Readers Write: My Father, My Mother and Me + Giveaway!

Posted on March 24, 2014 by miriamp

Readers from all over the world have been raving about our new book, My Father, My Mother and Me. Below are some of their comments. If you would like to share your thoughts on this book, or any ArtScroll title that has made an impression on you, email blog@artscroll.com and it might be featured on The Official ArtScroll Blog!

Scroll to the end of the post for a giveaway!

Giveaway is over! The winner is: Sarah W!

A reader from Israel shares:

“I would like to describe my experience with My Father, My Mother and Me. because I want more people to buy it. I did not buy this book to improve my relationship with my mother or with my mother in law. In fact, I didn’t buy it at all. Someone bought it for me, because she knew I was having real serious issues with my in-laws. You know—things that typically just go on without resolution.

Amazingly, as I read, something shifted in my attitude. It wasn’t because a particular story inspired me. It was just the whole idea of this book. l these years, I was looking at how I was right and how my in-laws were wrong. Even though I saw certain areas where I realized they were right and I was wrong, I had a hard time acting respectfully about them.

So what happened?

After reading the book, I realized that even if they are wrong and I am right, I should be focusing on my responsibilities, on how I could become better. I realized that I should daven more to be able to honor my in-laws, my parents, and to respect them and their needs.

My mindset changed a lot, in a lot of ways. I realized that because of my new attitude, I am talking to my in-laws—and talking to my husband about them—in a different way. I thought, “Wow! What a little book can do!”

I wanted to share this because I feel that everyone should read My Father, My Mother and Me. “

Gitty writes about how much she enjoyed this book:

“I highly recommend the book My Father, My Mother and Me. It has opened up my eyes (pokeach ivrim) to the halachos of Kibud Av V’Eim. It gave me a whole new perspective on the way that I view my relationship with my parents. Baruch Hashem, I have already been able to put the halachas I’ve learned from this book into practice. Aside from being inspirational and educational, this is a highly entertaining book that I had fun reading – I don’t know any time that I ever said that about a halacha sefer.

Yasher Koach!”

Reader Chani writes about how this book impacted her life:

“I picked up a copy of My Father, My Mother and Me over shabbos, and I spent some time reading it. I found it to be life changing.

My father has never forgiven me for becoming a Baalas Teshuva. Every time that I see him he makes fun of my “lifestyle” and puts down Kollel. He makes sure to let me know that if I didn’t have the extra expenses of being a frum Jew, I could live the “good” life (cruises, restaurants, etc).

After spending a few hours with him, the only thing I usually want to do is run out the door. This week, as I was visiting him, I started thinking about the stories that I had read in the book. I took a look around me and realized that his apartment was in terrible shape. The mitzvah of Kibbud Av includes cleaning and feeding my father, not just visiting him. Despite my tremendous desire to leave, I spent a long time cleaning his bathroom and kitchen and taking out numerous bags of garbage. Because of the many stories that I read about ways of taking care of parents, I realized that this is something that I should want to do, not look for excuses to get out of it.

The most remarkable thing is not that I did it, but how I felt about doing it. In the past when I helped him I was full of resentment for the way that he treats me. This time I left feeling good and empowered. This was not about helping my father; it was about doing what Hashem wants.“

Click here to purchase the book with exclusive online savings

GIVEAWAY!

For your chance to win a copy of My Father, My Mother and Me just comment below and tell us which ArtScroll titles have greatly impacted your life. (You can also email your thoughts to blog@artscroll.com and it may be featured here. All entries must be via comment on this post.)

**Giveaway ends on Thursday, March 27th at 11:59 eastern time. Prize can be shipped within the USA. Winner will be notified via email. Valid email address must be provided to claim prize. Limit one entry per person.

Making Hashem Proud: Author Interview + GIVEAWAY!

Posted on March 11, 2014 by miriamp

Giveaway is over!

Congratulations to our winner – Gila! Stay tuned for our next giveaway coming up soon!

ArtScroll’s new children’s release, Making Hashem Proud features stories that teach children about the importance of behaving properly and making a Kiddush Hashem.

ArtScroll talked with the author, Mrs. Chaviva Pfeiffer, about this exciting new book.

Scroll down past the interview for a chance to WIN a copy of this book!

ArtScroll: Can you tell us how you got started writing?

Chaviva Pfeiffer: The Maggid Series, written by my father, Rabbi Paysach Krohn, is extremely popular. Adults would read the stories and often repeat them to their children. However, the children needed the stories explained. The idea was born to have the stories written especially for children.

