Zibby welcomes award-winning middle-grade author, cartoonist, and children’s TV creator Alan Silberberg and New York Times bestselling children’s author and cartoonist Terri Libenson to discuss FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, the beautiful and moving anthology they both contributed to that is an ode to the magic of Hanukkah and what it means to be Jewish. While Alan’s story explores Jewish mysticism, Terri’s story blends doodles and text in her signature style to examine the impact of our actions and family legacy. The three also delve into the broader themes of Jewish identity, cultural connection, and navigating a post-October 7th world.

Transcript:

Zibby: All right, we have a very special episode with two superstars here to talk about the Festival of Lights 16 Hanukkah stories.

This is edited by Henry Hertz and we have Terri Liebenson and Alan Silverberg. This is so exciting. 

Alan: And hello. 

Zibby: Okay. How did this project come to be and how did the two of you get roped into it?

Alan: I can say that Henry, you know, he, he was the editor of, I don't remember the exact title, but he did an anthology of bar and bot mitzvah, middle grade short stories. So I had never met Henry Terri. You, you knew, I think you knew him before I did, but he had reached out, I think just based on looking for middle grade writers who could be funny. Well, for me, it's going to be funny. 

Zibby: And how about you, Terri? He just came and he just contacted you and you said, yes, you were into it. 

Terri: Sort of a little more roundabout. And yes, Alan, you are. So Henry and I were actually going on an author's initiative together with a lot of other people to Israel back in 2023.

And so we had, we had met virtually just during some initial meetings and he reached out after we had first met, uh, that way. So, yeah, that's, that's how I joined in. 

Zibby: And what was the assignment? 

Alan: It was very wide open. It was, can you write a middle grade short story that relates to Hanukkah? I mean, it was in the anthology.

There are poems. There are some more personal retellings of author's childhoods and fiction stories, which is where I jumped it to, you know, for me, I wanted to do an illustrated story of the way Terri did, but it's so much work.

Zibby: So, Allen, your essay was so poignant, and as someone who had a very, very close relationship with my grandmother, it made me very sad to read it, but also very happy, and the notion that, you know, the people we love, and especially our beloved grandparents, can come back in some way and infuse our spirits and then leave a trail of love behind is just such a sweet sort of comforting idea.

Tell me about how you came up with your story idea, what it, what it's essentially about and what you hope readers will take away. 

Alan: Well, my story in the anthology is called the wax and the inspiration, it was kind of twofold. The first was the, my mother in law had just passed away and, uh, my son had a very intense, lovely, wonderful, warm relationship.

It was, it was very grandparently Nana special relationship. So there was, I wanted to honor that somehow, but I also wanted it, you know, it's who I am. I wanted it to be a little funny and I wanted it to have heart. And I got the idea that because it's middle grade, can I find some sort of Jewish mysticism?

Some, some magical, but Jewish connection. So I started doing research and of course I came upon the Golem. And that didn't quite seem right. And I came upon the Dybbuk, which is a ghost that possesses a soul, but it's all with malintent with the Dybbuk. And I didn't know this until I did the research.

There's this thing called, to be Eberd, or Iberd, I'm not sure how to pronounce it, I B B U R. And the Iberd is a spirit like a Dybbuk who possesses you. But with the intent of doing something good, some unfinished business that you agree to do for that person who has passed on. And I just, I got chills when I read that because I'd never heard of it before.

And I came up with this idea of a story of the beloved Nana who possesses the teenage son, help her make good on something that she had done bad in her life. And it also connects the whole family to their heirloom menorah coated in wax. That was the beginning of it. 

Zibby: Love that. It's funny to think that maybe after I'm gone, I would want to come back to like, break into a bridge game to like, tell one of my girlfriends something, like, this is the thing?

Alan: Well, that was the honoring of my mother in law. She was a, she loved bridge playing. So in my story, the thing that she has done wrong is she has slighted a bridge partner. So. Yep. That's what the teenage son goes to do. Oh. Teenage grandson. 

Zibby: It would actually be really nice to do like a grandparent grandchild like story club type thing because I bet my mom would love this but she would love it even more if one of my kids would take time to read it with her.

Maybe there's some way because I love these sort of generation crossing experiences. Anyway, it was lovely. Such a lovely story. 

Alan: Thank you. Thanks Debbie. 

Zibby: Really and funny, you know, for usual love the friends, you know, you could see it, the, you know, calling in the middle of the night and it was just really great.

Alan: I had a lot of fun, right? Because I've been doing the picture books. Uh, you know, I have the middle grade novels, but you know, for the past five years it's been picture books and it was so fun to get. You know, back into storytelling. 

