To Trick or Treat? That is the question...

I think for many Jewish families this dilemma often comes up around this festive time of year. I did not do this growing up, but my siblings and I loved to have the neighborhood kids knock on our door in their costumes so we could give them some candy. We looked forward to it.

Yes, Halloween definitely has Christian roots, but this is really not the reason most families celebrate it. Today, it is largely a secular holiday just as much as Thanksgiving. You ask any Trick or Treater why they are at your door and they will not be spouting off any religious ideas. There is just one main purpose: to acquire as much candy as they can! Now as a parent, that may not interest you, but all I'm trying to point out is that for the child it is all about having fun.

So if you had thought about being neighborly, this will give you an excellent opportunity to be just that! A group of kids can form in your neighborhood and safely run around together for an hour or so collecting treats and having fun together. The lesson to teach your child would be which costume would be appropriate or not appropriate if dressing up and which candies are kosher and acceptable to eat. These are wonderful lessons to teach a Jewish child in our secular world. It would also be completely fine to say to your child we don't celebrate this holiday since it's not of Jewish origin or we just don't like the idea of you having so much candy being that it's not healthy. If the child is not satisfied with that response then maybe come up with your own alternative tradition like make ice cream sundaes or make flavored popcorn and watch a favorite movie.

Torah, Torah, Torah...

So by next week we will have counted the 49 days from Passover till Shavuot. The word "Shavuot" means "weeks" since it is 7 weeks after Passover (counting of the Omer). We celebrate this holiday because of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. We celebrate the "giving" of the Torah rather than the "receiving" of it since we are constantly "receiving" the Torah, but this was the first time we were "given" the Torah so it is a very special day.
On Wed May 19 2010, everyone including children should go to a synagogue to hear the 10 commandments.
Some traditions that accompany Shavuot:

• The eating of dairy foods- 2 reasons that we indulge in blintzes and cheesecake are: 1) The Israelites did not know the laws of Kashrut yet in separating milk and meat so they kept their meals dairy and simple.
  2)A reminder of the promise of Israel being a land flowing with milk and honey.



• Flowers and Plants- Many synagogues and homes fill areas with pretty flowers and greenery since Mount Sinai, the desert, bloomed with flowers when the Torah was given.



• All night Torah study- It is customary to stay up all night and learn Torah before the 1st day of Shavuot to show G-d our excitement to receive the Torah.

We also recite Akdamut, a beautiful Aramaic poem extolling the greatness of G-d and the Book of Ruth since it describes barley and wheat harvest seasons and Ruth's strong desire to accept the Torah as being a part of the Jewish People.

A fun thing to do with the kids would be to build a Mount Sinai dessert (not desert) pictured above.
Using different shaped cookies, pretzels sticks, colored sprinkles, chocolate chips, and peanut butter or fluff. Build a beautiful mountain of cookies held together with the peanut butter/ fluff and then make a fence around the mountain with the pretzel sticks. You can then stick the sprinkles and chips in flower designs on top of the mountain using the pb/ fluff "glue."
Enjoy digging into your masterpiece!

Celebrate Your Mother (and next month- your father)

Mother's Day for some is a holiday and for some it is not, but there's nothing wrong with having a day to reflect on everything our mothers have done and continue to do for us.
Many would say that Mother's Day is absolutely not a Jewish holiday, but I would have to disagree.
The 5th commandment is to honor your father and mother. What's interesting about this is that the 10 commandments were engraved on two tablets- 5 on the first and 5 on the second.
The first tablet contains mitzvot that are "between man and G-d," while the commandments on the second tablet are those "between man and man." This means that the 5th commandment of honoring your parents belongs to the category of "between G-d and man."
This can be explained further... There are three partners in man: G-d, his father, and his mother. When a man honors his father and his mother, G-d says: "I consider it though I had dwelt among them and they had honored Me." This is an extremely powerful statement that by honoring your mother and father can we then only fully appreciate our relationship with G-d.
We are required to view our parents not only with love, but with awe as well.
It is for these reasons that every one of us must strive to truly honor our parents. That means that we make an effort to look after their needs , as well as treating them with the utmost respect, whether we agree with them or not. It is not just a nice thing to do; it is a direct commandment from G-d!
So go ahead and celebrate Mother's Day! In fact I came across an article that has ideas for unique gifts just for your Jewish mother.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/739805/10_unique_mothers_day_gifts_for_jewish.html

Pesach is 2 weeks away!

