For Mitzvot Unplugged I wanted to include this letter to a soldier activity I put together for my daughter's English class. We have been blessed to have family come over the years to Israel for a “gap year”. In the last year or two we had a cousin learning in Kerem B’Yavneh and were lucky enough to have him and his friends as visitors. First I have ...
The Koren Mahzor for Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim a Review
The Mahzor Texts
It makes sense to have a review of the World Mizrahi Koren Mahzor for Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim on a site that was created to support a fundraiser for Mizrahi's youth movement, Bnei Akiva. There are all kinds of good things about this mahzor. The main purpose of the mahzor is to have an organized collection of the prayers said by most congregations for Yom Hazikaron, Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim. In the commentaries near the prayers are discussions about issues that come up with these contemporary holidays- can one say Hallel? ...Kotel Pop-Up Card for Yom Yerushalayim
My daughter made this Kotel pop-up card in her art class this year for Yom Yerushalayim. She agreed to share it here. In the scheme of pop-up cards, it is not all that complicated a pop-up card to make. This is basically a tab style pop-up card. You can see how to make these types of pop up cards in this WikiHow post. A Little Kit? She is considering ...
Blue and White Fingerprint Flag
For those of you looking for a very simple Yom Haatzmaut project for the younger set, I bring you the blue and white fingerprint flag. The depicted flag was made by my then three year old. It took two minutes to set up, he enjoyed the activity and was pleased to hang it up afterwards. We have other Yom Haatzmaut resources on the site, please do c ...
Hebrew children’s book reviews
Usually I review books in English here but this time I am reviewing three children's books in Hebrew. These are all about Rabbis some more and some less familiar. The first Hebrew children's book review, is for בשירה אל הרב צבי יהודה (In a convoy to Rav Tzvi Yehuda) by Rachel Slyter (illustrated by Naama Lahav) publisher: Hemdat Hadarom with Hemed (R ...
What are the 70 names of Jerusalem?
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 ...
Blue and White Cornettos
Hi,
I teach Judaism and Israel-related subjects online. I have been involved in the Irena Sendler project for the past year and teach about it in my online Hebrew school classes.
Sendler was a non-Jewish Polish woman who saved 2500 children from the Warsaw ghetto. One of the most amazing aspects of her story is the fact that her activities were almost forgotten, and would never have been publicized if not for a group of (non-Jewish) Kansas schoolgirls who heard a rumor about her activities and, as part of a school project, investigated. Their research led to a renewed interest in Sendler’s story and wide recognition including a website, a book and a performance.
I’d love to write a guest blogpost about the Irena Sendler project for Birkat Chaverim.
laurie
Review: The Koren Ethiopian Haggada
Review: Koren Ethiopian Haggada: The Journey to Freedom (Hebrew/English Edition) ed. Rabbi Menachem Waldman Trans. Binyamin Shalom Koren Press Pesach is coming and we've already taken out all the Haggadot and begun to think about how to make the seder and the telling of the Pesach story meaningful both for ourselves and our kids. I was very happy to ...
Teaching the mitzva of “respecting the elderly”
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 two unique pr ...
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 ...