Mitzvah Stories: Seeds for Inspiration and Learning -- Honored by the National Jewish Book Awards

edited by Goldie Milgram and Ellen Frankel with Peninnah Schram, Cherie Karo Schwartz and Arthur Strimling plus 60 contributing authors.

Honored by the National Jewish Book Awards, these are sixty inspiring and provocative stories crafted by leading Jewish storytellers, rabbis and authors from across the full spectrum of Jewish life. These juried, newly-minted tales reveal how each mitzvah, when carried out with understanding and creativity, becomes a rich source of spirituality and meaning. Meant for reading and retelling across the generations, every kind of family will find themselves in these beautiful, meaningful and memorable approaches to Jewish living. Matching boxed deck of Mitzvah Cards is also available for a perfect set for gifts for a bat mitzvah, bar mitzvah, house warming, afikomen present, engagement and weddings, birthdays and more! Volume 2 just released: New Mitzvah Stories for the Whole Family.

"Exceptional, vibrant anthology!"--Jewish Book World & National Jewish Book Awards

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See Table of Contents below for free sample stories.

Free Mitzvah Stories Discussion Guide for book clubs, groups and classes.

$25.00 7" x 10" (17.78 x 25.4 cm), 328 pp, quality paperback 
ISBN-13: 978-0984804801  ISBN-10: 0984804803

Contributing authors: Yossi Alfi, Noa Baum, Joel Ben Izzy, Yisroel Bernath, Renee Brachfeld, Rosyln Bresnick-Perry, Barry Bub, Phil Cohen, Anita Diamant, Helen Engelhardt, Ed Feinstein, Ellen Frankel, Mark S. Golub, James Stone Goodman, Dan Gordon, Janie Grackin, Eva Grayzel, Bonnie Greenberg, Tina Grimberg, Dan Grossman, Miriam Grossman, Fred Guttman, Sharona Halickman, Jill Hammer, Richard Joel, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Benji Levene, Herb Levine, Syd Lieberman, Doug Lipman, Cindy Rivka Marshall, Melvin Metelits, Goldie Milgram, Lynnie Mirvis, Nadia Grosser Nagarajan, Steve Nathan, Caren Neile, Leon Olenick, Yoel Perez, Peter Pitzele, Jack Riemer, Carol and Neal Rose, Gail Rosen, Barbara Rush, Sandy Sasso, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Peninnah Schram, Rebecca Schram-Zafrany, Howard Schwartz, Cherie Karo Schwartz, Rami Shapiro, Danny Siegel, Laura Simms, Corinne Stavish, Naomi Steinberg, Arthur Strimling, Carla Vogel, Shohama Harris Wiener, Diane Wolkstein, Debra Gordon Zaslow, Steve Zeitlin, Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff  BUY NOW

PRAISE FOR MITZVAH STORIES - and see wonderful Review from the Jewish Book Council

"The power of mitzvah as a primary lens for meaningful Jewish living is revealed in this most stimulating volume where every branch of Judaism is represented with creativity, integrity and moral imagination."
     --Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author, Jewish Literacy and Hillel: If Not Now, When?

"These stories, so varied in style and orientation, have the capacity to evoke wonder. Kol haKavod!"
     --Blu Greenberg, author of On Women and Judaism

"Spirited, challenging, re-tellable contemporary mitzvah stories. A rare, precious and inspiring opportunity for many ways into learning and living a meaningful Jewish life. The perfect gift for every Jewish occasion.
     --Arthur Kurzweil, author, From Generation to Generation

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Free Mitzvah Stories Discussion Guide for book clubs, groups and classes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Free Sample Stories are hyperlinked below)
Mitzvah Stories: Seeds for Inspiration and Learning
Goldie Milgram and Ellen Frankel [Eds]
with Peninnah Schram, Cherie Karo-Schwartz and Arthur Strimling
                                         
-Foreword by Richard Joel, President, Yeshiva University       
-Peninnah Schram: A Story of a Life - A Life of Stories
-Acknowledgments

Exerpt from the Introduction: Appreciating Mitzvah as the Core of Jewish Practice
    by Goldie Milgram

