Passover on Everest

Takes Passover stories to new heights

Editor’s note: PASSOVER ON EVEREST, by Rachelle Burk and illustrated by Craig Orback, is an inspiring story of an extraordinary seder. From the beginning of the book, I fell in love with the mother-daughter duo of Cheryl and Nikki. While most people will never have the experience of having a seder on Everest, it’s a reminder to seek out adventure in life. There’s so much that’s relatable in this story from the wandering Jew and the feeling of being a stranger in a strange land to the mother- daughter relationship to finding community in unlikely place. As we say: Next Year on Everest!

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

From hiking to scuba diving to exploring caves, my family and I love outdoor adventures. So when I first learned about Cheryl and Nikki Bart, the Australian mother-daughter mountaineering team who climbed the Seven Summits and celebrated Passover on Everest, I knew I wanted them in my picture book She’s a Mensch! Jewish Women Who Rocked the World, which features 18 “mensch” bios (plus a final spread of 18 “Honorable Menschen”). Soon after that book came out, I began writing real-life Jewish adventure picture books, beginning with Space Torah, about Jeff Hoffman, the astronaut who read from a miniature Torah while in orbit. Passover on Everest became the second in the series. Both the Barts and Hoffman wrote their own afterwords in the books. In a strange twist of fate, Nikki Bart—now a cardiologist—and astronaut Jeff Hoffman were both in Boston at the same time last year (living very close to one of my daughters!). We arranged a special joint presentation and Q&A in November called Judaism at Great Heights. What an experience to be with such inspirational adventurers!

(Pssst! The next two books in the true Jewish adventure series will be Repair the Sea: The Scuba Diving Rabbi’s Ocean of Hope (summer 2026) and Hanu-cave (fall 2027).

The following excerpt from Passover on Everest Hardcover, by Rachelle Burk, illustrated by Craig Orback, Intergalactic Afikoman, January 7, 2025, was reprinted with permission of the author.

✡️

BIO:

Rachelle Burk is the author of many fiction and nonfiction books for toddlers through middle schoolers. Her Jewish titles include picture books Passover on Everest, Space Torah: Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman’s Cosmic Mitzvah, She’s a Mensch! Jewish Women Who Rocked the World (co-authored by her daughter Alana Barouch), A Mitzvah for George Washington (historical fiction), Matzah Ball Chase (a rogue matzah ball takes the reader on a rollicking, rhyming tour through sites in Israel), and The Best Four Questions (a funny Passover story). Rachelle also has many secular titles for ages 1-13. Her middle-grade science-adventure novel, The Walking Fish, won a National Science Teachers Association award. Rachelle is a retired social worker who lives in New Jersey with her husband Fred. She loves to inspire children with her School Author Visit Programs. Learn more at rachelleburk.com

✡️

Five Tiny Delights:

• Scuba diving. I always wanted to learn but didn’t get certified until I was 52 years old.

• Audio books. Makes mundane tasks like laundry, cooking, driving, and the gym tolerable.

• Morning coffee in my garden.

• Cuddling with my daughters, even now that they’re in their 30s.

• Hiking. The woods are my happy place.

✡️

Five Tiny Jewish Delights:

• Hamantaschen. My neighbor Helene never fails to bring me the BEST fresh baked poppy seed hamantaschen (my fave) every Purim.

• Making mezuzot. I’ve created earthenware and mosaic ones, often as special occasion gifts.

• Unexpectedly hearing Hebrew in the streets.

• Big family gatherings at Passover—though I really miss my solder relatives who are no longer here.

• My Jewish kidlit author friends and their amazing, inspiring books.

✡️