The Uninvited Guest and Other Jewish Holiday Tales: And Other Jewish Holiday Tales

The seven stories in this Jewish holiday collection come from a variety of sources. These include the Yiddish writer Isaac Loeb Peretz, a Jewish folktale from Afghanistan, the folk legends of Chelm (that mythic town where all the people are fools), Moroccan Jewish folk legends and from the Rabbinic Misdrashim--the stories, parables and legends told to explain or elaborate on passages from the Torah. For Rosh Hashanah, the tale named "The Never Ending Song" introduces three mythical beasts and monsters. Ziz had shining golden feathers that protected the earth from the hot winds of the south. Behemoth had bones strong as brass, legs as great as iron bars and a tail as strong as a cedar tree. Leviathan was the greatest sea monster that had as many eyes as the year has days and scales that shone brighter than the sun itself. The smaller creatures created by the Holy One were always chased by greater beasts. They met and called upon Ziz, Behemoth and Leviathan to help them. Then in the month of Tammuz, Behemoth stepped from his cave and roared so loudly that the lions stopped in their tracks, earth shook, tigers, wolves, panthers and jaguars trembled in their skins. That road echoed until the months of Av and Elul and then until the autumn month of Tishri. Next the Ziz unfurled her enormous wings and uttered a cry that pierced the clouds in the sky... My favorite tale in this collection is the author's original creation, from a town called Masoret, for the Hebrew word meaning tradition. One day a Magician came to town to offer his wares. When the people were too busy preparing for Sukkot to buy from him, he grew angry and cast a spell that to ensure they would have no more holidays for 40 generations. But the Magician forgot the children, who were in the fields gathering flowers for Sukkot... Every year in Masoret, the children nail the last boards to the Sukkah, and say the blessings over the lulav and etrog. For Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, Purim, Passover and Shabbat, readers will find five other equally delightful tales in this fine volume. Alyssa A. Lappen