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A children’s book about Shabbat was returned to a Florida district’s shelves after year-plus ‘review’
(JTA) – Mara Rockliff’s “Chik Chak Shabbat” has become a standard for Jewish children since its 2014 publication. The picture book intended for young readers tells a whimsical story about a group of diverse neighbors who help an observant Jewish woman make her cholent — a stew traditionally served on the Sabbath — when they realize she doesn’t feel well enough to cook it herself.
So why did a school district in Jacksonville, Florida, purchase copies of the book only to keep it from students for 15 months?
That’s what happened at Duval County Public Schools. The district initially ordered Rockliff’s book for its students in July 2021 as part of a larger diversity-themed collection of books called “Essential Voices,” which is offered to educators by Iowa-based educational company Perfection Learning.
The books were delivered last winter, but remained “under review” as of September, when the literary free-speech activist group PEN America published a report on banned books in the United States. PEN’s report alleged Duval County had “effectively banned” Roclkiff’s and other books.
One month later, the district released many of them, including “Chik Chak Shabbat,” to students. At least one book with Jewish themes, “The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher” by Jewish author Dana Alison Levy, remains “under review.”
“We retrieved 179 titles from the Essential Voices collection for further review at the district level,” Duval County Public Schools spokesperson Tracy Pierce told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an email this week. “Of those 179, we determined that 106 meet statutory guidelines and are useful toward our reading goals. Those were distributed to classrooms in October.”
School reading materials are under increasing scrutiny amid conservative parent groups’ pressure to remove material they define as “critical race theory” and “gender ideology.” In an increasing number of places, books about Jews have gotten caught in the dragnet, including at a Tennessee district that removed “Maus” from its curriculum earlier this year; a Texas district that briefly removed an adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary; and a Missouri district that briefly removed history books about the Holocaust.
Florida in particular has become a major rallying spot for challenging material in public schools, with its Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, a likely presidential hopeful, signing the “Stop WOKE Act” earlier this year restricting how race and gender concepts are taught in schools. DeSantis-endorsed school board candidates who are so-called parental rights advocates — conservatives pushing for an end to “critical race theory” and materials dealing with gender and sexuality in the classroom — currently hold a majority on Duval County’s board. Elsewhere in the state, the picture book “The Purim Superhero,” which features gay Jewish parents, was removed from a Panhandle-area district in April amid a larger purge of books with LGBTQ+ and gender-identity themes.
Pierce defended the length of time the district took to review the material: “The district will always take the time necessary to make sure the resources we provide for our students are appropriate for each grade level and meet the requirements of state statute.”
The district said 47 titles from the collection were returned to Perfection Learning, while another 26 remain under review. Among those still under review is Levy’s “Family Fletcher,” about a multicultural family that celebrates Jewish holidays. The family has two dads.
The district said Levy’s book was under review “while we await guidance from the state.” Levy did not return a JTA request for comment.
Unlike “Maus,” “The Purim Superhero” and “Family Fletcher,” “Chik Chak Shabbat” does not mention the Holocaust, feature any LGBTQ+ characters or contain any imagery that could be construed as sexual. The book’s most defining characteristic is that it’s about Jews.
Indeed, the book’s depiction of observant Judaism has made it a frequent favorite of the Jewish Book Council and of PJ Library, the literary nonprofit that distributes free Jewish-themed books to children nationwide. The group has distributed a parents’ reading guide to the book, noting, “After reading this story, you and your child may be inspired to make cholent together.” PJ Library declined to comment to JTA for this story.
Rockliff did not return a JTA request for comment, but told the Forward last week, “I doubt that anybody at this school district found [“Chik Chak Shabbat”] objectionable, or even read it.” (The book’s illustrations are by Kyrsten Brooker.)
A customer service representative for Perfection Learning, the company that distributes the Essential Voices collection, promised to forward a request for comment to the company’s CEO, but no comment was provided to JTA.
