Smart, engaging fiction that explores human rights with clarity and humor
It all began at the library. Dina Perlstein, whose son Aaron is in my eighth grade Mishnah class, spotted me just as I finished checking out a new Grisham novel on the self-checkout machine. “Moreh Simon,” she said as she hurried over. “I have to talk to you about the test you gave last week.”
It always embarrassed me to be called ‘moreh’ outside of school. “Nice to see you,” I said, glancing towards the door. Since she was Orthodox I didn’t offer to shake her hand. “I just finished grading, tomorrow I’ll give the tests back to the class.”
“Did Aaron do alright?”
Why do parents think I know every kid’s grade by heart? “I think so,” I told her. “I don’t recall off the top of my head.”
“Remember he was very busy the night before the test preparing for his bar-mitzvah. I’m sure you agree that has to take precedence.”
Just then the red flashing light went on at the library exit and the gate made an alarm sound. We both turned to look. A man with pale blue skin and pointy ears was stuck at the locked turnstyle, looking bewildered.
Smart, engaging fiction that explores human rights with clarity and humor
Can a State Fund What it Doesn’t Believe?Shalzed thought tests were about knowledge—until three women weren’t allowed to take one After years of wrangling, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the Chief Rabbinate ...
A statue gets 75,000 reactions. The war gets less.A single photo goes viral. Shalzed wants to know why this one—and not the others. A photo of a statue of Jesus being smashed gets hundreds of thousands of reacti ...
I Put the Dishes in the Microwave. Then Shalzed Asked About NukesWhy do we trust some countries with nuclear weapons, but not others? If the same rules don’t apply to everyone, are they really rules—or just ...
Human rights mostly come up in indignant op-eds or lengthy reports, usually advocating a particular point of view. Not everyone wants to read this material or be told what to do.
I created Shalzed to use short fiction in order to make complex human rights issues more accessible to all. Rather than strive to stir up indignation and get you to take a side, Shalzed’s stories show the complexity of human rights issues, and how people committed to human rights will still often disagree about what’s right in a given situation. Shalzed invites you to become more knowledgeable and to help you make up your own mind about critical issues we face.
I look forward to hearing your feedback and thoughts.
Shlomo Levin
shlomo@hrhaggadah.com