Tuesday, November 11 | 10:30 am

Shar­ing Shalom by Danielle Sharkan and Seli­na Alko is based on the van­dal­iz­ing of a syn­a­gogue that took place in Skok­ie, Illi­nois in 1990. The book is told from the per­spec­tive of Leila, a child whose Hebrew school atten­dance is dis­rupt­ed by this hate­ful act. Ren­dered with sen­si­tiv­i­ty and col­or­ful, dra­mat­ic images, this is a cau­tion­ary tale about anti­semitism, and a hope­ful one about com­mu­ni­ty support.

Leila loves Hebrew school. Great Jew­ish heroes and hero­ines, Bible sto­ries, and the Hebrew lan­guage all excite her. She is so engrossed in her learn­ing that the ​“rav­aging floods and top­pling tow­ers” of her lessons take visu­al form in her mind. A blue-robed Queen Esther sits calm­ly on her throne, while pairs of ani­mals walk up a ramp to Noah’s ark. A full-page por­trait of Leila shows her clutch­ing her mach­beret (note­book), where she col­lects the words that form the core of her studies.

At the end of the book, Leila is invit­ed to par­tic­i­pate in show-and-tell at her school. Wear­ing deep blue, her Star of David neck­lace promi­nent­ly dis­played, she is now both a stu­dent and teacher. She writes shalom in Hebrew in front of her class­mates, who are smil­ing and supportive.

Tickets: FREE