My daughter, aged seven, decided to add her own question to her homework this week. And so, she wrote in her notebook: What are the names of Jerusalem? I liked her question and asked her to see how many names she could come up with. There are actually seventy. I think this is a fun activity or at least an educational activity that can be fun. What ...
Torah Stitch by Stitch project
The Torah Stitch by Stitch project is not strictly a project geared towards children, however it is one that children can participate in, and would be an interesting project for a group as a bar/bat mitzvah project. Created by artist, Temma Gentles, it is intended for people who want to experience "the purpose, rigor, and spirit of producing the holy te ...
First Annual Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art
I'm very pleased to be able to write about the first annual Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art (September 15 through October 31st.) This first year will have five exhibitions in five separate locations. This looks like it should be very exciting and interesting. There are about fifty artists, both Israeli and International, emerging and esta ...
Kid Made Marshmallow Kotel
The idea of building the kotel or Beit Hamikdash out of Marshmallows is not the most original idea in the world. However, we did do a few additions that were fun, and you can too. Food Coloring Glorious Good Coloring First off, for our marshmallow kotel, we used food coloring to add a stone-like touch to the "bricks." We also used leaf shaped sprinkle ...
What Color was the Menorah on the Arch of Titus?
The depiction of the Romans bringing the spoils of war, including the Temple Menorah and its vessels to Rome, on the Arch of Titus is a depiction that for many Jews symbolizes the loss of the Beit Hamikdash and of exile in their minds eye and in their hearts. This arch celebrated Titus's victory over the Jews, the destruction of Jerusalem and the holy ...
Teaching Jerusalem one footstep at a time
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 such an Old City in a m ...
Kol HaOt – Illuminating Jewish Life through Art
We are happy to have a guest post from Kol Haot as part of the Mitzvot Unplugged Series. A fuller version of this post appeared in the Lookstein Journal Jewish Educational Leadership: The Arts in Jewish Education A short note, although i have never participated in the series, many years ago I visited David Moss's Jerusalem studio with my parents and my ...
Summing up the cultural exchange
I wanted to show what was included in the kids cultural exchange packages that we sent out to represent Israel: stickers coloring sheets and coloring book a keychain that looks like Israeli money halva, zaatar, "nana" tea and mekupelet chocolate postcards a coloring name sign that looks like a Jerusalem skyline that I designed. I made ...
Israel Kids Cultural Exchange About Food
This is part three of the Israel Kids Cultural Exchange about Food what was sent in the Israel Kids Cultural Exchange. You can read part one or part two here. This part was about food. As part of the Israel Kids Cultural Exchange about food we included recipes, a story, about favorite foods as well as some favorite Israeli samples that could be shipp ...
Israel Exchange Part 2 Things you may or may not know about Israel and Jerusalem
This is part two of the letter we sent for the kids Cultural Exchange -Israel. You can read about the cultural exchange and part one of our letter here. Israeli mailboxes. Do your local mailboxes look like this? Things you may or may not know about Israel and Jerusalem: Both national languages, Hebrew and Arabic, are read right to left not ...