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Four-year-old Aaron Klein's rendition of Judah Maccabee is the type of drawing that, at the very least, deserves a prominent place on the refrigerator.

A wide-eyed, smiling warrior, clad in a vest and a crown, holds a sword in his three-fingered left hand. Two stick-legs extend into circular feet that protrude from an oval body attached to a round, hairless head.

At the bottom of the page the name "Judah Maccabee," is neatly printed with two backward c's.

Aaron's imaginative portrait is an entry to the S.F.-based Bureau of Jewish Education's ongoing "Dear Hero" contest, which is part of the BJE's upcoming Feast of Jewish Learning.

As to why he drew Judah Maccabee for the contest on heroes, Aaron's answer is simple.

"Because," said the Fremont resident, who attends Reform Temple Beth Torah.

"But — because why?"

"Because he's my hero."

"But why is he your hero?"

A long pause persisted.

"Because," said Aaron finally, "he saves people."

Jewish heroes come in many shapes and forms, whether biblical or historical figures, family members, celebrities or even next-door neighbors.

That diversity is partially why the BJE chose "Heroes: Who Needs 'Em?" as this year's Feast of Jewish Learning theme, said Andrea Syrtash, a marketing associate for the BJE. And that theme, she said, lent itself perfectly to a children's contest.

"The question of a Jewish hero challenges kids and adults," said Syrtash. "Since kids have great imaginations, they often come up with things that their parents might not."

The contest, which continues through Tuesday, is open to Bay Area children ages 12 and under. Those between 7 and 12 are asked to write a letter, while those under 7 can draw a picture. A winner will be announced sometime during the Feast of Jewish Learning, which runs Sunday, Feb. 11 to Sunday, Feb. 18, although some events take place before and after.

Kids do certainly think outside the box, especially when it comes to their heroes. Take 9-year-old Robin Boedecker of Tiburon, for example. She wants to be a writer, publisher or a journalist when she grows up, so she chose the late contemporary poet Shel Silverstein as her Jewish hero.

"I never expected you to be Jewish, but I'm glad that you are," she wrote to Silverstein. "That proves to me that it doesn't matter — your religion, to be a good writer."

Lillian Klein, like her little brother Aaron, also chose a war hero of sorts for her entry. Lillian, 7, wrote a letter to her uncle Max, a medic in World War II.

"You could have been shot while running to a soldier who got hurt," she wrote to her late uncle. "Max, you were really brave."

Lillian, a second-grader, said she also admires Max because he "took care of his mom" before she died at age 99 and because he "took my dad to baseball games."

"You were a good uncle to my daddy," she wrote. "It would have been nice to have seen you."

And if she could?

"I would tell him all about myself and read books to him and play games with him," she said in an interview, adding that she would probably want to play Chutes and Ladders, one of her favorite games.

But it would be all work and no play for 12-year-old Emily Cohn if she could meet her Jewish hero, Moses. In her letter, the Concord resident asked Moses for some Jewish history lessons.

"If you're ever in town on Tuesday or Sunday, you could come to my synagogue and teach my class about what you did, I think my teacher would really like it," she wrote. "Stop by some time at my house…we could take a walk and you could help me with my Hebrew."

Emily chose Moses as her hero because of the bravery and persistence he showed while standing up to Pharaoh and asking him to allow the Jews to leave Egypt. "He didn't give up, even when the Pharaoh said no," she said. "If he didn't take the chance to free the Jews we'd probably still be slaves today."

She asked Moses many questions about his life. She wrote: "As a young child did you have any clue or feeling that you were Jewish?"

Emily explained that she often feels Jewish, inside. She thinks that Moses felt that that, too, even though he was raised by the Pharaoh.

"When he was getting older and saw the Jews being hurt, he felt that he wanted to help them," she said. "I don't think that the Pharaoh or any of the other Egyptians felt that."

Emily asked Moses if the Red Sea really parted. And she invited him to her June bat mitzvah.

Moses, it turns out, is quite popular on the hero circuit. The former prince of Egypt also received a letter from 8-year-old Nils Valdis Skudra of Albany. Nils selected Moses because of the "good spirit" and bravery he showed while leading Jews to their freedom.

"You really led our people to the promise land and had a good attitude about that," he wrote, adding that he found it admirable that Moses didn't expect to get paid for the job.

"You loved God with all your heart," he wrote, "a heart as great as the sun and bigger than all the whales at Marine World."