Chil­dren’s

The Wait­ing Wall

Leah Braun­stein Levy; Avi Katz, illus.
  • Review
By – September 19, 2011
The Wait­ing Wall presents young chil­dren with the his­to­ry and the impor­tance of the West­ern Wall in Jerusalem. The book is writ­ten from an Ortho­dox per­spec­tive as evi­denced by the word choic­es of Kosel HaMaarovi,” Beis Ha Mik­dosh,” and Moshi­ach.” It describes peo­ple sway­ing in prayer, plac­ing let­ters to G‑d in the cracks of the wall, cry­ing and watch­ing the cease­less move­ment and ener­gy that sur­rounds the wall. The Kosel reach­es arms across the shin­ing emp­ty space, hold­ing it qui­et and still,” Levy writes. The gen­tle words and appeal­ing illus­tra­tions com­mu­ni­cate its mean­ing to chil­dren, to give them a sense that it is their wall, too, and to let them know that they can find spir­i­tu­al­i­ty there as well. It’s easy to feel close to Hashem here,” she writes. Levy con­cludes the book with her hope that the Mes­si­ah will come soon. Maybe today some­one will say that one tefillah that will final­ly bring peace and hap­pi­ness to the world,” she writes. Maybe you will be the one.” If teach­ing your chil­dren about the Mes­si­ah and the West­ern Wall is impor­tant to you, this is a good intro­duc­to­ry read for young chil­dren. It is a book writ­ten with a warm, gen­tle love of Judaism and a fer­vent belief in the com­ing of the Mes­si­ah. For ages 4 – 7.
Lau­ren Kramer is a Van­cou­ver-based jour­nal­ist, wife, and moth­er with a life­long pas­sion for lit­er­a­ture. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, she has won awards for her writ­ing and report­ed from many cor­ners of the world. Read more of her work at www​.lau​renkramer​.net.

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