Birkat Chaverim Blog

I’m very thankful to everyone who participated in the Mitzvot Unplugged series. We had a wide variety of topics in the series and personally, I am grateful for all the different perspectives. I know that I personally tend to focus on certain types of activities and themes, so its nice to hear from others and ask [...]

This is by no means a comprehensive roundup. In a way, I think that it in part focuses on topics that may not usually be included in teaching about values, but which definitely need to be dealt with from the perspective of your own family values rather than via mass media. Always looking for additional [...]

As part of Mitzvot Unplugged we’d like to welcome Anne Gordon to talk about teaching Torah to girls. Said the veteran principal and trainer of teachers: “Kids don’t want to learn.” Said I to myself, “No, kids don’t know that they want to learn.” Try walking down the block with a toddler. Even assuming the [...]

We are happy to welcome artist Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik as part of the Mitzvot Unplugged Series. Isaac uses innovative materials in his paper-cuts (I encourage you to take a look at them.) He will be talking about the workshops (which he teaches to students young and old.)   1. How do you relay Jewish values in [...]

We are happy to have gerontologist, Rakel Berenbaum, as part of our Mitzvot Unplugged series, writing about a creative program which both teaches the value of Chesed and of valuing our elders. “It is very fulfilling to give. When you give, you get something too.” Meira, Bat Mitzvah program participant Melabev Beit Shemesh has created [...]

As part of the Mitzvot Unplugged series we are happy to welcome Amital from Organized Jewish Home to talk about resources her family uses for homeschooling. Some of my favorite learning opportunities aren’t formal learning. There’s so much to talk about as you live your life: brachot as you eat and when there is lightning, [...]

In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem day, and as part of the Mitzvot Unplugged series, we are pleased to welcome, Joanna from FunInJerusalem.com, a website that helps families explore Jerusalem and its environs. Take a walk down the small alleyways of the Old City of Jerusalem and you may be wondering how you can experience [...]

The Mitzvot Unplugged Series has to do with teaching kids Jewish values in a creative way. One of the ways of doing that is through music. I want to thank Julian/Chaim Horowitz from the Maccabeats for agreeing to an interview, as part of this series. How does being representatives of Orthodoxy and the concept of [...]

As part of Mitzvot Unplugged I am happy to review Stanley Fischman’s Seven Steps to ”Mentschhood” – How to Help Your Child Become a Mentsch: An Interactive Guide for Parents, published by Urim Publications. In our home we are constantly telling our children that we want them to grow up to be mentchen but we did [...]

As part of the Mitzvot Unplugged series we are pleased to have Dov Weinstein, director of Tiny Ninja Theater, talk about a creative way of teaching gemara. “Tiny Ninja Theater presents M’amati (From when?)” is an educational performance piece based around the opening Mishna in (tractate) Berachot.  It uses everyday objects, oversized copies of Talmud, [...]