As I mentioned the other day, the title of Cracker's new CD, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey, is a reference to the Old Testament verse:
"And I have come down to rescue them from the clutches of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that country, to a country rich and broad, to a country flowing with milk and honey . . ."One of my favorite collections of Jewish folklore is also named after this verse--Jane Yolen's Milk and Honey: A Year of Jewish Holidays (Putnam's Sons, 1996). I'm Catholic, but I'm fascinated by Jewish traditions and I learned a couple of new things from this book. For instance, the reason lots of fried dishes are served during Chanukah is to celebrate the miracle oil that kept the temple menorah alight for eight days.
--Exodus 3:8.
Lewis, Shari, and Roberta Collier-Morales. One-Minute Jewish Stories. New York: Doubleday, 1989.
Another great collection of Jewish folklore is One-Minute Jewish Stories by Shari Lewis (Doubleday, 1989). You know Shari Lewis as the mother of Lamb Chop the sheep puppet. She brings humor to the Old Testament with stories like "How Moses Became a Stutterer" and "King David and the Spider's Web."
And speaking of the Old Testament . . .
Fischer, Chuck. In the Beginning: The Art of Genesis : a Pop-Up Book. New York: Little, Brown, 2008.
Chuck is an AMAZING artist. Visit his studio at chuckfischer.com. In addition to illustrating books, he is a master muralist and he also designs china patterns for Lenox.
ps. Pre-order your copy of Cracker's newest CD at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and iTunes.
