Mitzvot Unplugged Roundup

Mitzvot Unplugged Series Welcome from Birkat ChaverimThis is by no means a comprehensive roundup. This post focuses on topics that  are not typical for inclusion in teaching about values. Nevertheless, they are topics which definitely need discussing. And from the perspective of your own family values, rather than via mass media. I am always looking for additional links. Please do continue to submit links in the comments below and I will add them later on.

Mitzvot Unplugged Roundup

I think that these online lessons on teaching middot by Rabbi Yossi Kahan from Hillel middle school, are useful. I would love to see examples of other approaches. Lisa Samick’s guest post on Kveller talks about using the Ruth story to teach middot of kindness, charity and loyalty. Jewish Mom excerpt/review of Rebbetzin Heller’s book Balancing Act provides some tips on instilling a number of values in our kids.

Body and Safety Values

Values are also relevant to body awareness and safety. The following posts are relevant for that topic:

We often teach our children about Lashon Hara (evil speech). But how do they know what they need to pass on to a parent or teacher? Metro Ima’s post, My Child Was Bullied deals with the topic. A Mother in Israel has Ten Lessons for our daughters which are practical and useful. Chaya from All Victories talks about teaching our daughters (and sons) about self respect in On Telling My Preschooler to Cover Up.   And for parents this Book Review of Yocheved Debow’s Talking About Intimacy and Sexuality: A Guide for Orthodox Jewish Parents may be useful.

On a lighter note

On the lighter side, Bible Belt Balabusta’s lesson on Tzaar Baalei Chayim,  roughly translated as not mistreating animals, is fun and has some neat resources for using nature in teaching our children. Making mitvah cards is also a way to get your kids involved in learning about mitzvot, as well as a way to focus on middot that you think need a specific focus. This mitzvah book is also a fun way to teach small fry about mitzvot. One last note, Amital’s guest post Lets Talk About Jewish Learning mentioned some resources for teaching tefilla and brachot. I wanted to mention Rav Ari Schwat’s al hamichya which I wrote about in the context of teaching gratitude for the things we eat.

 

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