Back then, my husband was a 6^th grade Rebbe, and each week he would give his students a story that related to the weekly Parshah. The stories were taken from my father’s Maggid books, and I would rewrite them to make them easier for the boys to read. My father liked the way I wrote them, and told me about his idea to write a children’s book featuring his stories. We approached ArtScroll with the idea, and they liked it. Since then, I’ve published three books of Maggid Stories for Children.

ArtScroll: Your latest book, Making Hashem Proud, just came out, is different. Can you tell us more about it?

Chaviva Pfeiffer: Unlike my previous books, where I wrote over the Maggid stories in a kid-friendly manner, Making Hashem Proud contains stories that I researched for my topic, Kiddush Hashem.

ArtScroll: How did you choose this topic?

CP: I was approached by Rabbi Shragie Freedman, who has dedicated his life to researching and teaching about Kiddush Hashem. He asked me to write a book of stories on a children’s level. He started me off with some stories, and then I began to look for more stories on my own.

ArtScroll: Was it hard to find the stories?

Chaviva Pfeiffer: You would be surprised by how many people were involved in or witnessed a story about Kiddush Hashem. Once I put the word out that I was looking for stories on this topic, they started to come in.

The hard part is actually verifying the stories! My father is always very careful to meticulously research the origins of a story, and talk to the people involved to make sure it’s completely true. That’s what I did with these stories as well; it’s the Krohn way.

I feel that if a story isn’t true, the inspirational lesson you might learn from it just isn’t that strong. One of the stories in the book involves a class of 2nd graders who acted in a manner that was so impressive, a business owner decided to close on Shabbos because of them! It’s a beautiful story, and one to aspire to, because it’s true. If it weren’t true, would you feel as inspired?

ArtScroll: Your book features illustrations along with the stories. Can you tell us more about that?

Chaviva Pfeiffer: The illustrations are done by Chani Stern. At first, she showed us some basic sketches in pencil only. I came into the ArtScroll office and sat with Reb Avrohom Biderman to decide if the sketches fit the story. Once we approved them, they were finished and created in color.

There’s a lot that goes into choosing illustrations. For example, we like to show emotion in the characters. While a picture might look better from the back, I prefer to show the person’s face so you can see how he feels. You also have to make sure a picture doesn’t give away too much. Originally, one of the stories in Making Hashem Proud had a picture right in the beginning which gave away the end of the story, so we moved the illustration to the end instead.

ArtScroll: Who is this book intended for?

Chaviva Pfeiffer: The book is geared to children about 7-10 years old to read on their own, but you can read it to children as young as 3-4. My goal is to teach children that they have the ability to make a Kiddush Hashem, whether public or private, no matter how old they are!

GIVEAWAY!

For your chance to win a copy of Making Hashem Proud just comment below and tell us which child(ren) you would like to give or read this book to! (Your own count too!)

**Giveaway ends on Thursday, March 13th at 11:59 eastern time. Prize can be shipped within the USA. Winner will be notified via email. Valid email address must be provided to claim prize. Limit one entry per person.

A Taste of Pesach: Cookbook GIVEAWAY!

Posted on February 26, 2014 by miriamp

134

Giveaway is over!

And the winner is… #14 – Tamar S. Congratulations Tamar – see your email to claim your prize!

ArtScroll’s brand-new Pesach cookbook is almost here, and we’re so excited about it!

A Taste of Pesach features:

· Over 150 tried-and-true recipes for Pesach and year round

· Stunning, full-color photographs accompany every recipe

· Breathtaking layout, clear design

· Triple-tested recipes allow you to cook with confidence

· Over 140 gluten-free, non-gebrokts recipes

· Oversize hardcover edition, 240 full-color pages

· Cross-referenced index to help you find your favorite recipes

This book would make a great gift – either in a shalach manot – or as a Passover hostess gift. And as our gift to you, we’re going to give one of our readers a copy of this book – for free!

All you have to do to enter is comment below, and tell us what your favorite Passover food is.

**Giveaway ends on Monday, March 3rd at 11:59 eastern time. Prize can be shipped within the USA. Winner will be notified via email. Valid email address must be provided to claim prize. Limit one entry per person.

Make sure to keep following The Official ArtScroll blog – where we’ll soon be sharing sample recipes from this exciting new cookbook!

Click here for cookbook details and exclusive online savings.

To enter the giveaway: