Creation’s First Light by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, illustrated by Joani Rothenberg; © 2013 IBJ Book Publishing; ISBN 978-10934922-94-1; 32 pages.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – This might be subtitled “A Child’s Guide to Torah and Spirituality.” Rabbi Sasso begins with a paraphrase of God’s first command, “Let There Be Light” and subsequently explains that this Divine Light was different from the lights created on the Fourth Day when God made the sun, the moon and the stars.
So what was this Light? Well it was something that Adam and Eve had in abundance until they broke God’s command not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. According to legend, Adam and Eve carried a small part of the light, in the form of a jewel, out of the Garden of Eden. It was passed down to Noah, who had it on the Ark. God used that light to create a rainbow.
After Noah, the light was passed down through the generations, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. After Moses, some said the jewel of Light was lost, but Rabbi Sasso instructs the children that such was not the case: the Light can be found in special places: like in a hug, or a smile; in questions and in memories, and in the face of a newborn baby.
She teaches that the Light was passed down through the generations to great grandparents, grandparents, and parents right on to the child. The light is your soul.
Joani Rothernberg’s illustrations of this large-format book imaginatively alternate between characters in biblical and modern costume, with one subliminal message being that the Light shines on all kinds of people, of all ages and eras.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)