One year ago, the Jewish Book Council launched the 8 Nights of Stories series on The ProsenPeople. For each of the eight nights of Chanukah, the Jewish Book Council set out to help our readers find more stories — to read to children, to share with young adults, and to read on your own after the kids are in bed. For Chanukah 5775, we’re delighted to partner with the writers of Hevria, a new collaborative of Jewish self-identified creators, as guest contributors over the next eight nights.
For the second installment, Hevria contrubitors Rochel Spangenthal and Salvador Litvak write about the stories they think most worth sharing:
Rochel Spangenthal
There is a part of me that grew up. There is a part of me that didn’t. Both of those parts treasure The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry a book whose cover is worn from the excited grasps of young and old readers alike.
The story is simple. A young boy, who has never really found anyone who understands him, grows up and eventually becomes a pilot. When his plane crashes in a desert, he meets the Little Prince — a charming (but confusing) young explorer who is the prince of his own Astroid. In their brief encounter, the young prince reminds the pilot of how simple and beautiful life can be.
The book is no thicker than your iPhone. It can be read in an hour — maybe two, if you take time to truly appreciate the simple and fresh illustrations. But the truths and magical realities of childhood are hidden in this short fairy tale.
There is a reason that The Little Prince is one of the best-selling books ever published (140 million copies have been sold to date). Get the 140,000,001st copy and find out why.
Salvador Litvak
A book that changed my life was The Secret Life of G‑d by David Aaron.
It was my door into Jewish mysticism, or Kabbalah. It broke down my deep seated fallacy about G‑d as an Infinite Other whom I struggle to petition, praise, or placate.
It laid out in clear terms that the perfection we ascribe to G‑d is actually a limitation. G‑d has to have the power to evolve and improve, or G‑d would lack something.
How can a “perfect” Being evolve? Through us. We can evolve. We are partners in the Creation with a job to do.
And Rabbi Aaron has a good sense of humor.
View the full Eight Nights of Stories series, in partnership this year with Hevria!
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