I’m Heidi Rabinowitz and I am so happy to be Jewish. The beautiful and varied customs, the focus on deep thought and learning, and the historical connections going back over the centuries, all bring me joy. That’s why I’ve dedicated my career to synagogue librarianship and why I’ve been podcasting about Jewish children’s literature for 20 years on The Book of Life, and established a new hub for Jewish kidlit this year at The Jewish Book Garden on Substack. That is also why I created the Jewish Joy series here at Multicultural Kid Blogs!
What?
I’m thrilled to share this Jewish Joy series for Multicultural Kid Blogs with you. I’ll be bringing you Q&A’s from diverse intersectional Jewish authors, showcasing the variegated tapestry of Jewish life and books. In each interview, I’ll link back to the author’s appearance on The Book of Life Podcast for you to hear their voice and learn more about them.
Why?
In these turbulent times with antisemitism at record highs, Jewish Joy is crucial. As poet Toi Derricotte says, joy is an act of resistance. Joyful books invite everyone in, so that Jewish stories can, in the words of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, become windows as well as mirrors, bringing hope, demystifying the Jewish experience, and building empathy and understanding.
Who?
In the last Jewish Joy post in this series, you met Adam Gidwitz, a middle grade author who combines deep philosophy with quirky humor and a touch of magic. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Rachelle Burk, who loves to write about Jewish adventure. I interviewed Rachelle on The Book of Life Podcast in August 2026 about her picture book biography of a scuba diving rabbi, Diving Deep: Reverse Tashlich for a Better World. We were even joined by the subject of the book, Rabbi Ed Rosenthal, and together he and Rachelle explained how we can make ocean clean-up a sacred act.
Rachelle’s books celebrate bravery, creativity, and Jewish joy. I’m pleased to bring you this exclusive Jewish Joy interview for Multicultural Kid Blogs, and if you’d like to hear more from Rachelle in her own voice, please click on the podcast link below.
Q&A with Rachelle Burk
THE BOOK OF LIFE: Rachelle, please describe your own Jewish identity, along with any other aspects of your identity that you’d like to share.
RB: I consider myself culturally Jewish. I grew up in a Conservative household in New Orleans, back when kosher meat actually had to be flown in from Texas! As a kid, I constantly needed notes to explain why I was missing school for the High Holidays, or to excuse me from the annual school Christmas play. Before my mother passed away when I was ten, we went to synagogue regularly and loved our weekly Shabbat dinners, complete with all the beautiful rituals. We had massive family Passover seders at Grandma’s house—where we never skipped a single page of the Haggadah—celebrated Purim and built sukkot with my dad. I didn’t mind Sunday school, but I
absolutely hated Hebrew school because it meant missing Dark Shadows on TV. After all that, I had my Bat Mitzvah.
As an adult, I’m not particularly observant outside of family Passover seders, and I don’t belong to a synagogue. Even so, my Jewish identity and connection to my heritage remain incredibly strong. I also feel a deep bond with Israel, where I lived for two and a half years as a young adult.
TBOL: Why is it important to you to include Jewish representation in your writing?
RB: I write both secular and Jewish-themed children’s books. When it comes to Jewish stories, I absolutely believe that themes dealing with the Holocaust and historical oppression are vital. But our culture is about so much more than just our struggles. I want to give young readers Jewish stories that spark laughter, excitement, and a genuine sense of awe. Ultimately, I want to write the exact kind of books I wish I’d had when I was a kid, and the kind I want my own future grandchildren to read.
TBOL: About being Jewish: what is hard, and what brings you joy?
RB: October 7th [the date in 2023 when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel] and everything that has followed has been incredibly heavy and emotionally draining. Lately, I feel a great deal of anger, disappointment, and mistrust. It hurts deeply to see that the political, social, and cultural groups Jews have long supported and aligned themselves with don’t seem to have our backs. As an author, it has made navigating the industry much harder. There is a palpable bias against Jewish and Israeli creators right now, which makes it a real uphill battle to sell books to non-Jewish-themed publishers.
