2006-06-16—The Ziz
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 Harrison
Weblog
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Zapping the Ziz!
jewishsightseeing.com, June 16, 2006
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2006-06-16—The Ziz |
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The Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle written by Jacqueline Jules, illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn, Kar-Ben Publishing, 2006, $17.95. SAN DIEGO, Calif.—If you ask me Kar-Ben Publishing is getting too early a jump on Chanukah—or as they call it, Hanukkah—given that first night isn't until December 15—but I don't mind playing along. Why can't we enjoy Chanukah stories now, as temperatures rise? Psychologically it could cool us down. So let me tell you about Kar-Ben's new book, The Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle written by Jacqueline Jules and illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn and intended for children between the ages of 3 and 7. Ziz, in case you haven't met him, is a "gigantic yellow bird with huge red wings and a purple-feathered forehead," who has made his appearance in two previous Jewish-interest books for children: Noah and the Ziz and The Hardest Word: A Yom Kippur Story. Suppose your children know the traditional story of the cruse of oil which should have lasted only one day, but instead burned in the re-dedicated Temple for 8 days. "How did God work this miracle?" you might ask the children to see where their imaginations might take them. "How did God go about keeping the fire burning that long?" In this fable, God utilizes the great Ziz, a talking bird creature who is not only humongous in size (think Sesame Street) but who regularly flies off to Mt. Sinai for consultations with God. In one such consultation, the Ziz told the Almighty he just didn't like the way it gets dark so early in the winter time. The Ziz complains that when he flies over fields in the late winter afternoons, it is hard to find his favorite foods in the fields. In my imagination, I saw a great big lightning bolt coming out of the sky, and zap, there was a big, fried bird—enough to feed a whole neighborhood full of Hanukkah celebrants. That too would have been a Hanukkah miracle! But this book was based on the imaginations of Jacqueline Jules and Katherine Janus Kahn, who, no doubt, want to keep the Ziz series going. So, in their version, God feels quite indulgent, and gives the Ziz a magic oil lamp to hang near his table or his bed. The Ziz happily takes the prize home, but when other animals creep toward the light, he throws a tantrum. The light, he says, is his; he doesn't want any of the other animals to share it. On one of his flights, he passes over the Holy Temple just as Judah and the Maccabees are discovering that there is only one cruse of oil left. The bird keeps on flying to Mount Sinai, where God asks him pointedly, "Have you thought about sharing?" The Ziz doesn't want to share, so he flies away without saying "good-bye" to God. Another good opportunity for a well-aimed lightning bolt! But the compassionate God has decided upon another form of Divine intervention. Ziz finds himself landing through no will of his own at the Holy Temple where along with the "Temple mice," the bird watches the newly lit menorah begin to sputter. Now ready to share, he decides to share the light from his oil lamp after al—with the help of the mice and an owl, who, unlike the giant Ziz, are small enough to fit inside the Temple. You've heard it before, and now it must come to mind again: God works in
mysterious ways. Zat zis za ztory. |