India has his­tor­i­cal­ly been home to sev­er­al dif­fer­ent Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ties, whose cul­tures may be unfa­mil­iar to many Amer­i­can read­ers. In their new pic­ture book, On a Char­i­ot of Fire, Eri­ca Lyons and Siona Ben­jamin frame the tra­di­tions of the Bene Israel as a kind of Hanukkah sto­ry. Both address the pres­sure to assim­i­late, even if they have dif­fer­ent out­comes. While the Mac­cabees led those Jews who refused to con­form to Greek prac­tices, the Bene Israel adapt­ed to the soci­ety in which they lived. Yet they also main­tained a strong iden­ti­fi­ca­tion with Judaism and the land of Israel.

Gen­er­a­tional ties bind all Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ties. Here, a grand­moth­er, Nani Penkar, reminds her grand­daugh­ter, Maya, of their ori­gin in Israel and their deep roots in India. Wear­ing a bright blue sari and a gold Star of David neck­lace, Nani Penkar nar­rates the dra­mat­ic tale of the Bene Israel, which took place two thou­sand years ago. Food also plays an impor­tant role in Bene Israel cul­ture. Sweet rice, fruit, and flow­ers are arranged on a dish between the old woman and the young girl. In a flight of fan­cy, apples, bananas, figs, and pome­gran­ates all float in the air, as if lev­i­tat­ing. The image is a reminder that some of Nani Penkar’s account is more leg­end than his­to­ry, yet it is still a source of pride and strength.

Illus­tra­tions of indomitable Mac­cabees bat­tling Greeks are a sta­ple of Hanukkah books, but here, that bat­tle leads to an exo­dus. Fol­low­ing this scene, a two-page spread shows Jew­ish men, women, and chil­dren car­ry­ing their belong­ings and a Torah scroll as they flee. The pic­ture alludes to cen­turies of sim­i­lar refugee expe­ri­ences. The book then goes on to describe the unique jour­ney of the Bene Israel. Waves toss a ship men­aced by a great storm, con­jur­ing the bib­li­cal Book of Jon­ah. But while Jon­ah stub­born­ly refused the task assigned to him by God, the Jews on this ship respond with fer­vent prayer. Most are drowned in the ship­wreck, but a few are res­cued by the prophet Eli­jah, who will remain a cen­tral part of their iden­ti­ty as Jews.

At first, the Bene Israel observed their lunar cal­en­dar, the laws of kashrut, and the Sab­bath. Over time — as is the case for many immi­grants — they also came to speak the lan­guage of their neigh­bors and no longer gave their chil­dren Hebrew names. Nev­er­the­less, the Jew­ish con­nec­tion remained, as is rep­re­sent­ed by a cin­e­mat­ic illus­tra­tion of Eli­jah on his char­i­ot of fire dri­ven by two angels with gold­en wings. This high­ly rec­om­mend­ed pic­ture book demon­strates both fideli­ty to the old and adap­ta­tion to the new.