Author: ArtScroll Staff

Here’s a tough question: What do sleepy kids (and their parents) love more than one of Shmuel Blitz’s bedtime story books?

And here’s your easy answer: Four story collections in one amazing volume!

With over 400,000 (!) copies of his children’s books in print, Shmuel Blitz is one of the Jewish world’s bestselling authors. We caught up with our favorite bedtime storyteller to talk about his newest book, The Big Book of Jewish Bedtime Story Books.

AS: Since your first “Bedtime Stories” book came out in 1996, you’ve literally helped tens of thousands of children get to sleep. What’s the secret of your bedtime books’ enduring charm?

SB: If an author is boring enough, he can put anyone to sleep. Just ask my kids!

Actually, these are mostly classic Jewish stories from our thousands of years of history. There is so much to choose from. There is no end to Jews telling stories. Some I remember from my parents and grandparents. Many, I just heard and saw in a number of different places. And every child loves a good story.

AS: Did you “test” the stories on your own children? What were their favorites? And what is yours?

SB: Yes, I’ve always read stories to my children. And I also told stories every Shabbos morning to the children in my shul.

When my whole family had to stay in our sealed room during the First Gulf War, I remember telling stories through the night about my summer camp experiences. It was very relaxing for everyone during a difficult time.

AS: Many of the stories are funny. Tell us a little about the power of humor, particularly for children.

SB: Humor is a part of what has kept the Jewish people content and happy for thousands of years. When we can laugh, it’s easier to get through any difficult time. Hashem commands us to be sameach — happy. It is a basic principle for both adults and children.

AS: What are the four books included in this mega-edition volume?

SB: A Treasury of Jewish Bedtime Stories, Bedtime Stories to Make You Smile, Bedtime Stories of Jewish Values, and A Treasury of Shabbos Bedtime Stories.

I — along with Klal Yisrael — am still reeling. The loss of Rav Chaim zt”l, the Sar HaTorah, the humble leader of our generation, has left a hole in our hearts and lives.

And this, coming on the heels of the Russian invasion, with images and headlines reminiscent of a Cold War that we’d all believed had melted into global peace, leaves many of us unsettled. Melancholy. Maybe just plain scared. Emotions intensified by loss of the gadol hador.

But life must go on, so I put my sadness to the side and open Rabbi Yechiel Spero’s newest book, What A Story!

I read about an act of kindness that a woman did for a surviving orphan of the Chevron Massacre. That kindness was repaid half a century later — and it reminds me that every good deed done, every pasuk of Torah learned, makes an eternal impression. I begin to feel a stirring of consolation.

Now here is an elderly Russian Jew, a child during the Communist revolution who knew nothing about Yiddishkeit. It took one tiny childhood memory — of a little lamb, a “chad gadya” — to bring him back to Torah. Reading that story, I remember that there is always hope.

I read story after story written in Rabbi Spero’s warm and inspiring style, and I feel my spirits rise as I enjoy a sorely needed jolt of chizuk.

Klal Yisrael will always survive.

Rabbi Berel Wein’s new book, Struggles, Challenges and Tradition, gives me still another dose of comfort. Rabbi Wein is one of Torah Jewry’s most articulate and beloved historians. This impressive coffee-table book, with over 150 photographs, takes us on a breathtaking global tour of the Jewish world from 1820 – 1940. It was a restless time, an era of great changes. We travel through Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Austria-Hungary, the British Empire, Eretz Yisrael, and the Americas. We see the many “modern” forces ranged against Torah Judaism. And we see how, despite all the “ism’s,” and all the naysayers who claimed Orthodoxy was doomed to extinction, Torah leaders and their communities fought back and laid the groundwork — despite the horrors of the Holocaust — for Torah to survive. And, yes, for Torah to thrive to an almost unimaginable extent.

And as I read about our people’s resilience, again, I am comforted in these troubled times.

Two books of truth — one of stories, one of history. Very different, and yet both giving us the same messages: messages of emunah, of consolation, of hope.