Zibby: And speaking of your picture books, Terri, I'm coming back to you. I promise.

What, what do you have another meet the dot, dot, dot on the horizon or what is the, what is the scoop? 

Alan: The scoop is I've done the three meet those that, you know, I've got the, the Hanukkah, the Passover and the forum. I've now moved on to doing more fables. So I'm doing the bagel who wanted everything.

Coming out also in May. 

Zibby: Oh my gosh. I love it. 

Alan: So it's, it's, it's a story of identity and searching for meaning. And that's all I'll say. But it's fun. It was fun to do. 

Zibby: Um, I have to show you, wait, I thought it was right here. I just got, there's a new line of greeting cards there. One says you're everything and it kind of looks like that bagel, there's a bagel on it.

Um, I must have left it in the kitchen, but anyway.

Alan: Oh, that's sweet. 

Zibby: Maybe I'll connect you with that woman or whatever. Okay. Well, that's very exciting. And Terri, your story is more about the relationship of this tree to the events that go on around the tree and how the events that the good and the bad that we do in life essentially has more repercussions than we might think, you know, what we put out in the universe embodied by this tree.

I mean, I'm, I'm reaching here for this, you know, metaphor, if you will, but. That we're really putting good and bad into the universe when we do these good deeds and mitzvahs and all of that. And when we do harm, it, you know, anyway, why don't you, why don't you tell a little bit about your story and, uh, and how it came to be?

Terri: Sure. I think you summed it up beautifully. Yeah. I, I absolutely did not know where I was going with this. Yeah. I kind of winged it, to be honest. I've never done a short story before, um, or been part of an anthology, so I thought I'd just have fun with it. And I wrote it very much in the vein of my Emmy series, where it kind of goes back and forth between doodles and text.

It just, it just kind of spun into this fantasy, which came out of nowhere. I had no idea that's where that, that was where it's going. I'm so used to writing, you know, realistic fiction. So, so it was pretty fun. I really, it actually, they, they kept this, the sketches. Um, I was going to do final art, but I think we had a bit of a rush on, um, on the publication.

So we just kept it as doodles. 

Alan: It was very fast. 

Terri: I like it as doodles. So, yeah, I mean, there are definitely some, some, some things that came outta my life while writing this story. Um, I named a lot of people after my own family members. Uh, grandma Molly. I, I love that there are all these stories about grandparents, grandkids.

Yeah. I, I, I love that. So, Molly, uh, I had a grandma, Molly, my daughter's name is Molly, so that's just a, a wonderful family connection. Weinstein. Grandma, grandma, Molly. 

Zibby: Grandma Molly, by the way, who's like a power walker and you can put us all to shame. So hats off to Grandma Molly. 

Terri: Yes. And, and that's definitely a tribute to my own mother.

She is, she's, she has been a powerhouse for a whole life. She loves, she's, you know, she's quite the fashion plate. So that was my little nod to her. I even throw out a mention of Davis Bakery, my husband's family, um, last name's Davis. They had this big bakery throughout this bakery chain throughout Cleveland, but I just I just basically had fun with it and and and the meaningfulness of the story just kind of came organically.

So, so, yeah, 

Alan: it was lovely. I really enjoyed it. And seeing your I know your final art, doodles. It was just so delightful for me, you know, who is a doodler. So I just loved seeing the line art. It was beautiful. 

Terri: I love yours as well. 

Zibby: I mean, this is like real art. I wouldn't call these doodles. I mean, what is the difference?

It's amazing. 

Terri: It's very immediate. 

Zibby: Yeah. It's pretty awesome. 

Terri: Chicken scratches. 

Zibby: No. Okay. Yeah. Okay. These are your chickens. Says, says the, you know, says the bestselling author. Okay, fine. This is, you know, this is a crazy time in the world and being Jewish now is very fraught and emotional and, you know, especially in the past year, I actually have my own anthology coming out now called On Being Jewish Now, which I'm happy to send to both of you, by the way, if you're interested.

But, you know, the, the, the question is, you know, what is sort of being Jewish mean to you and how does it feel and how does it feel differently in the last year? And I was just wondering if you would share how you feel about it. You don't have to. 

Alan: Terri, please, you may go first. 

Terri: Sure. Oh my gosh, I mean, where to begin?

Yeah, just so many emotions. It really has me digging deep, I think, in an unusual way for the first time in my life. Like I, I don't know about you two. I've never really experienced overt anti Semitism in my own life. I really don't know either, but I see it. I feel it. It's palpable. And, you know, and I hate what's going on in the Middle East.

