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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: Sidura Ludwig’s new children’s book about baking challah shares a recipe for turbulent times
Description: Rising, the new children’s book by award-winning Canadian author Sidura Ludwig, tells the story of a Jewish child and their mother preparing homemade challah bread for Shabbat. Ludwig wrote the story four years ago, during the pandemic lockdown, when she found solace in the weekly ritual of challah-making during those uncertain times.
Now, releasing in a post-Oct. 7 world, Ludwig realizes the activity can serve a similar purpose: baking challah by hand has become a touchstone of hope for many people dealing with grief, despair and anxiety about worldwide antisemitism.
An estimated 30,000 copies of Ludwig’s 40-page book, illustrated by S...