Editorial Review

“Mr. Monty Nudelman is a mensch (good person). On Friday morning following a big storm, he happily shovels snow from the sidewalks, alleys and front porches of his neighbors so they can prepare for Shabbat. When he does not show up for Shabbat services on Saturday morning, the congregation is worried. They learn he is home because he hurt his back shoveling snow – for all of them! Just before lunch, neighborhood children are sent to Monty’s home with bowls, pots and thermoses filled with cholent (Shabbat stew) – a Cholent Brigade – to help him feel better. The children stay to help him eat all the varieties of cholent ‘each dish filled with warmth and comfort, happiness and friendship,’ and on Sunday morning they return to shovel Monty’s yard.

This sweet, simple story of friendship, bikkur cholim (visiting the sick)and tikkun olam (repairing the world), is a wonderful lesson for the current times. The illustrations, a mixture of digital art combined with hand drawings and paint, are colorful and perfectly reflect a snow covered town. There is a recipe for cholent in the back of the book.”—Association of Jewish Libraries