But amidst all that hardship, the joy comes from the incredible connection I’ve found within the Jewish author community. It is a space filled with writers who are entirely dedicated to supporting, protecting, and uplifting one another. That solidarity keeps me going.
I remain proud of my heritage, and it makes me even more excited to write books that highlight the lives and adventures of exceptional Jewish role models.
TBOL: What do you want the world to know about Jewish people?
RB: I want people to know that the Jewish people are a diverse group that encompasses many different backgrounds, ethnicities, and races from all over the world. We range from strictly observant to atheist. We are liberal and conservative, straight and gay, Black and White, Latino and Asian. We are intellectually curious. And we are resilient.
TBOL: Tell us about any Jewish books you’ve written.
RB: About a third of my children’s books focus on Jewish themes, and I’m incredibly proud that three of them have been selected as PJ Library books. My very first was a humorous Passover picture book called The Best Four Questions (Kar-Ben, 2019). It was largely inspired by the funny Passover comedy skits my brother and I used to write for our own family seders when our kids were little.
Next came She’s a Mensch! Jewish Women Who Rocked the World, which was a true “mother-daughter pandemic project.” My daughter Alana, a nurse, was isolated and bored when she wasn’t working, so she asked if I wanted to write a book together. We did all of our research and writing entirely over Zoom via shared Google Docs, and our hardest task was narrowing down the dozens of incredible, inspiring women we discovered.
I also love history and adventure. I wrote the historical fiction book A Mitzvah for George Washington, based on Washington’s real-life meeting and correspondence with the Jewish leader of Newport, Rhode Island—home to the oldest standing synagogue in North America. My love for true adventure drove me to write several biographical picture books, including Space Torah: Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman’s Cosmic Mitzvah, Passover on Everest, Diving Deep on Rosh Hashanah, and Hanu-Cave (a working title with a release date TBD). For me, all of these books share a singular message: we are so much more than our struggles, our oppression, or even our day-to-day rituals. We are exciting, adventurous, bold, and formidable.
TBOL: What other Jewish books are you excited about, and why?
RB: There is absolutely no way I can narrow that list down! I am lucky to have an entire library filled with Jewish fiction and nonfiction children’s books, all signed by their authors—incredible creators like Chana Stiefel, Ann Koffsky, Ellen Weinstein, Debbi Lakritz, Liza Wiemer, Audrey Ades, Marissa Moss, Ellen Warach Leventhal, and Karen Rostoker-Gruber, just to name a few. Their books constantly make me think, make me laugh, and make me feel deeply hopeful and proud to be Jewish.
In fact, at a recent informal dinner gathering of Jewish Kidlit authors, Chana Stiefel signed a copy of her new book, Awe! It’s Everywhere!, for my very first grandchild, who is due this December. That book perfectly captures exactly how I hope my granddaughter will grow up to see the world.
TBOL: Rachelle, thank you for sharing your story and for bringing the unusual theme of Jewish adventure into the world!
Heidi Rabinowitz
Latest posts by Heidi Rabinowitz (see all)
- Jewish Joy with Rachelle Burk - August 24, 2026
- Jewish Joy with Adam Gidwitz - July 13, 2026
- Jewish Joy with A.R. Vishny - June 15, 2026
Thank you so much for this interview. My extended family includes many different cultures, and I’m honored to be part of this very important blog.
What a powerful and impactful interview! Last week, I was with my grandkids at the Air & Space Museum. I shared Rachelle’s SPACE TORAH with them. They were so surprised that a Torah went to outer space, and it made me so happy to be able to tell them about it through Rachelle’s work.
Also, I came to this space to read this fabulous interview and received such a lovely surprise. Thank you for including me in your authors to read list! 💙
Wonderful interview and such interesting books!