AS: Rav Yitzchok Scheiner is known as the “Yerushalmi gadol who went to a Pittsburgh high school.” Tell us a little about his journey — and what his unusual background means to American readers.

RNS: Rav Yitzchok was a “regular” American boy who planned on becoming a math professor. But there was a chance meeting with Rabbi Avrohom Bender, who informed Rav Yitzchok’s surprised parents that there were real yeshivos in America, too — and that led to yeshivah in New York, and later, to its summer camp in the mountains, where he was introduced to the Torah of Reb Shloime Heiman and the greatness of Reb Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz. There was really no reason this American boy should have been able to marry the Israeli granddaughter of Reb Boruch Ber. But he did — because that was Hashem’s plan. Which means that in life anything can happen and anything is possible ….

AS: The biography is full of stories told by some of his thousands of talmidim. Can you share, briefly, one of your favorite stories?

RNS: One of my favorite stories involves a boy who had a very dangerous encounter while going mountain climbing. When he returned to yeshivah he was sure that Rav Yitzchok was going to be furious with him for his carelessness, but Rav Yitzchok’s response and the way he took care of the boy, dressing his wounds, taking him home and feeding him soup, spoon after spoon, and putting him to bed, because the boy was too exhausted even to feed himself — without a word of rebuke — made a great impression on the young talmid. In my mind that story was the epitome of compassionate chinuch.

AS: Here’s an unusual question. If Rav Yitzchok could read this biography, how do you think he would react?

RNS: Of course, I can’t know how he would react, but I think he would probably say that if it will help American youth understand what they can become and what their infinite potential is, then it is completely worthwhile. After all, on many occasions he told the story of how he went from a public high school to yeshivah. Obviously, he felt that this would influence American boys and help them comprehend that the sky is the limit. So overall, I would have to say that he would be happy — though his deep humility would object to all the talk about his gadlus….

This week, we’ll look at two new ArtScroll sefarim that seem so very different from each other. The first, the newest volume in The Schottenstein Edition Ein Yaakov, is ArtScroll’s elucidation of the centuries-old Torah classic that delves into the beauty and mysteries of the Aggadah portions of the Talmud. The second, Rabbi Tzvi Ryzman’s Exploring Modern Halachic Dilemmas Volume 2,looks at the fascinating halachic ramifications of today’s cutting-edge technology and contemporary life.

Two very different sefarim but … also the same. The same in their search for the emes l’amita of Torah. And the same in the quality and clarity that we’ve come to expect from all ArtScroll sefarim.

Like the others in this popular, ongoing series, The Schottenstein Edition Ein Yaakov on Moed Katan and Chagigah is designed to enhance our understanding of Aggadata. The work combines accuracy, depth, and readability. There is a wealth of information in the notes, based on the primary commentaries on Ein Yaakov and other sources. The “Insights” section illuminates various points in the Aggadata, and it brings out many lessons and principles that are relevant in our daily lives. These Insights are drawn from a vast selection of commentaries and Torah works, ranging from the Rishonim to the masters of Chassidus and Mussar.

Rabbi Tzvi Ryzman brings us the eagerly awaited second volume in the Exploring Modern Halachic Dilemmas series. He refers to himself as “a businessman,” which he is, but he is also a scholar, teacher, lecturer, author, and philanthropist. He is a winner of the Jerusalem Prize for his many Hebrew volumes of Ratz KaTzvi, and his halachah shiurim in Israel and America are attended and acclaimed by renowned rabbinic leaders.

May a Jew daven in an “interfaith room” in a hospital or airport? What are the Shabbos issues in a “smart home”? Is a tattooed Kohen allowed to duchen? May someone ride in a self-driving car on Shabbos? What are some of the halachic implications of organ transplants? Rabbi Ryzman explores these and other halachic questions, guiding us with remarkable clarity through the issues and the piskei halachah of the greatest poskim of our time.

So there you have it. Two sefarim, one based on an ancient text, the other on current issues. Both fascinating, and both important to living our lives as Torah Jews.