The Dancing Shoes: a Baal Shem Tov Story for Children Jewish Picture Book about Simchas Torah, Torn Shoe and Crown Made in Heaven

A night of dancing - and a crown made out of worn-out shoes. It is Simchas Torah in the town of the holy Baal Shem Tov. The shul is full of light. The men dance in a circle with the Torah scrolls, little boys ride on their fathers' shoulders waving paper flags, and the Rebbe dances in the middle, holding the Torah close to his heart. Next door, the Rebbetzin is getting the Yom Tov table ready. They will finish all the wine, she thinks. What about Kiddush tomorrow? She goes to tell them that it is enough - she opens the door - and stops. A fire from Heaven is dancing with them, rising over their heads like a wedding canopy. Then a poor chasid's old shoe tears wide open. He cannot dance any more, and he has no money for new shoes. Udel, the Rebbe's daughter, sees him from the stairs - and she has an idea that will change that year for both of them. The next day, at the Rebbe's table, the Baal Shem Tov tells his talmidim what happened in Heaven that very morning: the angels, with nothing to do, went to tidy up Gan Eden - and found something they had never seen there before. Torn slippers. And the angel Michael said: "I will make a crown from these." Why families love this book - Beloved chassidic stories - the fiery canopy over the dancers, the torn shoe and Udel's blessing (Sipurei Chassidim, R' S. Y. Zevin) and the angels' crown of slippers (told by the Baal Shem Tov himself, in Sefer HaSichos 5701), retold simply for ages 6 to 10. - Full-color comic pages - 20 pages of bright, warm, animated-style illustrations of Simchas Torah in a shtetl shul: the hakafos, the flags, the fire from Heaven, and the garden of Gan Eden. - Authentic Jewish details - the Torah scrolls in their white mantles, the shtreimel and the bekishe, tichels, the boys' tzitzis and flags, the ezras nashim, drawn the way your children see them. - Perfect for Simchas Torah - a gentle way to talk about dancing with the Torah, about making another Jew happy, and about what Heaven treasures. - Words to Know - a kid-friendly glossary of Simchas Torah, hakafos, Rebbe, Rebbetzin, chasid, L'chaim, Gan Eden and more, plus a short "About This Story" page for parents with the sources. Read it together on Yom Tov, give it as a Simchas Torah gift, or add it to your Shabbos shelf. The Dancing Shoes tells every child the same happy secret: when a Jew rejoices with the Torah, even his old shoes become precious in Heaven. Ages 6-10 - 24 pages - 8 x 10 in - Full color - Book 4 of The Baal Shem Tov Stories - Kesser Shem Tov Publishing