Bonus Section: The Mitzvah Stories Driver’s Manual
   The Golden Chain of Jewish Stories by Ellen Frankel
   The Craft of Storytelling by Arthur Strimling
   Creative Ways to Use Mitzvah Stories compiled by Peninnah Schram & Cherie Karo Schwartz, with Goldie Milgram


I. Coming to Wholeness: Mitzvot of Love and Healing

-The Burga Baby by Yossi Alfi
-A Father’s Gift by Noa Baum
-One Day at Stone Mountain a friend’s experience reframed by Renée Brachfeld
-Mr. Kharrubi and Me by Helen Engelhardt
-Saved by the Evil Eye by Ellen Frankel 
-The Clubhouse Turn by Leon Olenick 
-Joe the Butler by Danny Siegel
-Flowering Words by Laura Simms 

II. Expanding the Heart: Mitzvot of Joy and Generosity
-The Mitzvah House by Roslyn Bresnick-Perry
-The Hitchhiker by Joel ben Izzy   
-My Mama’s “Elijah” by Lynnie Mirvis  -
-The Melody by Nadia Grosser Nagarajan  
-Life Lessons by Neal and Carol Rose  
-The Demon of Dubrovna by Gail Rosen                                  
-Elijah’s Yellow Balloon by Rebecca Schram-Zafrany       
-A Single Seed of a Pomegranate retold by Cherie Karo Schwartz   
-Grandma and Mr. Pushke by Corinne Stavish        
-Disarming the Enemy by Shlomo Carlebach retold by Diane Wolkstein 
-The Girl Who Told Stories by Steve Zeitlin      

III. Celebrating Sacred Time: Mitzvot of Shabbat and Holidays
-Light by Yisroel Bernath                       
-It’s Crowded in My Kitchen by Janie Grackin                   
-The Wooden Axle by Jill Hammer                  
-The Dress: A Purim Fairy Tale by Amichai Lau-Lavie          
-The First Light by Doug Lipman                        
-The Moon's Garment by Cindy Rivka Marshall            
-A Story from My Teacher, Abraham Joshua Heschel retold by Jack Riemer
-The Hanukkah Menorahs that Could Not Be Lit by Barbara Rush   
-Shabbos Candles by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso       
-Queen Esther’s Joy by Naomi Steinberg        
-The Shabbat Story I Want to Tell by Arthur Strimling
-The Magic Gourd: A Story for Sukkot by Debra Gordon Zaslow 
-Rina and the Exodus by Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff    

IV. Seasoning Our Lives: Mitzvot of Life Cycle and Learning    
-Honor by Phil Cohen                        
-Mikveh by Anita Diamant                        
-The Bar Mitzvah – A Ghost Story by Ed Feinstein      
-The Eternal Hand by Mark S. Golub          
-Men On Menses by James Stone Goodman              
-Chayala, Give Me A Smile-a by Eva Grayzel          
-If My Wedding Dress Could Talk by Bonnie Greenberg    
-Floating Lovers by Tina Grimberg          
-The Lion of Yerushalayim by Sharona Margolin Halickman      
-A Teacher by Syd Lieberman              
-Permission to Leave by Melvin Metelits        
-A Kiss Divine by Steve Nathan              
-Why I Volunteer by Caren Neile                  
-Every One Is a Story by Yoel Perez  
-Serach bat Asher — A Midrashic Monologue retold by Peninnah Schram
-Chutzpah Awakening by Carla Vogel                   

V. Finding Holiness & Happiness: Mitzvot of Serving & Experiencing God
 -Tied Together and Worlds Apart: A Holism Story in Three Parts by Barry Bub     
-The Kabbalah of Laundry by Dan Gordon            
-The Taxi by Dan Grossman                  
-These Are Your Laws by Miriam Grossman           
-Working Together by Fred Guttman           
-The Escort by Benji Levene       
-Playing Monopoly with Melvin by Herb Levine        
-The God of Curried Fish by Goldie Milgram     
-Being a Wrestler with God by Peter Pitzele      
-Whitewater by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi     
-The Dead Sea by Howard Schwartz         
-The Surprising Ones by Rami Shapiro
-The Elevator that Wouldn’t Go by Shohama Harris Wiener      

Glossary                
Recommended for Further Study              
Index  
Indexed by Mitzvot (download)                            

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