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Passover Haggadah from Germany, written by Abraham Sofer in 1756

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Spotlight: Megillat Esther

Purim begins with the Fast of Esther at sundown this evening. The ceremony begins with the reading of the Megillah, or Scroll of Esther. Here we present the 2007 facsimile of an 18th-century megillah held by the Gross Family of Israel (one of the finest collections of Judaica in the world). The facsimile was produced by Facsimile Editions of London in an edition of 295 copies. This company is well known for producing state-of-the-art facsimiles of Hebrew illuminated manuscripts. This was their first attempt at printing a reproduction directly onto sheepskin parchment, rather than the usual method of having paper milled to the weight and texture of parchment to create a simulation. The original scroll case was also carefully reproduced by hand in sterling silver.

This particular scroll includes miniatures produced by an anonymous artist of virtually every scene of the story. A curious aspect of this megillah is that the text was written after the illuminations were completed; a reversal of the common practice.

Find this facsimile in the catalog here.

— MAX

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These stories live on, as do the resilience of the Jewish people! Am Yisrael Chai ✡️💪📚

[readingbooksinisrael]

@mayalice18

לגבי זה ששומרי הערים זה פנטזיה אורבנית, צודקת. כעסתי ולא קראתי את כל הפוסט.

האמת היא שגם בלוויתן מבהל יש אלמנטים של פנטזיה אורבנית אפילו שזה די פנטזיה פורטאלית (דלתית? שערית?).

זה מעניין דווקא שבהמון מהפנטזיה הישראלית שהיא פנטזיה שערית (זהו, ככה קוראים לזה מעכשיו) הפנטזיה נכנסת קודם לעולם הדמות הראשית ולא ההפך. זה למה ככ מפתיע במלאדאר שהדמויות נופלות לתוך הפנטזיה בלי שום הקדם (וזה בכוונה, כי זה היה סטירה של פנטזיה בריטית שכזאת).

[readingbooksinisrael]

Speaking of Urban Fantasy, I can’t imagine any taking place in Israel. Every time I try I have this scene in my head where the protagonist gets their call to adventure by finding this scroll or whatever and start reading it. And then out of nowhere the ghost of Hilel appears and says, “no, that’s wrong and this is why: “, and then the ghost of Abaye comes up and says, “no, the scroll is wrong but Hilel is wrong too and this is how: “, and then three bus drivers, two old lady best friends who were waiting for the bus and one store-owner all join the argument and the rest of the book is spent arguing about what each word in the scroll means and nobody gets anything done

[readingbooksinisrael]

I looked it up and there is! https://www.penguin.sg/book/winter-blue-fairy-child-the-gems-of-power/

Winter Blue is classic Israeli kids' fantasy but I would more highly recommend another-Uncle Leo by Yannetz Levi (or, honestly, any else of Eshkar Erblich-Brifman's books, I just prefer the ones without romance). Also, a real classic is Galila Ron Feder Amit's Time Tunnel series, though it's not fantasy except for the existence of the Time Tunnel itself

Speaking of Urban Fantasy, I can’t imagine any taking place in Israel. Every time I try I have this scene in my head where the protagonist gets their call to adventure by finding this scroll or whatever and start reading it. And then out of nowhere the ghost of Hilel appears and says, “no, that’s wrong and this is why: “, and then the ghost of Abaye comes up and says, “no, the scroll is wrong but Hilel is wrong too and this is how: “, and then three bus drivers, two old lady best friends who were waiting for the bus and one store-owner all join the argument and the rest of the book is spent arguing about what each word in the scroll means and nobody gets anything done

[readingbooksinisrael]

תודה! כתבתי כמה סצנות לפני שהשתעממתי ממנו (כתבתי את הפוסט הזה באמצע בגרויות ואז סיימתי בגרויות) אבל אם תרצה אני אוכל להעלות אותם לטאמבלר.

צודק, לא מכירה גאליס. היה אסור לי טלוויזיה :( אני אני כן מכיר את מלאדאר, אמא קסומה, הלוויתן מבבל, אשכר ארבליך-בריפמן ועוד... אז זה הכי מצחיק שאת רוב ההשראה לסיפור הזה לקחתי מספר ישראלי לא פנטסטי בעליל (שלם יותר מלב שבור)

Speaking of Urban Fantasy, I can’t imagine any taking place in Israel. Every time I try I have this scene in my head where the protagonist gets their call to adventure by finding this scroll or whatever and start reading it. And then out of nowhere the ghost of Hilel appears and says, “no, that’s wrong and this is why: “, and then the ghost of Abaye comes up and says, “no, the scroll is wrong but Hilel is wrong too and this is how: “, and then three bus drivers, two old lady best friends who were waiting for the bus and one store-owner all join the argument and the rest of the book is spent arguing about what each word in the scroll means and nobody gets anything done

[readingbooksinisrael]

כן, קראתי אותו. קראתי האמת היא את כל הספרים שאנשים כתבו פה חוץ מאחד (אני מניחה שהוא לא נמצא בספרייה שלי אם לא מצאתי אותו).

זה ממש מעצבן אותי ומצחיק כאחד כי בדרך כלל האנשים שלא קוראים את הurl שלי הם אנטישמים שלא חושבים עליי כבן אדם, אבל הפעם אילו היו יהודים שחושבים שאני לא חושבת עליהם כבן אדם!

