Day of Delight: a Jewish Sabbath in Ethiopia

by Maxine Rose Schur

Depicting a culture that is quickly vanishing, the story of the Ethiopian Jews is told through the eyes of a young boy as his family and friends prepare for the sabbath or "day of delight."The spare, poetic text evokes an Ethiopian Jewish village as seen through the eyes of a villager boy on one Sabbath day. Illustrated by Caldecott Award winner Brian Pinkney.

A 1994 "American Booksellers Pick of the Lists" 
Winner of the 1994 Parent's Choice Award 
1994 Sydney Taylor Award nominee 
Smithsonian "Best Children's Book of 1994"

Genres: Jewish, Picture Books, Religion

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1994

About the author

I am an author of several award-winning children’s books and I also teach children’s book writing. As recipient of the Sugarman Award given by the Washington Independent Writer’s Legal and Educational Fund, I was appointed the Guest Lecturer on Writing for Children to the Humanities faculty at Case Western Reserve University.

I have twice won the Sydney Taylor Award for the most outstanding contribution to Jewish Children’s literature. Also, I have worked full-time as a children’s writer for Addison-Wesley and wrote children’s fiction and non-fiction for Hampton Brown, Scholastic, Houghton-Mifflin, Harcourt Brace, The American Girl’s Collection, Heinemann, Radio New Zealand and the BBC.

This year I have two new children’s books coming out. The first is The Word Dancer, a middle grade fantasy novel that both explores and celebrates the power of words. The second one, Brave with Beauty, is an advanced picture book about Queen Goharshad who some historians now believe was the most powerful woman in world history. In the 14th century she reigned from her throne in Herat in what is now Afghanistan and sponsored a spectacular renaissance of science and the arts.

And, by the way, if you love Paris as much as I do, please check out the adventurous tale of a fashion-designing mouse who takes Paris by storm! Marielle in Paris is a fun picture book and a beautifully illustrated homage to Paris.

Reviews

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Ethiopian Jewish boy and his family get ready to say "Sanbat Salaam" (Shabbat Shalom). They are metalworkers, as is traditional for this community, which dates back over a thousand years and known to its neighbors as "Falashas." Very warm and sweet, with colorful, scratchy woodcut illustrations from Pinckney.

[4th Grade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Day of delight was interesting,realistic and wonderful. One day in Ethiopia,there was a kid named Isaac. He wanted to get honey because he wanted food. But there were bee’s,as a result he hit the sides of the beehive.
The characters never gave up because they do hard things like collect food. That made me feel proud of them. The plot was interesting because there were a lot of characters. There were a lot of details so it was engaging. I recommend this book to people that love detailed books.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rest of the Sabbath is compared with the work of the previous day, providing a good contrast while exploring an unfamiliar community.

[Julie Ditton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful book describes the traditional life-style in a Beta Israel, Jewish village of Ethiopia. These villages existed in isolation in the high mountains for over a thousand years and their simple way of life had not changed. Her simple language describes the life of farming, weaving and metalworking in the village and how they celebrate the sabbath. The beautiful earth tone and pastel scratch board illustrations by Brian Pickney have a rustic feel about them that helps the reader imaging this simple life.

The afterward explains that in the 1980's thousands of the Beta Israel ( House of Israel) fled to Israel to escape civil war and famine. Only a few thousand still remain in Africa. The Israeli Beta Israel no longer follow this life style, so this is not only a Shabbat story, but a tale of a way of life that is quickly disappearing.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

v.enjoyable! i learned a lot from this book both about Africa and the practice of Judiasm