Ellis Island Passover

By Marissa Moss
 

Marissa Moss shares a story from her own childhood in this Passover gem.

Miriam feels disconnected from the Passover celebration until Uncle Ezra shares the story of his first seder in America with her. Uncle Ezra gives her a broader, more personal sense of the meaning of Passover and the importance of sharing family
stories.

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"In this story based on real events, readers journey with Great-Uncle Ezra from Russia to Ellis Island and learn how he and other Jews celebrated their first Passover in America. At the tender age of nine, the narrator’s Great-Uncle Ezra is sent alone across Europe with little more than a spare shirt, food, prayer book, and money for his boat ticket. Ezra made this journey because of the angry anti-Semitic mobs in  Russia; his family heard that one could be Jewish in America without facing consequences. Once the boat docked at Ellis Island, Ezra expected his brother to meet him, but instead he ended up waiting a week while officials searched for Mendel. It was during this week that the first day of Passover fell, and Ezra was instrumental in securing the food needed to celebrate. The text is straightforward, with words up to three syllables, as well as Hebrew words throughout. For readers familiar with Moss’s “Amelia’s Notebook” series, the artwork will be nostalgic. An author’s note concludes the work by sharing the horrific violence Moss’s family faced in Russia. VERDICT Recommended. This is a part of history that needs to be shared".

– School Library Journal