Osnat and Her Dove: The True Story of the World's First Female Rabbi - Hardcover

Samuel, Sigal

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1646140370 ISBN 13: 9781646140374

Publisher: Levine Querido, 2021

Synopsis

A Junior Library Guild Selection
Canadian Jewish Literary Award Winner
National Jewish Book Award Finalist
Evanston Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids
School Library Journal Best of the Year
Tablet Best of the Year

★ "A vibrant life story, with imagined conversations and brilliant illustrations, that will find a home in every collection"—School Library Journal (starred review)

★ "This dynamic and respectful picture book envisions the life of a prominent 17th-century Jewish leader who defied gender norms."—Shelf-Awareness (starred review)

"A rich portrait of an early female Jewish hero."—Publishers Weekly

"Osnat and Her Dove is an inspiring story of a young Jewish hero, filled with wonderful cultural, religious and historical detail. It's a testament to the power of knowledge and the importance of parental support."—BookPage

Osnat was born five hundred years ago – at a time when almost everyone believed in miracles. But very few believed that girls should learn to read.

Yet Osnat's father was a great scholar whose house was filled with books. And she convinced him to teach her. Then she in turn grew up to teach others, becoming a wise scholar in her own right, the world's first female rabbi!

Some say Osnat performed miracles – like healing a dove who had been shot by a hunter! Or saving a congregation from fire!

But perhaps her greatest feat was to be a light of inspiration for other girls and boys; to show that any person who can learn might find a path that none have walked before.

About this title

About the Author

Sigal Samuel is an award-winning novelist and journalist. Currently a Staff Writer at Vox, she previously worked as Religion Editor at The Atlantic, Opinion Editor at the Forward, and Associate Editor at the Daily Beast. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. The Mystics of Mile End, her debut novel, was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award and won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award and the Alberta Book Publishing Award. Sigal hails from an Iraqi Jewish family in Montreal, and now lives in Washington, DC.

Vali Mintzi is an illustrator of children's books, a graphic designer, and puppetry designer. She was born in Romania and she graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Art in Jerusalem where she lives and works. The New York Times praised her artwork for a picture book by Rita Jahan Foruz, saying: "The Girl With a Brave Heart is strikingly enhanced by Vali Mintzi's exquisite naïf illustrations, which seem a happy meeting of Gauguin and mid-career Matisse."

Reviews

Gr 2-4-This loose biography relates the little known story of the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, a Kurdish Jew whose knowledge of the Torah and leadership of a yeshiva in ancient Iraq broke gender barriers. In language reminiscent of a fairy tale, a child named Osnat is born in 1590-"almost five hundred years ago, when almost everyone believed in miracles." Born into a family with no sons, and surrounded by books, she convinces her father, a rabbi in the yeshiva, to teach her to read. As Osnat (and her knowledge and reputation) grows, her father intervenes to arrange a marriage conducive to her continued study of Hebrew scriptures. After her father and husband die, Osnat receives a vision in a dream from her father to assume leadership of the yeshiva. Legends of Osnat, such as her healing of her pet dove and of the sick, as well as a supernatural intervention during a fire at a synagogue, are included. There is an author's note, and while there is no glossary, words such as davul and kubbah are clearly understood in context. Gouache illustrations with mostly full-page backgrounds of blue, red and gold depict Osnat's tale, and include religious symbols such as a dove (denoting peace) and the number seven (considered a perfect number in Judaism). VERDICT A vibrant life story, with imagined conversations and brilliant illustrations, that will find a home in every collection.-Ramarie Beaver, formerly at Plano P.L., TXα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Levine Querido
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1646140370
• ISBN 13: 9781646140374
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Mintzi Vali
• Number of pages: 40