By Robert Lichtman, Chief Jewish Learning Officer

We at Federation are excited to recommend the book Rosie Saves the World, written by Debbie Herman and illustrated by Tammie Lyon. The book is published by Kar-Ben Publishing, a premier publisher of high-quality children's titles with Jewish content. 

Rosie Saves the World is a terrific, beautifully illustrated story about a little girl who wants to save the world, but along the way realizes that she has neglected to help those nearest and dearest to her, her own family. She faces a common challenge – how to balance global citizenship with our unique obligations to our Jewish People.

Areyvut – Jewish mutual responsibility – stems from the ancient and always relevant axiom, Kol Yisrael Areyvim Zeh BaZeh – all Jews are responsible for one another. Areyvut has sustained our global Jewish people for millennia. We feed a Jew in Minsk just as we sustain an Israeli child newly arrived from Ethiopia; we will probably never meet either one, yet our obligation to them is unquestionable. But this tightly woven, interdependent communal fabric is unraveling as many Jews struggle to find a balance between helping the world and helping other Jews. This book shows a generation of children and their parents that they can balance and even blend the two values of helping others and helping ourselves – if we hold both as values.

We are very excited that Rosie will soon arrive as a gift to thousands of Jewish children in Greater MetroWest and throughout the country as an upcoming PJ Library selection. But if you’re not a kid and you want to read about Rosie, you can order your copy here.