Zoë Klein Poet ~ Storyteller ~ Internationally Published Author

Time Palace

Long ago, a legion of angels called the Cassielites collected all the time that was wasted on earth until the world nearly ran out of time. Luckily there was a people skilled at making time who gathered all the scattered moments into a great palace called Shabbat for all people.

Yofiel

When the archangels are assigning jobs to all the new angels, they have difficulty placing Yofiel. He is special and tends to mess things up. Finally, they assign him to be the keeper of the secrets of the Torah, and just like they anticipated, he doesn’t do a great job, which makes them very happy.

Shades and the Rock on the Grave

An origin story for placing stones when visiting graves. When, following a devastating plague, outsider Lily Redwoods discovers strange creatures called “shades” leaching the life out of the remaining townsfolk, she sets about to save them.

Empathy: A Whale Tale

The most embarrassing day of Owen’s life was when he vomited a man out onto a beach. He is afraid he will forever be known as the whale who swallowed a man, until he learns about empathy.

The Flying Insect Café

When Moses declares that all flying insects are not to be eaten, it is a real problem for one family and their livelihood. Now they must figure out something to serve on their menu that abides by the new rule. After trying many different things, they finally discover a combination perfect for launching their new business and a new year: apples and honey.

Fairy Footprints: Why Matzah Has Holes

Fairies help the children in Goshen when their parents are enslaved. When Pharaoh’s evil magicians, Jannes and Jambres, capture all the fairies, three children, Miriam, Joshua and Caleb, set about to rescue them.

Shulamit Bat Aminadav

While all the Israelites are walking through the Sea of Reeds and looking ahead of themselves at the shore, Shulamit Bat Aminadav is the only one to look to the side into the walls of water. She finds herself face to face with a dolphin who invites her to dive into the water and experience freedom.

Shmooey and the Shabbat Encounter

Shmooey of Chelm begins to suffer from dementia and starts to lose his memory. He forgets where he lives and begins to wander from town to town. Eventually he arrives in a town and keeps hearing people talking about preparing for the arrival of Shabbat. He realizes that this this Shabbat must be someone very special and could potentially help him.

Shalom, Bayit

Mateo Cordoza and Isaac Blau have a chance meeting at the summit of a hike. They fall in love and eventually decide to marry in the same place. During their wedding ceremony, they realize that they don’t want to leave their chupah. Their wedding is the beginning of a nationwide protest movement.

JEW

The student who spray paints the word “Jew” on an electronics storefront is caught by a homeless man and the daughter of the store owners. As they are washing the word off, a portal opens in the brick wall, and the three enter a videogame-like virtual world in which they discover the true meaning of the word.

The Most Important Person in the World

When Rabbi Rebecca Zissen asks the students who is the most important person in the world, Sasha, a young artist, listens to the other students’ answers and wonders whether anyone could be the most important person, and where does an artist fit in.

Allison Searches for a Hebrew Name

Allison consults with her parents, clergy, teacher and friends about choosing a Hebrew name, not realizing that for hundreds of years, her Hebrew name had also been searching for her.

Candle, Feather, Wooden Spoon

Chase goes on a quest to find a magical fruit that will turn his grandfather’s bitterness sweet. Entering different moments in history, he must find a candle, a feather and a wooden spoon and use them to conquer the ever-encroaching plague of darkness.

Catching the Wind: A Tallit Origin Story

Cora is on her family’s sailboat in the marina when Sabina and her father arrive in an old houseboat. Sabina is struggling after the death of her mother. Cora and Sabina learn they have something in common, they both know a lot about knots, leading Sabina to create a “sail” for her new friend.

A Pock-Faced Beauty

Lexi is becoming a Bat Mitzvah, and her great grandmother, who was a Hollywood makeup artist, wants to do her makeup. As she touches up Lexi’s face, Lexi can’t stop looking at the scars on her great grandmother’s arms and face. Her great grandmother shares with her the true meaning of beauty by telling Lexi the incredible origin of her scars.

What’s the Magic Word?

When Chantal was a child and asked for more macaroni, her mother said, “What’s the magic word?” and Chantal responded, “Abracadabra.” This was the beginning of Chantal’s quest to discover all the magic words, eventually leading her to meet with a mystical rabbi on Mount Meron in in Israel.

Lace Theory

Dr. Zickel and Dr. Leib, two astronomers, make an astounding discovery: a network of interlacing lines surrounding earth. They rule out electricity, ozone, string theory and other hypotheses, until they uncover a deeply personal new theology.

Radiant Window: A Zoharic Journey

Told in second person, you go on a search for your true name and calling. The story is interspersed with excerpts of Zohar, the foundational work of Jewish mysticism, introducing the reader to the depth and beauty of kabbalah, a field many have heard about, but whose source material few have studied.

The Goat Keeper

Zelophoched and his wife Geula were present at the revelation at Mount Sinai, but Zelophoched was so afraid that he picked up his wife and ran away with her. Azarel is born of the line of Zelophoched and Geula, and her people do not consider themselves Hebrews, although they worship the Fire on the Mountain. Each year, when the High Priest casts one goat out into the wilderness, that goat runs to Azarel. She becomes the goat keeper over a herd of mystical scapegoats . One greedy tribe decides they would like the goats for themselves and plans a raid.

Two Rocks: A Very Long Legendary Love Story

Mei, a sculptor who works in stone, has had two extraordinary rocks in her studio for years, and she is trying to determine what to sculpt with them. She does not know that one of the rocks is the very rock Moses struck to bring water to the people, and the other rock is the very rock that held the sword of Excalibur.

Abraham’s Return

A true story, the author’s father who is a renowned woodcut artist, was commissioned when he was young to illustrate an ad for Barton’s Candy. He made a beautiful woodcut called “Abraham, the First Jew,” and hand printed an edition of one hundred. A Swedish art dealer, seeing the ad in the New York Times, was so moved by it, that he found the artist and offered to sell the extra prints in Europe, and send the artist the money. The artist never heard from him again. Forty-seven years later, the three adult children of the dealer reached out to the artist saying that their father had died, and they found 87 prints in a box. They were so distraught to learn what their father had done that they flew halfway around the world to deliver the art in person.

God Chooses a Genre

God wants to be an author, but God hasn’t yet decided what kind of author to be. Romance? Comedy? Drama? Ultimately, God decides on Mystery.