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Writing for Children: not for those who want glory, fame, or big bucks

beccakinla chareidi, children, children's books, inyan magazine, Jewish, Jewish writing, joy, Judaism, kindness, klempner, kosher, love, magazines, message, Orthodox, persistence, picture books, publishing, recommended reading, respect, stories, students, success, tafkid, teens, writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Last week’s Hamodia/Inyan Magazine had an article by one of my favorite columnists, Rabbi Fishel Schachter entitled “Guided by Tale Winds.” While today Rabbi Schachter is well-known in the Torah world for essays and presentations for adults about the weekly Torah portion, parenting, and other subjects, he first gained popularity as a rebbi and storyteller to students in Jewish day schools.

Rabbi Schachter explains in the article that one of the adults in his audience told him many years ago that he had to choose between teaching grown-ups or kids — and he indicated that the natural choice for a man of Rabbi Schachter’s talent and intelligence was to teach adults.

Turning to his own rebbi for guidance, Rabbi Schachter asked if teaching kids was really beneath him? Were all the silly voices and so on undermining his stature?

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How to be gnarly even if you’re frum–Chareidi Jew jamming on a skateboard

beccakinla Ami, Jewish, Judaism, Orthodox, photos Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

01_ami095I just saw the cover of this week’s Ami Magazine (November 29, 2012), and it just made me feel good all over (and I’m pretty sick today, so that’s an accomplishment). On it, Rabbi Yom Tov Glaser is on his skateboard and playing guitar. He looks so frum and like he’s having so much fun. He’s an amazing speaker, by the way, and I think he’s in the States right now promoting his Possible You seminar.

Over the last couple weeks, we’ve been hearing about images that break your heart or just make you angry. But this photo warms my heart.

Anybody out there care to share the details of a photo that warms their heart? Please do so in the comments.

What is Jewish writing? Defining Jewish Writing, Part 1

beccakinla Jewish, Jewish writing, kosher, secular Tags: , , , , , , , 10 Comments

What do you think?

Tablet Magazine asks this week, “What is Jewish fiction? What makes a Jewish writer?”

This isn’t a new question. A year or so ago, there was this outstanding post on Jeremy Rosen’s blog, considering the same questions, and there are other essays on the subject published elsewhere.

Recently, the online magazine, Tablet, began to publish short fiction. The second story it selected, by young author Justin Taylor, begged the question. The characters weren’t Jewish, but more importantly, there were no allusions to Jewish literature, issues, history or culture in the story. Rabbi Rosen’s argument  would disqualify Taylor’s story as an example of Jewish writing by that token. On the other hand, the editors at Tablet certainly felt that since Taylor is Jewish, his story is Jewish.

So I ask: Is Jewish writing by a Jewish author, or must it contain Jewish content?

I’d LOVE input about this issue. Please state your ideas below. If you want to read Taylor’s story, I want to caution you, it contains coarse language.

The secret to finding happiness: Using your talents

beccakinla adar, happiness, joy, orlowek, tafkid, talent Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

A few years ago, a group called Mishmeres HaShalom (now called Tiferes) sent out a DVD of Rabbi Noah Orlowek on the topic of Happiness. Happiness is a particularly apropos topic at this time of year. We’re now in Adar, and “When Adar enters, joy increases,” as the Sages said.

According to Rabbi Orlowek, people are happiest (animals, too) when they are fufilling that which they were created for. A person should 1) consider their talents and abilities, then 2) use them for the purposes of a mitzvah.
There’s a famous story (I think it appears in the the Gemara) of a gentleman who had a beautiful singing voice. When he would travel on pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year, he’d lead the prayer services. One year, he just didn’t feel like doing so. He was punished by G-d, since G-d had given him this magnificent voice for it to be used in Heavenly service.
When I heard the lecture by Rav Orlowek, I thought about my own talents. At the time, I’d sold a book (it hadn’t yet come out), but had no additional publishing success. I was frustrated about how much work I was doing–writing, researching, submitting–with little to show for it.
I decided to use my writing as a chessed. I sent goofy poetry to relatives. I prepared the newsletter for one of my son’s nursery school. I wrote an article for a local magazine about a community issue that needed attention. I began to think about my writing not just as a way to express myself or a way (I hoped) to make a little money, but as a responsibility.
Maybe we can all think about our talents and choose one thing we do well to bring assistance or joy to others.