“Pass Over to Freedom” by Libi Astaire (Aster Press e-book, 2012)
Libi Astaire, a writer who grew up in the Kansas City Jewish community and now lives in Jerusalem, has just published this, the third in her e-book series of Chassidic/Jewish stories for the holidays.
Subtitled “15 Jewish Tales for Passover,” this book gives insights to the seder as well as a story for each of the seder’s 15 steps.
“The Passover seder is a time when Jewish families around the world gather together to retell the story of the Jewish people’s passage from slavery in Egypt to freedom,” Astaire writes in her introduction. This journey is through the Haggadah but to enrich the experience, she suggests reading a story from the Sages with each step.
Each step is explained and a provocative idea is introduced for the reader to ponder. What confused me was whether the rabbi mentioned in her introduction is the actual author of the story that follows. At the end are biographical notes for 31 rabbis, but they are not specifically identified with a story.
Nevertheless, all of the stories are delightful to read. For example, for the Hamotzi, “Monkeys from Heaven” is a story by Rabbi Elimelech of Lyzhensk; for dipping the vegetable in salt water we read “Are You Growing?” a story of Rabbi Hillel of Kolomaya; for Hillel’s sandwich, “Hold the Wry,” retells a story of Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov.
The earlier e-books on Chassidic/Jewish stories are: “36 Candles: Chassidic Tales for Chanukah” and “Choose Life! 8 Chassidic Stories for the Jewish New Year.” Astaire is also the author of “Terra Incognito,” a fascinating story of descendants in Spain of anusim, Jews forced to convert to Christianity in the Middle Ages.
She is also author of “The Disappearing Dowry,” a Jewish historical mystery set in England which won the 2010 Sydney Taylor Notable Book Award (an annual award to outstanding books for children and teens which authentically portray the Jewish experience, by the Association of Jewish Libraries), and part of the Ezra Melamed Mystery Series, an imprint of Zahav/Targum Press.
Astaire’s mother, Ruth Feinberg, still lives in Prairie Village.