There Was a Young Rabbi: A Hanukkah Tale

by Suzanne Wolfe, Jeffrey Ebbeler (Illustrator)

Hanukkah is a very busy time! Join the young rabbi as she makes festive preparations―spinning the dreidel, cooking a tasty meal, lighting the menorah, and more―in this cumulative, rhyming story reminding readers of the Hanukkah miracle of long ago! Learn about Hanukkah’s festivities and rituals, and about the Jewish holiday itself.

Genres: Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Cultural, Jewish

24 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2020

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is meant for parents, teachers, and other people that work with children to read.

This book is about a young female rabbi who prepares/commemorates a different part of Hanukkah with each new thing she does. With each new thing she does it helps children to go back and remember what she already did to get ready for / commemorate Hanukkah.

I liked that the young rabbi studying Torah was brought into this story, that doing that was part of her commemorating Hanukkah. I like that it shows that she included her family in the Hanukkah preparations and celebration.

I noticed that reading the Torah was not the last thing remembered when going back through the list each time, even though it was the first thing that was shown that the rabbi did. I think if a teacher or parent has already read this a lot of times to children that she/he might help students to remember that the Torah reading was done first. Or it could be that it was done that way for a certain reason(s).

This book states that Hanukkah is not in the Torah (found in the Old Testament) but the Torah is read during this holiday. I think it might also be nice to let children know that Hanukkah is said to be found in the New Testament in John 10:22.

My review= 4.5 out of 5 stars

I received a digital copy of this book free from the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hanukkah celebrations: this is a cute picture book with fun illustrations and told in a cumulative rhyming story of all the traditions and celebrations like making latkes, playing dreidel and winning gelt, lighting the menorah, etc. There was also a nice summary of the Hanukkah story at the back of the book as well.

[Abby Johnson]

This is a cumulative rhyming book that talks about the various activities of a Hanukkah celebration (reading the Torah, making latkes, etc.). Suitable for a readaloud and I especially appreciate that it features a female rabbi.

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rhythm and rhyme scheme did not work for me; cumulative tale for Hanukkah.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun Chanukah version of the story with the familiar cumulative rhyming pattern.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much like "The House that Jack Built" in that it's a cumulative story.

Like how it hits all the cultural points of the celebration -- latkes, dreidl, gelt, menorah, etc.

Rhyming makes it easy to read out loud and easy to share.

The actual story of Hanukkah is in the back matter.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cumulative story, adding something new in for each night of Hanukkah, and addressing a lot of the aspects of the celebration.

[Ranette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book based on the adding rythem of "This is the House that Jack built. Cleaver, but the Rabbi was a girl.