The Ziz and the Hanukkah Mir­a­cle is a clever attempt to explain the Hanukkah mir­a­cle of the oil that last­ed eight days. This non-tra­di­tion­al sto­ry is a light­heart­ed, whim­si­cal fan­ta­sy about the Ziz, a near­sight­ed bird who longs for more light in the win­ter so that he can make his din­ner. He sets out on a soli­tary jour­ney to find light. He catch­es fire­flies, lantern fish, and even attempts to cap­ture the moon. Frus­trat­ed with his lack of suc­cess, he final­ly asks for God’s help. God pro­vides the Ziz with an oil lamp, which he greed­i­ly refus­es to share with the oth­er ani­mals. When the Ziz dis­cov­ers the meno­rah in the Holy Tem­ple needs oil, he relents. With the help of the oth­er ani­mals, the meno­rah burns bright­ly. With his new friends by his side, the Ziz’s oil lamp burns even brighter. The Ziz and the Hanukkah Mir­a­cle is not a con­ven­tion­al Hanukkah sto­ry, but the val­ue of friend­ship, work­ing togeth­er, and even Tikkun Olam are nice­ly woven into the sto­ry. The illus­tra­tions are bold, col­or­ful and full of light. Ages 3 – 7.

Read­ing Guide