“On the Wings of Eagles” is based on real events. It is the story of young Haila and her family. It’s not safe for them to live in Yemen anymore. The Torah has taught them that they will be transported to the Jewish homeland on the wings of eagles, but time is running out. On the other side of the world, Alaska Airlines receives a telegram asking it to help rescue the Jews of Yemen. A pilot named Warren knows that he is perfect for this mission and flies to Aden, the same port city to which Haila, her family, and thousands of Yemenite Jews make a long trek in order to be saved. They have never seen an airplane. It looks like a monster and is not the eagle they thought they would be flying on. To calm them down and convince them to get on board, Warren comes up with an unusual plan.

              The Jewish Book Council calls “On the Wings of Eagles” a sus­pense­ful and well-told tale based on a true chap­ter in Jew­ish his­to­ry. It is accom­pa­nied by soft­ly col­ored, rich­ly detailed illus­tra­tions that help bring this mag­i­cal sto­ry alive for young read­ers today.

Beyond that, allow me to explain why I think “On the Wings of Eagles” is the triple crown winner for picture book relevancy, and should be in every Jewish day and supplemental school:

1. Yemen, a country that has never been part of any U.S. political agenda, is making headlines today thanks to Houthi missile and drone attacks on American and other international shipping vessels sailing through the Red Sea. The Houthis claim they are fighting for the Palestinian cause. However, as “On the Wings of Eagles” shows readers, Yemen has never been kind to Jews, certainly not its own Jewish citizens. Always harassed, their lives were in peril once the State of Israel was established. Muslim rioters conducted the equivalent of pogroms, attacking Jews and looting their property. Between 1948-1950 forty-nine thousand Yemenite Jewish refugees were airlifted to Israel on a daring mission often referred to as Operation Magic Carpet.
2. With antisemitism rearing its head at a pace modern American Jews never imagined, it’s important American Jewish children are assured that a Jewish homeland has their back. “On the Wings of Eagles” provides that reassurance. Simultaneously, it gives a sense of comfort through its example of the strong Israel-American bond that has been in place for over seven decades.
3. Yes, for the past year-and-a-half Israel has undergone one of the worst periods of its statehood, but it has proven that it knows how to protect itself through daring military missions. Daring has been the operative word for the Jewish State ever since its inception, and “On the Wings of Eagles” illustrates how bold Jewish thinking was there from the get-go. Alaska Airlines conducted the daring mission, but it was the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee that conceived the plan.

After this triple-crown explanation, you may be wondering why I said the illustrations brought me to tears. Pretend you’re me. That means you’ve been living in Israel for 48 years, you’ve lived through your fair share of wars and incursions, your sons have served in the army in dangerous places and top-secret installations. It’s 2023-24, and you’re living through another war, but you’ve never experienced this kind of stress and fear before. Sirens sound, you run to a safe place, listen to the booms exploding in the distance. After ten minutes you exit and return to where you were working on your computer. Your mailbox shows you have new mail. Yes! The illustrations for your book on the Yemenite Aliyah have arrived. You’ve seen the sketches before, watched them evolve into full color, but now you’re seeing the final package, admire the details, the scenes, the facial expressions.  You’re looking at characters based on real people forced to flee to Israel because of an existential threat. Although you’re not living the same situation, you identify, burst into tears, and say to yourself: “We’ll get through this, just like before.”