shabbat table with her family.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe knew she had made the choice that was right for her.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her pray-not-play decision earned her much favorable publicity. \u201cPeople everywhere read the articles,\u201d Koffsky writes. \u201cA lot of them weren\u2019t Jewish. But many of them were excited to hear about a young girl who had chosen her values over the gold medal.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But that was not the end.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe next year, Estee went back to the US Nationals,\u201d Koffsky\u2019s book reports. \u201cAfter winning game after game, she again made the finals.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis time, it was scheduled on a Monday. And this time, she won the GOLD MEDAL!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to <\/span><\/i>Jewish Action<\/span>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":356,"featured_media":29390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112,68,79,90,518],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chanukah","category-family","category-inspiration","category-reviews","category-web-exclusive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBooks That Shine: Two Inspirational Books for Kids This Chanukah\u00a0 - Jewish Action<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We reviewed two inspirational kids books: "The Heroes of October 7th: Heroic Stories for 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