EVEN HIGHER

Adapted from a Yiddish story by I.L. Peretz, this well-crafted tale gently imparts a timeless lesson about godliness. During Rosh Hashanah, a man from Lithuania (a Litvak) visits a small town in the Ukraine, where he learns that the town's rabbi is absent on the Sabbath. The reason? He is so holy that he raises himself to heaven, where he asks God to forgive the town's sinners. The doubting Litvak follows the rabbi to the forest, watches him chop wood, and trails him to a poor bedridden widow's hut where the rabbi lights a fire and prays. The next time the townfolk tell a newcomer that their rabbi travels to heaven, the Lit. vak is heard to say, ""Even higher."" The full-color illustrations, on almost every page, nicely capture the Story's time and place. Pictures and text work well together to give readers of all ages a satisfying experience; especially appropriate for young readers.