I think, you know, on all sides, it's so heartbreaking. And so there are just a lot of mixed emotions. And of course, I was actually supposed to go to Israel in the fall, I believe. I don't know. Uh, with a Sephardic Authors Initiative and of course that, you know, fell by the wayside. We ended up just, uh, staying in New York, which was wonderful in and of itself.

But it, it's, yeah, it's just a crazy time. I, I feel bad. We, we missed that opportunity, but I understand. And, you know, just my heart is with everybody in Israel and the Middle East. And I hope things get better. Does a lot of rambling. 

Zibby: No, I mean, no, no, no, it wasn't for me. 

Alan: I appreciate knowing like, I think we all as Jewish people have such different backgrounds and such different childhoods and relationships with Judaism.

Mine was always kind of from a distance and just from the beginning of doing it. I fell into these books. I never intended to write Jewish books. And with every book that I create that has some sort of Jewish theme, it, it doesn't make me more Jewish, but it connects me in a way to something that is deep inside me.

And to think about this past year, I live in Montreal. There is anti Semitism and I don't overtly feel it, like Terri said. But. It is palpable and I was just in New York and staying downtown and there was a I'm looking at my my feed and the you know, three blocks from me was a wall street free palestine jews for palestine you know protest and it's it makes me very sad i'm very sad about the Instability and and the kind of it's hard for me to I don't take sides but I have such empathy for what I see is just Destruction and death and violence and, uh, I, it creates a weird kind of experience for me as a Jew.

Yeah. I don't, I don't know about you, Zibby, but. 

Zibby: No, it's, it's, it's all, it's complicated and terrible and I think really frightening on so many levels. 

Alan: Yeah. 

Zibby: You know, I, I feel when something that is a part of you gets attacked, you can't help but have it shine brighter in a way. You know, it's like. I don't want people making fun of my mom, but I can make fun of my mom type of thing.

You know, I mean, that's a silly example in a very serious situation, but, you know, I've, I've felt immediately protective and, and heartbroken. And I have had a lot of overt antisemitism, so I'm glad you two have not experienced that. But I think, yeah, it's been, it's been quite a time. And, um, I feel like people sharing their stories is the most powerful thing we can do as a community, you know, to bring in all those different perspectives and stories like the ones you have in your anthology, which just depict joy and sadness and everyday life and possibility in the sort of supernatural things and, um, how everything is all connected.

So I think, I think just getting stories out there is, you know, The most powerful thing we can do, especially as people in this field. So, but yeah, it's overwhelming. I just watched, did you watch the, um, the hot rabbi show on Netflix yet? I can always, nobody wants this. 

Alan: I'm halfway, I'm halfway through. 

Zibby: Yeah, we just, we just finished.

We just finished and I'm like, you know what? Maybe I don't need to worry about it. Like, we're going to be just fine. Look at us, it's on Netflix. 

Alan: We're always just fine and we always, have food at the end, but it is not an easy path. It never has been. And I don't really think it ever will be easy. 

Terri: Yeah, and I agree.

I think it's really important to get stories out there. I actually feel more connected with Judaism than I ever have before. And I've actually. feel more connected with, uh, both, with, with both sides of my family, especially the Sephardic side. And I think those are some majorly untold stories and trying to focus on that too.

So that people see that there's so much diversity within Judaism. I think that's getting lost. And I think that's important as well. 

Zibby: Yes, a hundred percent. So for Hanukkah this year, what are your plans and how are you celebrating? And can you believe it's even coming up again? 

Alan: No, I can't. But it's, it's late this year, you know, they say early or late as it makes a difference, but it is late this year.

My plans, latkes of course, that we smell the apartment up and air it out for all of January. And I'm not sure our son will come up or he may be staying in New York for the holidays. I'm not sure and I just, I just love it. I just love the cozy feeling of Hanukkah. My family is too, my extended family is too far away to go to the yearly Hanukkah party, but we, we make do here.

Zibby: What about you, Terri? When is Hanukkah? I think it's like on Christmas this year. I think it starts on Christmas. 

Terri: I know I looked it up and I couldn't remember. Okay, strangely, we're going to be out of the country. We're going to Morocco of all places. My niece is marrying someone from Marrakesh. And my entire Family, extended family will be there celebrating and then touring around.

Uh, so highly unusual. Uh, normally it's just. It's me, my husband, the kids will come home from, I was going to say both will come home from college, but one's out of college now and is actually in the working world and they usually come and we just, we do it up. We just have a fun celebration. We dress up the dog.