I know you aren't ready to hear that yet, but what a perfect holiday to get your kids all involved in so many ways.

1. Put them to work!
   Most children like to help if there are incentives and you can make a game out of it...whoever finds the most chametz in their backpack, room, drawers, carseat etc... wins the cleanup challenge and will get _________ .
2. Shop together!
   Keep an eye out for the kosher for passover markings on items that would not normally be kosher like soda (usually has yellow top with hebrew or OU-P), ketchup, mayo, and again a game can make this more fun. You can explain that the corn syrup would make the Coca-cola not kosher for Passover and the Coca-cola that is kosher uses sugar and tastes different on Pesach.
3. Cook together!
   The kid-friendly Seder dish to make is charoset and it's fun and easy (and not too messy) for even the youngest helpers. You can get creative with this and stray from the typical apple, nut, sweet wine recipe and make a yummy sephardic version.
4. Learn together!
   Discuss what the Seder ("order") actually means and how it is very organized.Help your child to learn the Mah Nishtanah. Your child will feel so proud when he/she successfully recites this at the seder.
   Read up on Passover...here are some great choices...
   A Sesame Street Passover: Kippi and the Missing Matzah by Louise Gikow
   Sammy Spider's First Passover by Sylvia A. Rouss and Katherine Janus Kahn
   Company's Coming: A Passover Lift-the-Flap Book by Joan Holub
   It's Seder Time (Passover) by Latifa Berry Kropf and Tod Cohen
   Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim: A Passover Story by Deborah Bodin Cohen

Most of all enjoy your family and friends while you lean to the left and contemplate the differences of these two seder nights from all other nights.

Chag Purim, Chag Purim...

So Purim will be here in a few weeks (Sun Feb 28th).
It's very much a kid-friendly holiday so involve the kids as much as you can whether it be baking hamantashen together, preparing Mishloach Manot (food gifts exchanged on Purim of at least 2 different ready to eat foods to at least one friend), picking out a costume, or making a Purim craft.

It is also important to discuss with them the 4 mitzvot associated with Purim:
1. Hear the Megillah (Scroll of Esther) at night and the following morning.
2. Give charity to at least two needy people.
3. Send a minimum of two ready-to-eat foods to at least 1 person (Mishloach Manot)
4. Sit down for a festive meal on Purim afternoon.

There are also some great children's books on Purim:
"When It's Purim" by Edie Stoltz Zolkower (ages birth-2)
"The Mystery Bear: A Purim Story" by Leone Adelson & Naomi Howland (ages 3-4)
"Raisel's Riddle" by Erica Silverman (ages 6-8)
"The Whole Megillah" by Shoshana Silberman & Katherine Janus Kahn
"Sammy Spider's First Purim" by Sylvia A. Rouss
"Queen Esther Saves Her People" by Rita Golden Gelman
"The Purim Surprise" by Lesley Simpson

Enjoy & Chag Purim Sameach!

Songs for Tu B'Shevat

For those of you who know Carol Boyd Leon and even for those of you who don't, here are her new fun Tu B'Shevat songs:

"Tu Tu Tu B'Shevat"

"I Wanna Be a Tree"

"Groundhog Noses" (A Tu B'Shevat song)

Share them with the kids! Enjoy!

Tu B'Shevat is coming!

I know the kids are counting down the days till Purim, but we shouldn't overlook another great holiday for kids. This year Tu B'Shevat (the 15th of Shevat) falls on Saturday Jan 30th. This day marks the beginning of a "New Year for Trees." This is the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. In Israel, the 15th of Shevat is the day when new sap starts to rise in the trees. It is a time of rejuvenation.
We mark this day by eating fruit (here's where the fun begins...), particularly from the types that were singled out by the Torah in its praise of the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. And my personal hard to find favorite, bokser, the carob fruit.

Tu B'Shevat is a celebration of the circle of life. After all, what says "I am here for you just as I was here for your fathers, and I will be here for your children just as I am here for you" like a tree.

I just love this article Your Child, Your Tree by Eliezer Shemtov
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/468751/jewish/Your-Child-Your-Tree.htm

Now go tend to your "garden" and make a fun Tu B'Shevat seder for your "seedling (s)." :)