Over the course of this past week, it was brought to my attention that a columnist who writes for The New York Post had written an article that was all about bashing the American Girl Company. Immediately, a hundred arguments as to why I believed she was wrong popped into my head. When I was a child, American Girl taught me about history in a way that I found easy to understand. Now, at 18, I have turned back to American Girl and found in the story of one of their dolls, Rebecca Rubin, a way to help me better understand some of the cultural aspects of Judaism.

Rebecca Rubin’s story takes place in 1914. She is a young Jewish girl from Russia who immigrated to America so that her family could have a better life. Each story delves into either a holiday or historical aspect unique to Judaism. For example, one book is all about Chanukah while another explained how Jewish families all over Europe were being ridiculed and mistreated to the point where it was a universal dream to come to America and start over. Her outfits and story, while meant for children, have introduced Yiddish terms, Jewish traditions and Jewish history in a simple manner.

I finished the box set in one sitting and found that it made the descriptions in the more sophisticated texts I’ve been reading seem less complex. Once again, American Girl has aided me in better understanding a history that is important to me.