{"id":41668,"date":"2015-07-21T06:49:53","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T11:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=41668"},"modified":"2015-07-23T09:16:59","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T14:16:59","slug":"a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/","title":{"rendered":"A Magical Jewish YA Novel \u2014 Almost as Magical as Its Author"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Elisha<\/a>Mystery lurking behind every corner. An ancient city full of secrets. A mystical stone that imbues magical powers into a special little boy. It sounds like the opening of the next New York Times bestseller for young adults. In fact, these are the elements combined with a strong foundation in ancient Jewish texts, that make up the plot in Rhonda Attar\u2019s first book of her trilogy, Elisha Davidson and the Letters of Fire<\/em>. A book geared towards young adults (but appropriate for Jews of all ages), Letters of Fire<\/em> follows the story of Elisha Davidson, a young student in the Old City of Jerusalem, and draws on a plethora of Jewish source material to build the mystery and layers of Elisha\u2019s adventures.<\/p>\n

Rhonda Attar, the author of Elisha Davidson and the Letters of Fire<\/em>, was not always an author\u2014but she was always writing in her spare time, even as she navigated her way through the upper echelons of management in the early days of Israeli television. A woman whose energy radiates through her friendly voice and rapid speech, Rhonda\u2019s journey to the top of Israeli media\u2014and eventual book author\u2014is a Hollywood scriptwriter\u2019s dream.<\/p>\n

Rhonda Antelman was born and raised on the East Coast and earned a Masters degree in television and radio at Brooklyn College. As she was about to accept a job as a production assistant in 1985, she had a sudden change of heart and decided to make aliya instead. \u201cI was always very Zionistic, and so I said to myself, \u2018Whatever happens, living in Israel will be the biggest luxury of my life,\u2019\u201d Rhonda recalled. She met and married her husband\u2014an Israeli\u2014three years later. \u201cIt\u2019s like in the Torah \u2014you jump into the water and Hashem splits the seas.\u201d Thirty-one years later, she said she never regretted her decision.<\/p>\n

Rhonda started her career in television in Israel as a writer and producer. She wrote for \u201cThe Nation,\u201d a daily English newspaper publication in Israel as the country made do with only one major government-run television channel and before she got her start working in the television industry there. The country eagerly awaited the debut of its second major television channel, as did Rhonda. \u201cIt was really the Wild West days of Israeli television back than\u2014everything was new, everything was changing,\u201d she said. Rhonda began working for the government run Israeli TV channel, and she worked with some of the biggest names in television of the time, including Geraldo Rivera and Ted Koppel, as she produced their shows and interviews and transitioned their programs to Israel. Afterwards Rhonda helped launch the first commercial television channel (and the second overall channel) in Israel. Rhonda helped pioneer what Israeli television is today. She then moved on to work for some of the biggest names in Hollywood, licensing programs and bringing them to audiences in Israel.<\/p>\n

\"Rhonda<\/a>
Rhonda Attar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen I started out working in Israel, I really had four strikes against me: there was no respect for my Masters degree, I was not Israeli; I was a woman and I was religious! The atmosphere then was a very left-wing industry, and here I was, a right-wing religious woman,\u201d Rhonda laughs. \u2018But you know what? Hashem put me there for a reason, so it worked. We, my colleagues and I, grew to have so much respect for one another, and on account of this, I would say a lot of those people think differently now about religious Judaism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhonda eventually became the first woman to be a senior manager in Israeli television, and in that role worked to bring cable satellite channels to Israel, including the History Channel, women\u2019s channels, and four MGM channels. She became the general manager, and then vice chairman of the company.<\/p>\n

All the while, she never stopped writing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the idea for this book for many years, but I was so busy with work, with life\u2014I never really had the time to put the story down on paper.\u201d Now, as a consultant for one of the biggest media companies in Israel, Rhonda has had time to introduce Elisha to the world. It\u2019s not surprising that someone who made a career out of storytelling mediums would be a wonderful storyteller herself.<\/p>\n