The district did not broadly communicate that most of the Essential Voices books had been released to students. Last week, apparently under the impression that none of the books had yet been released, several authors (including Jewish writer Ami Polonsky, author of the trans-themed young adult novel “Gracefully Grayson”) spoke out against the review policy at a school board meeting and signed an open letter circulated by PEN America and We Need Diverse Books.
Other Jewish-themed books in the collection include Ruth Behar’s “Lucky Broken Girl,” a coming-of-age autobiographical novel about a Cuban Jewish girl who experiences a car accident while adapting to her new life in New York; that book was also returned to Duval County students in October, Pierce said.
“As an author and a cultural anthropologist, I think young readers should have the freedom to read widely about the human condition to develop empathy and compassion and tolerance,” Behar, a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan who also signed the petition circulated by PEN America and We Need Diverse Books, told JTA. She added that she has not heard of any schools or individuals objecting to the book’s content.
The Essential Voices collection also includes a book by Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o; an entry from the “Berenstain Bears” series; books about Abraham Lincoln and Jackie Robinson; and a book supporting interfaith dialogue called “Celebrating Different Beliefs.”
The district’s reasoning for its review process was insufficient in the eyes of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, an activist group in the state that pushes for increased student access to books. The group has filed Freedom Of Information Act requests in an effort to get the district to disclose its reasoning for reviewing the books.
“We argue there was never a reason to remove the entire collection of books,” the group’s founders told JTA. “No one in the community complained about what their child was reading in their K-5 classroom.
“If there were only a few titles of concern because they were popping up on challenge lists in the state, they could have reduced the amount of time needed to complete a thorough review by reviewing only those titles while the entire collection remained in the classrooms. Instead, they pulled the entire collection and questioned the professional expertise of those that created it.”
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Explosion at Alawite Mosque in Syria’s Homs Kills Eight
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
Eight people were killed in an explosion at a mosque of the Alawite minority sect in the Syrian city of Homs on Friday, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
SANA cited Syrian Health Ministry official Najib al-Naasan as saying 18 others were wounded and that the figures were not final, indicating they could rise.
The city’s press office said an explosive device had detonated inside the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib mosque and that security forces had cordoned off the area. A local security official told SANA that the identity of the perpetrator and any affiliation to violent groups were still unknown.
Local official Issam Naameh told Reuters the blast occurred during Friday noon prayers.
Syria‘s foreign ministry condemned the blast as a “terrorist crime.” Regional countries including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Qatar also condemned the attack.
Syrian state media SANA published footage of rescuers and security forces examining debris splayed across the mosque’s green carpet.
Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian violence since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a government led by members of the Sunni Muslim majority.
Earlier this month, two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria by an attacker described by the authorities as a suspected member of the Islamic State, a violent Sunni Muslim group.
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Southern Yemeni Separatists Dismiss Saudi Call to Withdraw From Eastern Provinces
A drone view shows people attending a rally organized by Yemen’s main separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), in Aden, Yemen, Dec. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
Yemen’s main southern separatist group rejected on Friday a Saudi call for its forces to withdraw from areas it seized earlier in December, saying it will continue securing the eastern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra.
Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it remains hopeful the Southern Transitional Council (STC) will end an escalation and withdraw its forces from the provinces, after the group claimed broad control of the south and pushed the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government from its headquarters in Aden.
The group said in a statement posted on its account on X that its military operations in the two provinces were to combat security threats, including cutting supplies to the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists who control the north of the country.
Situated between Saudi Arabia and an important shipping route on the Red Sea, Yemen was split into northern and southern states until 1990.
AIRSTRIKES IN HADRAMOUT
In Hadramout, an escalation of fighting on Thursday killed two people from the STC’s Hadhrami Elite Forces, the group said in its statement.
Armed groups had ambushed STC forces in the Ghail bin Yamin area in the east of the province, but the forces managed to regain control of the area, a source from the group – speaking on condition of anonymity – told Reuters.
Saudi airstrikes followed early on Friday, targeting the STC forces in the area, the source added.
