Customer Reviews

Raisel's Riddle

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Raisel's Riddle is a story that gives profound meaning to the Cinderella fairy tale , Jewish-style. Instead of beauty being the criterion for selection of a wife, Raisel's intelligence and knowledge are the "charms" that win the heart of "Prince Charming," who in this story is a rabbi's son. Another irony is that instead of the woman having to pass the test of beauty, the man has to pass the test of intelligence and wit before Raisel agrees that he is fit to be her husband. Contrary to the feminist critique that Judaism is a system of patriarchal domination, including the idea that girls are not to be taught sacred lore in the same way as boys, Raisel, an orphan, grows up in the home of her grandfather, a Judaic scholar, who teaches her Torah and Talmud. "Get thyself at once to Amazon.com and buy this book." It is endearing and heartwarming.
Rabbi Fred V. Davidow

This is a Jewish version of the Cinderella story. Far better than the original in my opinion, because instead of something as random as shoe size, the key to discovering the heart-stealer is her riddle and her wisdom. This book stresses the importance of learning and is a wonderful romance at the same time. Beautiful!

Raisel's Riddle is outstanding because this Cinderella is not concerned with her appearance, nor is the rabbi's son. It is a wonderful twist to have knowledge be the commodity most valued!

Raisel is a Jewish girl that is orphaned and seeks work in a Rabbi's household. She attends a Purim dance, meets the Rabbi's son, and asks him a riddle. He seeks her, after the dance, to marry because of her intelligence. This is an adaptation of the story Cinderella. It is told about the Jewish holiday, Purim, which celebrates Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia. It preserves the essential qualities of a Cinderella story by having the girl orphaned, poor, kind, and marrying the "prince" of the story. It contains several references to Jewish words/phrases, such as Zaydeh, synagogue, rabbi, and Talmud. The illustrations match the text well by depicting what is written. The illustrations depict the characters in traditional dress of Jewish people for the date, when not wearing costumes for Purim .

There are so many different cultural adaptations of Cinderella, that I think it would be interesting to teach a unit with Cinderella as the theme. This could be a way to introduce the children to different cultures, while maintaining something that they are familiar with, Cinderella.