The Shema in the Mezuzah
Listening to Each Other
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
In a divided world, where the one who shouts the loudest often gets the most attention, a story about compromise and listening. "Standing UP!" "Lying DOWN!" What were the people to do? They decided to ask the rabbi of the town. “What are we to do?” they asked. “Shall we put the mezuzah standing up or lying down?” The townspeople have mezuzahs but cannot agree on how to put them up on their doorways. Should they place them horizontally or vertically, standing up or lying down? To end their arguing, they consult the wise rabbi of the town, who advises them to carefully read the Shema in the mezuzah to find the answer. With this lively tale, based on a twelfth-century rabbinic debate, best-selling, award-winning children's author Sandy Eisenberg Sasso helps young people discover that there is often more than one solution to a problem, and that living together and creating “home” requires cooperation and listening to one another.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sasso, a rabbi and author (God's Paintbrush), uses a 12th-century rabbinic tale to teach a simple point about listening and compromise. Two groups of people bring their argument to a rabbi, asking him whether the mezuzah, an artifact to hold a prayer scroll that is to be affixed to a house's doorpost, should be attached horizontally or vertically. The rabbi settles the argument by listening to both sides, in keeping with the practice of listening that the Shema the prayer in the mezuzah counsels. Sasso's tale characteristically harmonizes simplicity and Jewish tradition. Rothenberg's rich blues and greens and broad strokes are zesty and Chagallesque. A lovely book; would that today's shouters could take its wisdom to heart. Ages 3 6. n