Elisha\u2019s stories were born when Rhonda ran her Shabbat group similar to others in the area\u2014providing snacks, some games and some activities for the youngsters in the community, ranging in age from eight to thirteen\u2014but added a special spin with the original stories she\u2019d tell the group. When the teenagers in the neighborhood began sticking around on Shabbat afternoon to hear her tales, she realized she had something special on her hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much trash in the books that are marketed to teens\u2014and here, [in Torah] we have the greatest treasure trove of stories!\u2019 Rhonda exclaimed. The first book of the trilogy introduces protagonist Elisha Davidson. The book follows Elisha on his adventures, touching on Jewish concepts like the Beit Hamikdash, and the Kohen Gadol. As a timely point, the story begins at the onset of the Three Weeks, a period of mourning for the Temples, which began this year on July 5. Elisha\u2019s story borrows from textual sources dating back thousands of years, and draws from ancient Jewish wisdom spanning the spectrum of the magic-like, to the more practical concepts of living life as a good person.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur stories, our texts, have life-changing wisdom in them,\u201d said Rhonda. \u201cI wanted to capture that in these books.\u201d Rhonda is very clear that these books aren\u2019t necessarily a parallel to another popular young boy imbued with magic powers. \u201cThese books draw on ancient wisdom, and they are all \u2018Kosher Mehadrin\u2019\u2014all approved Torah and rabbinic sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked why she thinks books like these and superhero stories seem to draw mass appeal, Rhonda quiets and answers thoughtfully. \u201cYou know, we are all created in the image of God, and we are created with the desire to emulate Him. He is all-powerful, and so people are attracted to stories that give them that power\u2014the power of magic and sorcery, even when it isn\u2019t real. When really, we should be trying to emulate other aspects of God, like His kindness and infinite love.\u201d Rhonda continued, \u201cPeople are attracted to power for themselves, as opposed to the power to make the world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mystery lurking behind every corner. An ancient city full of secrets. A mystical stone that imbues magical powers into a special little boy. It sounds like the opening of the next New York Times bestseller for young adults. In fact, these are the elements combined with a strong foundation in ancient Jewish texts, that make<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133088,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nA Magical Jewish YA Novel \u2014 Almost as Magical as Its Author - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can a YA novel be kosher? Rhonda Attar just published her first YA novel: Elisha Davidson and the Letters of Fire.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Magical Jewish YA Novel \u2014 Almost as Magical as Its Author - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can a YA novel be kosher? Rhonda Attar just published her first YA novel: Elisha Davidson and the Letters of Fire.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-21T11:49:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-23T14:16:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Elisha-Davidson-Front-Cover-300-dpi-res-190x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dalia Caplan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dalia Caplan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/\",\"name\":\"A Magical Jewish YA Novel \u2014 Almost as Magical as Its Author - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Elisha-Davidson-Front-Cover-300-dpi-res-190x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-21T11:49:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-23T14:16:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/df851150448900a30f5e6c47cc196e4e\"},\"description\":\"Can a YA novel be kosher? Rhonda Attar just published her first YA novel: Elisha Davidson and the Letters of Fire.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Elisha-Davidson-Front-Cover-300-dpi-res.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Elisha-Davidson-Front-Cover-300-dpi-res.jpg\",\"width\":1567,\"height\":2476},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/df851150448900a30f5e6c47cc196e4e\",\"name\":\"Dalia Caplan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dalia Caplan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/dalia-caplan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Magical Jewish YA Novel \u2014 Almost as Magical as Its Author - OU Life","description":"Can a YA novel be kosher? Rhonda Attar just published her first YA novel: Elisha Davidson and the Letters of Fire.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Magical Jewish YA Novel \u2014 Almost as Magical as Its Author - OU Life","og_description":"Can a YA novel be kosher? Rhonda Attar just published her first YA novel: Elisha Davidson and the Letters of Fire.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/","og_site_name":"OU Life","article_published_time":"2015-07-21T11:49:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-07-23T14:16:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Elisha-Davidson-Front-Cover-300-dpi-res-190x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Dalia Caplan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dalia Caplan","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/","name":"A Magical Jewish YA Novel \u2014 Almost as Magical as Its Author - OU Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Elisha-Davidson-Front-Cover-300-dpi-res-190x300.jpg","datePublished":"2015-07-21T11:49:53+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-23T14:16:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/df851150448900a30f5e6c47cc196e4e"},"description":"Can a YA novel be kosher? Rhonda Attar just published her first YA novel: Elisha Davidson and the Letters of Fire.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/a-magical-ya-novel-almost-as-magical-as-its-author\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Elisha-Davidson-Front-Cover-300-dpi-res.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Elisha-Davidson-Front-Cover-300-dpi-res.jpg","width":1567,"height":2476},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/","name":"OU Life","description":"Everyday Jewish Living","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/df851150448900a30f5e6c47cc196e4e","name":"Dalia Caplan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dalia Caplan"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/dalia-caplan\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133088"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41668"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41676,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41668\/revisions\/41676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}