What Jewish Looks Like

A must read for literally everyone

Editor’s Note: What Jewish Looks Like, a middle grade biography collection, co-authored by Liz Kleinrock and Caroline Kusin Pritchard and illustrated by Iris Gottlieb, was important before October 7 and now it’s imperative as it is a testament to the fact that Jews (and Israelis) are extremely diverse. It silences the claims that Jews are a monolith and that Jews are white colonizers or Polish or whatever the latest chant is. To be a Jew isn’t about a skin color or a hair type. Judaism predates modern racial classifications. To use contemporary terminology, What Jewish Looks Like is a fascinating intersectional look at Jews. It’s perfect for anyone who has ever said or heard, “you don’t look Jewish.”

What Jewish Looks Like by Liz Kleinrock (Author), Caroline Kusin Pritchard (Author), Iris Gottlieb (Illustrator), HarperCollins, September 24, 2024.

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For co-author Caroline Pritchard’s biography, please see the JUDITH MAGAZINE spotlight for The Keeper of Stories.

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Liz Kleinrock (she/her) is an award winning educator and best selling author, as well as a Korean-American transracial adoptee, queer, Jewish woman. In 2018, Liz received the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2019 delivered her TED Talk, “How to teach kids to talk about taboo topics." In the spring of 2021, Liz released her first book, Start Here, Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community with Heinemann Publishing, followed by her picture book debut of Come and Join Us! in 2023 and Eyes That Weave The World’s Wonders, a collaboration with NYT bestselling author Joanna Ho that explores Liz’s adoption story. Liz is excited to announce the publication What Jewish Looks Like, a middle grade biography collection that centers the beauty and diversity of the Jewish community with Harper Collins, and was also named one of Top 100 Influential Jews in 2022 and 2023 by The Tel Aviv Institute. She currently works as Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at a pre-k through middle school, and resides in Washington DC with her cat and two bunnies.

Five Tiny Delights:

• When my cat chooses to curl up next to me on the couch or in bed.

• Really good homemade jam.

• Sending and receiving texts that start with, "This reminded me of you!"

• Watching the foliage change colors every autumn.

• Spending time with friends who are so close to me that we can sit in silence and still enjoy each other's company.

Five Tiny Jewish Delights:

• The first bite of horseradish on Passover.

• Going to museums with my parents on Shabbat mornings as a kid.

• Inviting non-Jewish friends to celebrate Jewish holidays.

• Realizing that some celebrity is Jewish for the first time and sharing the discovery with my Jewish gal pals.

• Visiting Jewish neighborhoods in different countries when I travel.

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