This post looks very different than the one that should have gone here. I intended to talk about my daughter’s Bat Mitvah celebration last year, the new design we did because her celebration was at the Bird Observatory, and how we might have done some things differently. However, given that the world is in isolation and that many Bnei Mitzvah have postponed their celebrations or are celebrating in different ways, I thought I would do something different. I am only going to share one aspect from the Bat Mitzvah which can be done this year as well. It can also be used as by individual families and teachers to learn about dew and Tefillat HaTal.
Learning Tefillat HaTal
My daughter and I learned Tefillat HaTal, the Prayer for Dew and related topics over about a year and a half. We learned about how dew was different from rain. The sources in Tanach quoted by HaKalir, as well as references to various midrashim. Together we saw how the prayer has messianic overtones and a connection to redemption. We read articles by Tamar Elitzur, Avigdor Shinan and Steve Fine. These helped us to get an understanding of how the community heard piyutim and what the paytan did. All of this resulted in a review sheet on Tefillat HaTal.
Escape Room Game on Tefillat HaTal
Related to that, I created an escape game that took place around the Bird Observatory at the beginning of the celebration. I have made that game “Dew Escape”, available in the Birkat Chaverim shop. Through the game, players learn a number of things. They do learn learn about dew. But they also learn about the author of the dew prayer and about the birds you see in Israel this time of year. There is actually a dew connection for the birds and not just because the celebration was at the bird observatory. In months without rain, birds actually get their water intake by eating bugs. Bugs, of course, get hydration from dew.
The escape room file is located in the shop. There is a huge discount for the duration of isolation.
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