From Mr Rogers Neighborhood To My Neighborhood
This last week the world has grieved over the hate and anger displayed to the Jewish community regarding freedom of worship. It leaves us feeling simply helpless. How can we possibly respond? I have written a children ‘s book, Oni and the kingdom of onion. Oni, the Onion, and his vegetable friends in the refrigerator, talk to one another about how in the modern world, people fight and sometimes don’t get along with each other resulting in loss of life.In an ideal world, I portray to the reader of Oni, a world of peace and friendship, in a place you would never ever look for, in a salad. There, In a salad, each ingredient of the salad, has very little taste by itself;but mixed together the ingredients make the salad taste terrific! It takes all ingredients to make it a batter peaceful world. So it is in a world of people. You see: There is peace and harmony in a salad, but not in the world we live in today. Children can learn from this. In the world today, there is imminent danger and violence, displayed by hate and anger, such that we recently experienced. This is the reason why Oni the Onion was created for children and their parents to read to them. The cover of Oni is like Humpty Dumpty sitting on the wall, about to fall off. Through Oni s story, children are encouraged to learn about being accepting of others and work toward common goals, discouraging anger and violence and hate in the works we live in; all while learning about the holiday of Hannukah that historically taught the Jewish people to make peace with each other. Children and parents alike, enjoy learning about Oni, a remarkable onion; and his friends a very important lesson: the simple fact, that in a divided world, we can come together as one. No more hate,no more violence, no more loss of human life. You can purchase the book directly through me or order on Amazon in time for Hannukah. In the words of the prophet Micah: what does God require of us. Answer: to do justice, to live and to do acts of mercy and to walk humbly to God’s law.
All the best,
Rabbi Marc