A Book List About Welcoming Guests

During holidays like Passover, families get together with friends and special guests to celebrate. Did you know that being a good host is a mitzvah or commandment? This value, in Hebrew hachnasat orchim, stresses the importance of making people feel welcome. Watch the video below to learn more and then keep the discussion going with the books listed

 

And Then Another Sheep Turned Up by Laura Gehl


Every time this family of sheep gets ready to celebrate their seder, someone else shows up at the door. Can they make more room?


Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to be Kosher by Laurel Snyder


Upon hearing of the joys and sweetness of Shabbat and, especially of Shabbat dinner, Baxter the Pig sets out to understand what it means to be kosher.


Chik Chak Shabbat

Chik Chak Shabbat by Mara Rockliff


Everyone in Goldie Simcha’s apartment building knows it’s Friday night when they smell the delicious Shabbat meal she's cooking, especially the cholent, a special stew. But one Friday night, Goldie doesn’t feel well enough to cook so her neighbors step in with a special meal of their own.


Company's Coming

Company's Coming by Joan Holub


Family and friends arrive to visit and take part in a family’s Passover celebration. The Four Questions are asked, foods on the seder plate are sampled, and there’s a hunt for the afikomen.


Just Enough and Not Too Much

Just Enough and Not Too Much by Kaethe Zemach


Simon is a fiddler who loves a lot of things -- and consequently fills his house with a lot of stuff! Eventually there’s so much stuff there’s barely room to move around. What should he do?


The Mitten String by Jennifer Rosner


Ruthie loves to knit -- and to help people. When her family gives shelter to a deaf woman and her baby, Ruthie realizes there’s a way for her to do both at once!


The Mysterious Guests

The Mysterious Guests by Eric Kimmel


Three mysterious guests appear at generous but impoverished Ezra’s table on Sukkot and bless him, but don’t do the same for his rich but selfish brother, Eben.


Never Too Quiet

Never Too Quiet by Barbara Diamond Goldin


Rabbi Pinchas was worn out and tired. Everyone kept coming to him with their problems--he had no time to study! But when he stopped accepting visitors, it felt very quiet. Is it possible it was too quiet?


Only Nine Chairs by Deborah Uchill Miller


How in the world do you handle nineteen guests at a seder when you only have nine chairs?


Stone Soup With Matzoh Balls

Stone Soup With Matzoh Balls by Linda Glaser


How can you make a huge pot of delicious matzoh ball soup when all you’ve got is a cold, hard stone? In Chelm, anything can happen -- and does.


The Passover Cowboy

The Passover Cowboy by Barbara Diamond Goldin


It’s Jacob’s family’s first Passover in Argentina, and everything is different here than it was in Russia. Jacob wants to invite his friend and neighbor, Benito, to their seder, but Benito has never been to a seder before...


Welcome

Welcome by Stephane Barroux


Polar Bear and his friends have lost their home. Will they find a safe place to stay? After several animals turn them away, the polar bears find an empty spot where they can settle. And now someone else needs a home...

 

 

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