Alan: Well, I want pictures, please. 

Terri: Oh, absolutely. 

Zibby: Wow. That's amazing. 

Alan: Really awesome. What are your plans, Zibby? What will you do? 

Zibby: We're trying to figure it out. I often change plans, so we have two different trips and sets of tickets. A and B. A and B. So we're trying to decide one of which is going to L. A. because I really want to be around and by the store and everything, but that's not as exciting to them, so I don't know.

I'm on the fence. But the other one is non refundable, so it seems like a waste if we don't take the trip. But anyway, we're going to be traveling for the first week. I'm not sure. Hopefully just in L. A., but, uh, Yeah, I already have their notes, apps, you know, the notes with all of the things that they want.

Have, they've been, the lists have been started and, you know, I just follow along. So. 

Terri: My kids still do that and they're in their 20s. 

Zibby: Yeah. 

Alan: Oh, really? My son has let go of like, we just try to find something that appropriately makes him happy. He doesn't, he doesn't make the lists anymore. 

Zibby: That's, yeah, I don't make lists anymore either, but Um, I also loved even just the image of the wax covered menorah.

Our menorahs are not wax covered and, you know, actually my kids love the like sensory of the scraping off of the wax every time. But that's such a nice idea and I feel like maybe I should just start one off to the side that becomes wax covered. I mean, it's never too late to start that tradition, right?

Alan: I can't say it was a real tradition. But I, I also just, we had one old Menorah that was like just coated and covered in it. The image just stuck with me that. Why clean it? Yeah. Let it be. 

Terri: I love that. I, that was so inspiring. And you know, I'm, I'm such a type A anory kind of person. Like I've got to get every piece of wax off there.

And now I feel like, I mean, you've inspired me. I feel like letting go. 

Zibby: Totally. Yeah. It's sometimes the, the time we spend cleaning up our messes ends up not being worthwhile and the mess is sometimes where the meaning is. Yes. 

Alan: Ooh. 

Terri: Beautifully put. 

Alan: That was very lovely. 

Zibby: That's my deep, deep thought of the moment.

Okay, just before you go, in terms of reaching this age, because it is a confusing time in the world to be younger as well as, you know, people like us, we can at least try to articulate our thoughts and we have a lifetime of history and a lot of education and context to put everything and here we are trying to spread joy about Hanukkah to a younger generation in.

How do we, how do you think about that and is there anything you feel like as older people, not old, but older than them, you try to convey in your writing to younger people or just conversation or like, what should we do? What's our responsibility? 

Alan: It's a really great question. And I, I, I think joy is so lost on us all, really.

And the Hanukkah has, you know, it has a history, which we don't tend to really go into it. It's more of a mythology at this point. But I, I just love that it is eight days of hopeful exuberance, light, love, and humor, which is always joy for me. I mean, if we can continue, you know, that, that whole idea, the image of the Menorah to me is just so wonderful.

Lovely and magical as it grows each night and light just gets brighter and brighter. I just, I just love to embrace that and share that. 

Zibby: Love it. What about you, Terri? 

Terri: Yeah, I, I fully echo that. I think I'm on the same page. I, I love spreading joy through humor as well. And that's kind of my, my whole vision.

I just, I, I, I, I love, that's how I feel like I connect with. Both kids and adults, actually, the best for myself. So, uh, yeah, I echo that. I, I, I always love Hanukkah. It's definitely one of the more joyful times, that kind of light in the middle of the darkness of the season and, and the whole mythology. But, so yeah, yeah, I would say, I would say ditto.

Zibby: Amazing. Well, I have to thank you. This collection is amazing, particularly your stories and a great gift item for the holidays, along with your other books, which are so wonderful. And the two of you, I am indebted to you both for the, all the time my kids spend with the books that you've put into the world.

I mean, you have both had a real impact on our time here and our family, and I mean it. So, thank you. It's really nice to be able to say thank you to people who have brought actually all that joy into my own home. So thanks. 

Alan: Blushing, blushing. Thank you. I just want to thank you for the joy that you connect us all with through books, through sharing, through just connectivity.

And it's a real gift to be able to know you. 

Zibby: Oh, thank you. Best of luck. Oh, thank you, Terri. Thank you. Best of luck. Congratulations on the Festival of Lights, 16 Hanukkah stories. Very exciting. And I hope you both have a very, very happy Hanukkah. 

Alan: Thank you. Same to you and your family. 

Zibby: Thank you. Thanks. Bye.