Foreword
 

A Child's Longing for Home is a most enjoyable and endearing work. Small though it is, it has the self-contained unity and simplicity of a classic. The primary emotion it evokes is nostalgia for two different worlds that are no more: the once spiritually vibrant world of the shtetl that has already become the stuff of myth and legend; and the bittersweet world of childhood, with its loneliness and small tragedies and triumphs. These two themes are blended beautifully in the simply told narrative and recapture the essence of a lost world.

Chapters such as "Thursday: the Baker's Three Daughters," "Friday: a Gentile Woman Lends a Hand," "In the Embrace of Queen Sabbath," or "A Very Special Prayer" will hold the reader in the grip of a moving, absorbing narration and a fascinating delineation of a child's unconscious thoughts.

I was especially touched by the story of Gimpel the beggar. The author's compassion and love of humanity shines through it. I believe that readers, no matter their background, will react to it emotionally. It cannot leave them indifferent.

 

Sol Steinmetz