Editorial Review

“Bezalel and the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. But young Bezalel had an eye for beauty and loved to collect pretty things like shiny stones and colored strings, and place them into his ‘Beautiful Things Box.’ When it’s time to escape Egypt and wander through the desert, he takes along his precious box, saying, ‘The world needs beautiful things,’ and he collects more along the way to Eretz Yisrael. One day, Moses tells the people that ‘God wants us to build a house of beautiful things’ called a mishkan, a place for God to dwell. Bezalel is chosen to design the house of God because he understands how the earth can provide beautiful things, such as wood from desert trees, blossoms from prickly cactus and sparkly stones from rock. Eventually, Bezalel (whose name means ‘in God’s shadow’) is responsible for building the ‘biggest Beautiful Things Box ever’ with the help of the other Israelites. This story is taken from the book of Exodus. It is enhanced by lovely full-color illustrations by a well-known Italian illustrator and animator.”―Jewish Journal