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ONE FOR EACH NIGHT, THEY SHED A SWEET LIGHT

...

THE PERFECT BOOK FOR THOSE SPECIAL PEOPLE AT CHANUKAH.

GAIL ZIMMERMAN

Arts & Entertainment Editor

CANDLE #1:
FOR THE LOVER OF TORAH
Torah is the foundation of Jewish
life. For The Illustrated Torah (The
Jewish Publication Society; $60),
Israeli artist Michal Meron worked for
more than four years to create full-
color paintings to accompany an origi-
nal Chumash suitable for both the
young and young-at-heart.
Containing excerpts from all the
weekly sidrot and hafi-arot from JPS's
acclaimed Hebrew-English TANAKI-I,
as well as a short introductory section
summarizing each Torah portion, this
version seeks to make Torah accessible
to everyone.
Originally released as limited edition
prints, Meron's drawings are character-
ized by the extensive use dbold colors
in the naive art manner, similar to tra-
ditional American folk art, and by the
use of Hebrew texts and bold lettering
in her pictures.
The artist has used a peshat, or
didactic, approach, notes JPS Editor-
in-Chief Dr. Ellen Frankel, a
University of Michigan graduate, in
her introduction to the volume. But
"although Michal understands her
own approach to illustrating the bibli-
cal text is based on the plain sense of

the words, it is clear that she is also a
superb midrashist.
"The Torah generally presents only a
bare-bones account of even the most
dramatic events — 11 verses to
recount the story of the Tower of
Babel; nine verses for Jacob wrestling
with the angel; a single verse for the
death of Miriam," writes Frankel.
'Nothing about the characters' feel-
ings, their thoughts, their physical
responses. So little about the natural
landscape, the clothing they wore, the
houses they lived in, \ Aihat they saw on
their journeys.
"As an artist, Michal has no choice
but to fill in the gaps through her
imagination, to give color to the
black-and-white world of the text, to
animate the faces and places in the
stories." •

CANDLE #2:
FOR THE FOOD FANATIC
Eager to try out some new dishes? In
1,000 Jewish Recipes (I DG Books
Worldwide Inc; $35), author Faye Levy
offers recipes for every occasion — and
there really are a thousand of them.
Chapters are dedicated to every
major Jewish holiday from Rosh
Hashanah to Shavuot, including a
whole section on Chanukah and that
traditional holiday favorite, veggie
burgers — the new latkes, asserts Levy

("I've never met a vegetable that does-
n't like becoming a latke," she writes).
Extensive chapters also are devoted
to food categories, from appetizers to
desserts, and include meat, fish, noo-
dles, pareve and vegetarian main
courses.
Levy also offers menus for holiday
and everyday meals, chapters on keep-
ing kosher and the Jewish pantry, and
informative notes throughout the
book. Each recipe is designated meat,
dairy or pareve.
"Jewish cuisine is for 365 days a
year, not just special occasions,"
according to Levy, a French-trained,
award-winning author of 20 cook-
books in three languages (English,
Hebrew and French).and a nationally
syndicated columnist for the Los

Angeles Times.
This kosher-cooking bible is a treas-
ure trove of Jewish cooking from
around the world, and in recipes like
Cajun Corn Latkes and Israeli-
Hungarian Goulash, Levy combines
the culinary traditions of different
regions and traditions. "In my mind,
Jewish cuisine is the ultimate fusion
'food," says the author.
The sheer number and variety of
dishes she offers — 21 blintz recipes
and 29 kugel recipes alone — will
keep cooks busy experimenting until
next Chanukah.

CANDLE #3
FOR THE LITERATURE DEVOTEE

Jewish American Literature: A Norton
Anthology (WW. Norton and
Company; $39.95) is arguably the
most comprehensive collection of
work by Jewish Americans ever pub-
lished. Its more than 1,200 pages pro-
vide a wealth of Jewish American fic-
tion, poetry, drama, essays, autobiog-
raphy and songs and jokes from works
that date from the earliest American
writings to contemporary Jewish
authors.
The anthology is divided chronolog-
ically into five sections, with inter-
spersed thematic sections on Jewish
humor, the Broadway song and the art
of translation.
The first section, "The Literature of
Arrival: 1654-1880," includes
Abraham de Lucena's petition to Gov.
Peter Stuyvesant requesting the lifting
of restrictions against new Jewish set-
tlers. "The Great Tide: 1881-1924"
gathers Jewish American literature
during the years of the mass immigra-
tion of Jews to the United States, a
time when Yiddish writers and theater
flourished and Jewish immigrants like
Sholem Asch began writing in English.
"From Margin to Mainstream in
Difficult Times: 1924-1946" encom-
passes the years of World War II, where
writers recognized for their social con-

12/15
2000

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