Speaking of Urban Fantasy, I can’t imagine any taking place in Israel. Every time I try I have this scene in my head where the protagonist gets their call to adventure by finding this scroll or whatever and start reading it. And then out of nowhere the ghost of Hilel appears and says, “no, that’s wrong and this is why: “, and then the ghost of Abaye comes up and says, “no, the scroll is wrong but Hilel is wrong too and this is how: “, and then three bus drivers, two old lady best friends who were waiting for the bus and one store-owner all join the argument and the rest of the book is spent arguing about what each word in the scroll means and nobody gets anything done

[readingbooksinisrael]

היי, אני ישראלית :) זה היה פוסט שדווקא אוהב את התרבות הישראלית שכולם מנסים לעזור :) וגם צוחק על עצמנו כי אנחנו עם שצוחקים על עצמנו :) אילו לא פנטזיות אורבניות גם אם אני מאד אוהבת את מלאדר :)

Speaking of Urban Fantasy, I can’t imagine any taking place in Israel. Every time I try I have this scene in my head where the protagonist gets their call to adventure by finding this scroll or whatever and start reading it. And then out of nowhere the ghost of Hilel appears and says, “no, that’s wrong and this is why: “, and then the ghost of Abaye comes up and says, “no, the scroll is wrong but Hilel is wrong too and this is how: “, and then three bus drivers, two old lady best friends who were waiting for the bus and one store-owner all join the argument and the rest of the book is spent arguing about what each word in the scroll means and nobody gets anything done

[readingbooksinisrael]

I watched happily as over the past few years goodreads reviews for Jewish books went from "1 star. I disliked this book because I didn't relate to the characters because they're Jews." to "5 stars! How great to learn more about another culture!"

Since 7/10 more people have liked my posts that have blood libels on their blogs than people who don't.

You don't like Jews. You like fictional Jews.

it has actually been insane watching the same people who wring their hands about antisemitic tropes in harry potter or disney movies or gothic lit or whatever then go on and reblog disgustingly antisemitic posts on here… like oh i see, to you antisemitism is just a politically incorrect literary trope

[readingbooksinisrael]

first official day and second night of chanukah tonight so here's the other rejected puzzle design i made <3

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I made a little zine!

You can download and print it yourself here

[readingbooksinisrael]

Title: Frightful’s Mountain

Author: Jean Craighead George

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review: The last in the trilogy I wasn’t expecting much as I hadn’t enjoyed the previous novel. While it started off slow in the beginning, seeming more recap of past events then entirely new story, it did manage to grasp my attention. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when the past two novels had been focused on Sam’s story while this was Frightful’s but it was written in a way that felt natural to the conclusion of the trilogy. I will say it was slow going multiple times throughout but all in all I eventually found it enjoyable. Wouldn’t say I’m the target audience so it might be more enjoyable to younger elementary school age readers.

[readingbooksinisrael]

HERE IT IS

NO MORE SECRETS!

Since PW rights report blurbs are super short here’s my longer blurb:

On the night before her wedding, 17-year-old Sorel leaps from a window and runs away from her life. To keep from being discovered, she takes on the male identity of Isser Jacobs—but it soon becomes clear that there is a real Isser Jacobs, and people want him dead. Her mistaken identity takes Sorel into the dark underworld of her small city in the Pale of Settlement, where smugglers, forgers, and wicked angels fight for control of the Jewish community. In order to make it out, Sorel must discover who Isser Jacobs really is—and who she wants to be.

[readingbooksinisrael]

this shalom aleichem

is shaky and sad

and every verse rhymes

with a tear

the candle flames (lit

seventeen minutes late)

are alight

unlike any hearts here

the angels of shabbos

both look the scene over

then turn to each other

and both heave a sigh

may it be like this next week

the evil one utters

amen

says the good one

the evil asks

why?

this home is a mess

and the people are too

yes, the food is prepared

but that’s all they could do

upset and unsettled

the bed left unmade

the table unset

and the lighting delayed

this shabbos is laden

with hurt and with pain

so how can you see this

and answer ‘amen’?

may it be like this next week

the good one replies

(watching the people

with tears in their eyes)

that candles are kindled

before the sun sets

that through all their struggles

they manage to rest

to honor shabbat

in the ways that they may

they gave it their best

and they got through the day

may it be like this weekly

in every domain

the evil one sighs

and then answers

amen

as shalom aleichem

soon draws to its end

the angels depart

as the lyrics ascend

the house is still filthy

the troubles don’t cease

yet still, here we are

blessing angels of peace

may peace be upon you

they pray in return

perhaps not this week

but the candles still burn

[readingbooksinisrael]

...Americans...Bright individuals abandoned inquiry and resorted to obsolete formulas: America had done Iran wrong. Therefore the clerics cut ties with the United States. Therefore the clerics were leading the nation to sovereignty. These individuals had yet to realize that though Iran's rulers fervently opposed US. imperialism, they were neither just to nor loved by their own people. This...group had not accepted the notion that the enemy of their enemy was yet another enemy.

-Journey from the Land of No: a Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran/Roya Hakakaian

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I had...expected the conversation to proceed as it often does with Americans. They come, I had decided, in two kinds: the misinformed, who think of Iran as a backward nation as Arabs, veiled and turbaned, living on the periphery of oases and fairly represented by a government of mullahs; and the misguided, who believed the shah's regime was a puppet government run by the CIA, and who think that Ayatollah Khomeini and his clerical cabal are an authentic, homegrown answer to unwarranted U.S. meddling.

-Journey from the Land of No: a Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran/Roya Hakakian