When the rabbi chooses Jacov, a "fine boy, but slow of speech and a bit clumsy" as the person who will blow the shofar (ram's horn) at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the villagers aren't sure what to think. In groups and one by one they visit the rabbi to suggest alternatives, but that wise man only smiles. At first, when Jacov is less than successful at the Rosh Hashanah service, it looks as if the skeptics will be proved right. But then the rabbi takes a surprise trip, returning just in time to lead Yom Kippur services, and to teach the congregation an important lesson...

I stumbled across Sonia Levitan's A Sound to Remember quite by accident, while searching for children's books about the Jewish High Holy Days, and am glad I did. The story is poignant, highlighting the importance of compassion, and the idea of everyone having a role to play in the religious community. I was deeply moved when the rabbi said that "love for each other and for God is more important than ritual," as this is something that I too (as a Protestant Christian) have always felt and believed. The accompanying illustrations from Gabriel Lisowski are delicately expressive, and well-suited to the story. Published in 1979 and long out-of-print, this is a book worth tracking down, whether one is looking for children's stories about Rosh Hashanah, or is just a fan of vintage picture-books. ( )

The next few days I will review the books the library I work at has for children related to Yom Kippur. Let me start with my favorite, Sonia Levitin's A sound to remember. The story is set in an undefined shtetl in Eastern Europe. There a Jacov, a "fine boy, but slow of speech and a bit clumsy" receives the honor of blowing the shofar at High Holy Days from the wise and kind rabbi. The village is upset and some a bit outraged, that the honor did not go to a deserving elder or a more capable youngster. But they trust their rabbi. Comes Rosh Hashanah and the shofar blowing seems to be a disaster. The first sounds came in low and trembling, but the last ones were replaced by screeching silence. The villagers feel cheated. I do not want to ruin the end for you, so I will not share how the Rabbi and Jacov corrected the problem by Yom Kippur, but they did in a (for me) surprising way.
This very ending and the communal spirit/solution that it evoked was the main reason I liked this book so much. The other was Gabriel Lisowski's warm pencil drawings that depicted a simple, but more focused life than what we have now. The text itself would take up less than a dozen pages, but with the images the book ended up being 32. Why not borrow it and read it to your child before Yom Kippur this year, to teach them about the honor of blowing the shofar, that value can reside behind unassuming exterior too and about the strength of community.