Mendel Rosenbusch - Tales for Jewish Children
Mendel Rosenbusch is a wise old man who can render himself invisible with the help of a magic shekel. The eleven stories in this beautifully illustrated volume demonstrate Jewish values, especially charity, with a little help from Mendel. Once read, the characters and plots have a tendency to stick with the reader and demand repeated readings. This book can be a new classic for today's children. The stories lend themselves to librarian and teacher use at story hour, parent use at bedtime, and a child reading alone. Any libraries that hold The Wise Men of Chelm should addMendel Rosenbuschto their collections. Recommended for all libraries. -- --Barbara Krasner, Member, Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, NJ''Mendel Rosenbusch: Tales forJewish Children, is the finest children's book I've ever read.Though it is expensive, I am sending it to each set of parents of my grandchildren. It is a beautiful combination of fantasy and instruction. Every moral point a parent would like to teach his child is here; the literary wrapping is entrancing. Opening the pages [of the original German edition, found in his mother in law's apartment in the 1990s}, Dr. Hans Fisher, [who, with his wife, Ruth, translated the book into English] found himself taken back to his own childhood in Breslau. The charm, insights and moral grounding that had made this book one of his favorites more than a half century earlier were just as he had remembered.Mendel Rosenbusch can know and do many things unavailable to mere mortals, though he himself appears to be a mere mortal to everyone around him. Mendel has the power to deal effectively with children who lie, with adults who are paralyzed, with kids who goof around  in shul. Hans Fisher says that when he was a kid, he used to read these stories over and over again. I can see why.In the Holocaust museum and memorial at Thereisenstadt today,a number of photographs of Ilse Weber are on display. ''When the cattle cars came for the children, Ilse volunteered to accompany them to their unknown destination in the East Auschwitz,''  Hans Fisher concludes his Afterword,A Voice from the Past. ''This compassionate and talented young woman had brought grace to a terrible place. ''And now she brings moral instruction, intrigue and smiles to generations of readers whom she could never have imagined.'' -- Rabbi Hillel Goldberg,InterMountain Jewish News''One of [Ilse Weber's] books,Mendel Rosenbusch: Tales for Jewish Children, was recently translated from German into English by Ruth and Hans Fisher. The 58-page book has as its central character an old Jew called Mendel who has two distinct powers: he can read people's thoughts through their eyes and he can make himself invisible. ''That was the wonderful gift that God had given him in return for being so kindhearted,'' Weber writes.In the ten stories that follow, we see stingy people learn to be generous and mischievous children channel their naughtiness into performing good deeds. Each story takes place against a very Jewish backdrop and on a calendar marked only by the Jewish holidays. The stories are delightful, each with a moral lesson but one not didactically delivered. Ruth and Hans Fisher are  to be commended for translating this literary treasure chest and partnering it with the gorgeous illustrations of P. John Burden. Children aged four through nine will definitely enjoy these stories, particularly when they are patiently read out loud by the right adult.'' ---- Lauren Kramer,Jewish Book World''This collection of stories, originally published in Germany early in the twentieth century and translated into English by Ruth Hirschberg Fisher and her husband, Dr. Hans Fisher, should be enjoyed by all.They are tales of Jewish life in the old country. They tell of a life in villages that no longer exist, long wiped out by pogroms and the Holocaust. They are sweet stories, which offer valuable lessons.The stories . . . show how [Mendel Rosenbusch] helps poor children and the elderly.In one story, a sweet old woman, who runs the local candy store, and is beloved by the village, takes in her orphaned nephew. She sacrificed for him and then he abandoned her, even neglecting to invite her to his wedding. Yet he too eventually comes around.Ultimately, those inclined to do wrong are taught right.The endings are abrupt, but the stories have that comforting feeling of being passed from generation to generation, as these were. For these are the most important stories to pass down. They reflect the singular Jewish life of the shetls, but the sweet life lessons they teach apply way beyond the villages that are no more.'' ---- Jacqueline Cutler,Newark Srar