Gershon's Monster: A Story for the Jewish New Year

My mother read me this book many times in my childhood and I looked for it at many book stores, but came up empty handed. Thank you for having this book Amazon!

This retelling of a traditional tale is rendered with a twist throughMuth's beautiful watercolors, which infuse the story with imagesof fossil fuels (individual misdeeds to be atoned for) and storms(a hurricane developing in the beard of the rabbi) culminating in climate change in the guise of the sea monster. If only this problem could be solvedby atonement!

Nice story for kids to be mindful of how they act.

Wonderful story. My two children ( 3 and 7) really enjoy the story over and over. Illustrations are well done. And there's a little historical tidbit at the end. Nice to find a children's book with a traditionally themed Jewish story thats not amateurishly done. Shipping was fast.

I purchased this book four years after I retired and no longer had access to it via my school library. This is a really good good book set on the Black Sea, and perfect to read before going there.

A great metaphor!

Artistic illustrations that made the story come to life. Poor old Gershon never deals with his sins- he just tosses them in the cellar, so he never becomes a better person.When he learns to take responsibility for his actions, he finds himself feeling much better!A great book to spark conversation with kids of all ages

For adults as well as Ages 4-8. Every Rosh Hashana, in Jewish communities around the Earth, some Jews symbolically dispose of their sins by emptying their pockets of bread crumbs into streams, rivers, or seas. Some do this symbolically, others with meaning, but a few forget Isaiah's admonition against choosing an improper Fast. The process is known as tashlikh. Eric Kimmel, a prolific Jewish children's book author, presents this book for the High Holidays based on a Hasidic tale about tashlikh and repentance. The book is based on a Hasidic tale attriuted to the Ba'al Shem Tov (BeSHT). It also incorporates the writings of Rabbi Maimonide's 12th Century "Laws of Repentance (Chapter 2)", and Rabbi Benay Lappe's 20th Century "Six Steps for Doing Teshuva." The back page includes the steps needed for real repentance. Now let's get to the book and its sublime watercolor pictures. Gershon the Baker and his noble wife Fayge live in Constantsa on the Black Sea. Is (Constant)sa a town where change does not occur? Gershon the Baker is uncaring and self-absorbed; he sweeps his flaws into his cellar each Friday, but never makes amends or apologizes. Gershon cares nothing about other people's feelings. He never apologizes; he barges into rooms; he knocks things over; he never says, "Thank You." At Rosh Hashana, he places all his sins and flaws, that hang on you like fringes with faces, from the cellar into a sack and take them down to the Black Sea. There in the Sea, he deposits them and forgets them. But do sins just disappear if true repentance is missing? When Gershon travels to Kuty to see a famed rabbi in order to plead for a child, he is oblivious to the rabbi's admonishments that Gershon is undeserving and uncaring. The wonder rabbi relents, for the good of Gershon's wife, and Fayge gives birth to twins within a year. But what about Gershon's ways? They influence the family, the kids, the community, and the Black Sea, until one day, they rise up like a sea monster as the twins are playing on the beach. Can Gershon the Baker change? Will repentance be true? Will the twins be saved? Is there a way to lessen the final decree? Read and find out.