When Schindler was a junior in high school — he grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, “before it was hip” — a play he wrote was published and won an award. Most recently, ELJ Editions asked him to contribute an essay for “Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture & Heritage,” a collection that won a 2026 International Book Award and an IndieReaders Discovery Award. The 32 stories in “Manna Songs” span locales from the U.S. and Israel to Scandinavia and Spain, encompassing a wealth of subjects. … Jewish Vikings, Jewish poets, grandmas, grandpas, moms, dads, lovers, kids. As a review from the Jewish Book Council proclaims, “At an extraordinarily com­pli­cat­ed time in our coun­try and in our world, this beau­ti­ful lit­tle book appears as a balm for it all.”