The First but Not the Last Exodus

This Passover, for the umpteenth time, Jews will celebrate the Exodus from Egypt. Can the word exodus be pluralized? I ask because for Jews it was certainly the first, but unfortunately not the last.

Expulsions. Pogroms. The heinous Holocaust. Jews have never (understatement) had it easy. But I don’t want to embark on an endless history lesson. Rather, as a children’s book author dedicated to promoting our beautiful and accomplished heritage, my focus is on how to get engaging books out there to captivate children, illuminate our past, and open their eyes to the enormous hurdles we as a people have amazingly overcome. To do so, we must start with picture books. Yes, picture books, because older picture book readers are at that precious age and stage of forever remembering stories that make a lasting impression.

Today, young diaspora Jewish families are faced with non-stop antisemitic tropes surrounding genocide that blindly disregard Hamas’ genocidal actions of invading, raping, killing, and capturing every Jew in sight on October 7^th. What these same Jewish families don’t know is that between 1947-1950 genocide was at the doorstep of nearly one million Jews who were forced to flee Arab lands. Some planned their escape, others had to make split second decisions. Regardless of the scenario, they involuntarily abandoned their homes, left the lives they had built and their priceless possessions behind. Still, they didn’t take iconic house keys with them to hold in front of everyone’s eyes while announcing I will return, fight and get my home back. Instead, they did what Jews always do: rebuild. But the previous stories of where they lived and why they had to leave must be told.

Thankfully, some have already been revealed, grabbing the attention of numerous young readers. The goal of many of these books is to capture the culture of a Jewish tribe no longer living in its original surroundings.

Have a look at virulently anti-Israel Iran. While around 8,000 Jews remain, this once thriving community numbered 80,000! The books “A Persian Princess” by Barbara Diamond Goldin and “A Persian Passover” by Etan Basseri capture the sights, smells, sounds and unique traditions of days gone by.

Then there’s Morocco, where some 2,000 Jews live today, a number that is a far cry from the 350,000 who once called Morocco home. About 90,000 made Aliyah between 1949-1956 before Morocco achieved independence. It was then that daily life became dicey for Jews, demanding a massive, secret Mossad mission called Operation Yakhin that freed nearly 100,000 Moroccan Jews between 1961-1964. Many call it “The Forgotten Exodus.” In terms of a children’s book, it’s a story that has yet to be told. Still this tribe’s post-Passover custom of holding a Mimouna lives on not only in Israel, but through the book “A Sweet Meeting on Mimouna Night” by Allison Ofanansky.

It’s the 1941 Iraqi Farhud – mob violence against Iraqi Jewry, that has been gently and beautifully retold in Sarah Sassoon’s award winning picture book “Shoham’s Bangle.”  In this tale Shoham and her grandmother wear matching bangles. They bake together, using their bangles to count and cut round cookies. One day Shoham is told that the family will be leaving Iraq for Israel. While they are not allowed to take any precious jewelry with them, Shoham’s grandmother devises a creative way to smuggle their special bangles out. A tale of fear, worry, hope and happiness, “Shoham’s Bangle” was inspired by the exodus of 120,000 Jews who were airlifted to Israel through Operation Ezra and Nehemia.

It was another airlift that prompted me to write “On the Wings of Eagles,” a historical fiction picture book inspired by the daring one-and-a-half-year Operation Magic Carpet rescue mission of 49,000 Jews from Yemen. Due out on April 29^th, this exciting story of Haila, a young Jewish Yemenite girl forced to flee her beloved home, has a dual importance. It illustrates the risk this Jewish exodus entailed, while reinforcing the strong bond between America and Israel, for it was none other than Alaska Airlines that dared to take on this dangerous airlift.

Between 1984-1991 Operations Moses, Joshua and Solomon facilitated another exodus, this time from Ethiopia, told through the picture books “Yuvi’s Candy Tree” by Lesley Simpson, “Yosef’s Dream” by Sylvia Rouss and “Pumpkin Pie for Sigd” by Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod. If antisemitic outbreaks continue at the fast pace we are presently witnessing, there will undoubtedly be additional exodus stories, with more picture books telling the tales. Which leads me to believe that perhaps an Exodus addendum should be added to the Hagaddah.  And to that we must say “Dayenu.” It is enough!