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A visit to the Lower East Side’s Tenement Museum inspires a new picture book
(New York Jewish Week) — A new picture book set on the Lower East Side during the flu pandemic of 1918 is ostensibly about the values of education and community.
But “Rivka’s Presents” was not created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as you might expect. Instead, it was written 15 years ago, after author Laurie Wallmark made a visit to the Lower East Side’s Tenement Museum, a living history museum that highlights how immigrants lived in the neighborhood in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Wallmark first visited the museum around 18 years ago. At the time, she thought, “Someone would write a book about people who lived in these tenements,” Wallmark told the New York Jewish Week. When she returned a few years later for another tour, she had the same thought. This time, Wallmark decided to write the book herself.
Wallmark, who was working as a computer programmer at the time, thought “Rivka’s Presents” would be her first book. But life had other plans. After numerous publishers rejected the book, Wallmark went on to publish six biographies for children about women in STEM, including mathematician Grace Hopper and codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman, and a bedtime book, “Dino Pajama Party.”
And then, in 2021, Wallmark received a call from her agent saying that Random House wanted to publish “Rivka’s Presents.” The book, with illustrations by Adelina Lirius, was released on July 11.
“People always have a book of their heart,” Wallmark said. “This one was the book of my heart.”
The protagonist of the 40-page book, Rivka, is a young girl growing up on the Lower East Side. She is elated to start school — but when her father gets very sick from the flu and her mother has to work in a shirtwaist factory, Rivka must take care of her younger sister, Miriam. Despite the setback, Rivka is determined to learn, so she ventures out with her sister and offers to do chores for the tailor, the grocer and an elderly neighbor in return for lessons in reading and writing, math and American history.
Being a children’s book, there is a happy ending: Rivka’s neighbors surprise her with gifts to celebrate her love of learning. And, even better, her father recovers and she is able to start school.
“Rivka’s Presents” is Laurie Wallmark’s eighth picture book. (Images courtesy of Laurie Wallmark)
The book is a very personal one for Wallmark, whose grandparents all grew up on the Lower East Side around the same time that the book takes place. “I always heard stories about growing up there,” she said.
The characters, Wallmark said, are inspired by her family members: Wallmark’s grandmother worked in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, and served as inspiration for Rivka’s mother. Rivka’s excitement for learning, meanwhile, was inspired by Wallmark’s mother. The sprinkle of Yiddish words throughout the book — like bubbeleh (darling) and shayna maideleh (beautiful little girl) — is in honor of one of her grandfathers, who never learned English.
“Of course, whenever my parents did not want me to know what they were saying they would speak Yiddish,” Wallmark said, echoing a common refrain.
Other than the occasional Yiddish words, however, “Rivka’s Presents” is not explicitly Jewish in content — and that’s by design. “Where are the books where there’s a little kid who happens to be Jewish? Maybe [he] isn’t even the main character, but he’s wearing a kippah?” Wallmark said. “We also want diversity and inclusion [in children’s books] to include little Jewish boys and girls.”
An obvious value in “Rivka’s Presents” is education, and Wallmark says the story is ideal for children who might be afraid or not excited about attending school. “Here, they see this little girl who can’t wait to start school and can’t wait to learn,” Wallmark said. “[Readers] see that learning can be fun, can be something you want to do, not something you just have to do.”
“Rivka’s Presents” is a social and emotional learning book, which Wallmark credits as one reason why it was published now. These types of books that “help kids understand and cope with the challenges of living in today’s world” are in increasing demand, she explained.
Wallmark hopes that “Rivka’s Presents,” like her other books, will “inspire curiosity, help kids learn about the world around them, and enjoy different aspects of the world.”
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The post A visit to the Lower East Side’s Tenement Museum inspires a new picture book appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.