A Stone for the Journey (Havah's Journey)

The Havah’s Journey trilogy—Please Say Kaddish for Me, From Silt and Ashes, As One Must, One Can—abridged into one illustrated volume with bonus stories.

No one can forget the bravery and perseverance of Havah Cohen Gitterman, the Jewish heroine of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’s captivating family saga. Born in Czarist Russia at the turn of the century, Havah is the only survivor of the pogrom that kills her family. But with Arel, the love of her life, she makes it to America hoping for a second chance. There, Havah bucks tradition by teaching Hebrew and the Torah to girls. She is blessed with a daughter, who is born blind. Given strength by the memories of those who have been lost or left behind, Havah learns to rely on her faith and courage to rise above the prejudice and hate that hide in the shadows of the New World.

This is her story, told in illustrations, short stories, and character profiles of the fictional and historical figures who cross Havah’s path. It is a tribute to the persecuted Eastern European Jews who survived against all odds and lived to inspire future generations.

“This artwork and riveting story imprints the soul! Beholding such extraordinary talent, inspires our lives.” —Bracha Goetz, author of Searching for God in the Garbage

Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is an author and illustrator. A woman of Jewish descent and the granddaughter of Eastern European immigrants, she has a personal connection to Jewish history, a recurring theme throughout much of her writing. Heavily influenced by the Sholem Aleichem stories, as well as Fiddler on the Roof,her novels Please Say Kaddish for Me, From Silt and Ashes, and As One Must One Can were born of her desire to share the darker side of these beloved tales.

A Kansas City native, Wisoff-Fields attended the Kansas City Art Institute, where she studied painting and lithography. She maintains her blog, Addicted to Purple, and is the author of This, That and Sometimes the Other, an anthology of her short stories, which she also illustrated. Her stories have also been featured in several other anthologies, including two editions of Voices. Wisoff-Fields and her husband, Jan, have three sons and now live in Belton, Missouri.