The STC said the “surprising” airstrikes will not “serve any path to an understanding, nor will they deter the people of southern Yemen from continuing their struggle to restore their full rights.”
Saudi Arabia did not confirm the strikes.
The kingdom said in its Thursday statement that a joint Saudi-Emirati military delegation was sent to Aden on Dec. 12 to make “the necessary arrangements” to ensure the return of STC forces to their previous positions outside the two provinces, adding that the efforts were still in progress.
The STC said on Friday that the group was open to any “coordination or arrangements based on guaranteeing the security, unity, and integrity of the south, and ensuring that security threats do not recur.”
The group added that any arrangements should “fulfil the aspirations and will of the people of south of Yemen,” as well as “the shared interests” with Saudi Arabia.
UAE WELCOMES SAUDI EFFORTS
The United Arab Emirates, which supports the STC, welcomed on Friday Saudi Arabian efforts to support security and stability in Yemen, and said it remains committed to backing stability in the country.
“The UAE reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to supporting all endeavours aimed at strengthening stability and development in Yemen,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The STC was initially part of the Sunni Muslim Saudi-led alliance that intervened in Yemen in 2015 against the Houthis. But the group has turned on the government and sought self-rule in the south.
Yemen has already been marred by a civil war since 2014, with the Houthis controlling the northern part of the country, including the capital Sanaa, after forcing the Saudi-backed government to flee south.
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US Strikes Islamic State Terrorists in Nigeria
A missile is launched from a military vessel at an unidentified location, in this screen grab obtained from a handout video released by the Department of War on Dec. 25, 2025. Photo: US Department of War Via X/Handout via REUTERS
The United States carried out a strike against Islamic State terrorists in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria‘s government, President Donald Trump and the US military said on Thursday, noting the group had been targeting Christians in the region.
“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The US military’s Africa Command said the strike was carried out in Sokoto state in coordination with Nigerian authorities and killed multiple ISIS terrorists.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar told the British Broadcasting Corp the strike was a “joint operation” targeting “terrorists,” and it “has nothing to do with a particular religion.”
Without naming ISIS specifically, Tuggar said the operation had been planned “for quite some time” and had used intelligence information provided by the Nigerian side. He did not rule out further strikes, adding that this depended on “decisions to be taken by the leadership of the two countries.”
The strike comes after Trump in late October began warning that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and threatened to militarily intervene in the West African country over what he says is its failure to stop violence targeting Christian communities.
Reuters reported on Monday the US had been conducting intelligence-gathering flights over large parts of Nigeria since late November.
‘MORE TO COME’
Nigeria’s foreign ministry said the strike was carried out as part of ongoing security cooperation with the United States, involving intelligence sharing and strategic coordination to target militant groups.
“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes in the North West,” the ministry said in a post on X.
A video posted by the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launched from a warship. A US defense official said the strike targeted multiple militants at known ISIS camps.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thanked the Nigerian government on X for its support and cooperation and added: “More to come…”
Nigeria‘s government has said armed groups target both Muslims and Christians, and US claims that Christians face persecution do not represent the complex security situation and ignore efforts to safeguard religious freedom. But it has agreed to work with the US to bolster its forces against terrorist groups.
The country’s population is split between Muslims living primarily in the north and Christians in the south.
Police said earlier on Thursday a suspected suicide bomber killed at least five people and injured 35 others at a mosque in Nigeria‘s northeast, another region troubled by Islamist insurgents.
In a Christmas message posted on X earlier, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called for peace in his country, “especially between individuals of differing religious beliefs.”
He also said: “I stand committed to doing everything within my power to enshrine religious freedom in Nigeria and to protect Christians, Muslims, and all Nigerians from violence.”
Trump issued his statement on the strike on Christmas Day while he was at his Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago Club, where he has been spending the holiday. He had no public events during the day and was last seen by the reporters traveling with him on Wednesday night.
The US military last week launched separate large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria, after Trump vowed to hit back in the wake of a suspected ISIS attack on US personnel in the country.