{"id":47578,"date":"2025-09-12T01:31:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T08:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=47578"},"modified":"2025-09-11T08:55:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:55:12","slug":"two-different-kinds-of-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/two-different-kinds-of-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Two different kinds of magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s almost a new year. We\u2019ve been taking stock more than usual throughout the month of Elul. It\u2019s a valuable skill \u2013 being able to do regular cheshbon hanefesh<\/i>, accounting of the soul, reflecting on our views and actions, with an eye to self-improvement, maybe even creating a positive ripple effect that extends beyond ourselves.<\/p>\n

Two new children\u2019s picture books introduce \u2013 or reinforce \u2013 the Jewish values of Shabbat (taking a break from work and technology, thereby recharging our physical and mental selves) and tikkun olam (taking care of ourselves, our homes, our neighbourhoods, and so on). They remind us that making the world better starts with us, what we do, how we treat ourselves and others.<\/p>\n

Seattle publisher Intergalactic Afikoman released Fairy GodBubbie\u2019s Shabbat<\/i> by Ann Diament Koffsky this month. Koffsky has written and illustrated more than 50 kids books, with many about Judaism, its holidays, foods and symbols. Her website is worth checking out: there are reading guides, you can see her many artistic styles, download colouring pages featuring scenes from her books, as well as other images, and, of course, there are links to purchase her books.<\/p>\n

In Fairy GodBubbie\u2019s Shabbat,<\/i> the Mazel family is busy and seems happy enough, Dad on his laptop, Mom on her phone, Sara playing games on a tablet. But, \u201cWhy is no one schmoozing?\u201d wonders Fairy GodBubbie. \u201cNoshing?? Kibbitzing!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike regular fairy godmothers who come only when called, Fairy GodBubbies just show up to fix things.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when they\u2019re not invited,\u201d writes Koffsky.<\/p>\n

So, poof! With a couple of Shabbat candles and a frequency jammer, Fairy GodBubbie helps the Mazels experience a different kind of Shabbat, a much more fulfilling one, a magical one. And readers can create the experience at their own homes, trying out what Koffsky calls a \u201ca Tech Shabbat \u2013 a day away from screens.\u201d She asks, \u201cIf your family does choose to try out a Tech Shabbat, what would you most like to do during that time?\u201d And offers some choices \u2013 \u201cWill you eat a family meal? \u2026 Curl up with a good book?\u201d \u2013 and encourages readers to come up with their own ideas to make their \u201cnext Shabbat feel magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>The Collective Book Studio\u2019s Ruby Finkelman Finds the Real Magic,<\/i> written by Mike King with illustrations by Shahar Kober, which came out earlier this year, also features a young heroine and, as the title indicates, \u201cmagic.\u201d But there are no magical GodBubbies; rather, a self-realization that a beautiful village, a beautiful life, don\u2019t just happen by magic \u2013 happiness, cleanliness, kindness, etc., require not only effort, but sometimes doing things you don\u2019t enjoy doing. In Ruby\u2019s case, she \u201cespecially didn\u2019t like brushing her teeth,\u201d so, one night, she decides, \u201cI\u2019m never going to brush my\u00a0<\/span>teeth again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even such seemingly inconsequential actions have repercussions. Other kids stop brushing their teeth. Then they decide not to wash their faces, tidy up after themselves or treat one another kindly. Parents nag, children kvetch. The grownups become so exhausted, they have \u201cno strength left to lift a toothbrush, do the laundry, take out the garbage, and on and on.\u201d Kvellville soon turns into what neighbouring villages start calling \u201cSchmutzville.\u201d A town meeting devolves into several arguments, everyone turning on one another.<\/p>\n

Seeing the madness, and realizing how it all started, Ruby sets about to right the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMensch<\/i> is a Yiddish word that means \u2018human,\u2019 but when used in the sense of \u2018being a mensch,\u2019 it means being a human in the best possible way, or being the best human that you can be,\u201d writes King in an author\u2019s note at the end of the story. \u201cBut it\u2019s not only a Jewish thing \u2013 it\u2019s a universal value, an idea of how to act in a way that makes the world a better place, simply because you behave in a good and kind way.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the toothbrushing premise is a little bit of a stretch, King is a pediatric dentist, so it\u2019s no wonder, and he does manage to make the story work. It\u2019s a wonderful message, of course, and Kober\u2019s artwork is delightful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s almost a new year. We\u2019ve been taking stock more than usual throughout the month of Elul. It\u2019s a valuable skill \u2013 being able to do regular cheshbon hanefesh, accounting of the soul, reflecting on our views and actions, with an eye to self-improvement, maybe even creating a positive ripple effect that extends beyond ourselves. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[24338,24299,4946,23668,9637,2673,24337,19964],"class_list":["post-47578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-ann-diament-koffsky","tag-artwork","tag-childrens-books","tag-collective-book-studio","tag-intergalactic-afikoman","tag-kids-books","tag-mike-king","tag-shahar-kober"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}