Like a Maccabee

This year as we celebrate Hanukkah in Kitah Vav, we aim to increase our Jewish knowledge beyond what some call "Pediatric Judaism." The holiday of Hanukkah is more than a children's holiday centered around lighting candles and getting gifts. Hanukkah is about an amazing story, a miracle as many suggest.

Did you know the Maccabees were zealots?

Did you know the first fight actually began as Jew against Jew?

Do you know the real fear was not of physical extermination, but of spiritual annihilation?

The message we hope to share this year is one of standing up for our beliefs because we are proud of who we are. This year we hope to teach our Kitah Vav students to believe in themselves, and know who they are through learning and understanding.

Hanukkah is a minor holiday with many rituals, and families continue to create new traditions to teach the special messages which are part of our history. What are the messages we want our children to understand? Despite pressure to conform, Mattathias and his five sons refused to bow down to idols. Being a Maccabee, whether long ago or today means fighting for the right to be different, and being proud of these differences. We also need to reinforce the concept that being small in number does not mean being insignificant. The Jewish people have always been small in number, but we must continue to be strong in spirit. We know that each of us can make a difference in the world, and this is the legacy of the Maccabees we want to reinforce for our Kitah Vav students.

Have a wonderful Hanukkah and a safe, happy, and healthy winter break.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Wishing you a very kosher Hanukkah.

A Very Jewish Thanksgiving

When the Pilgrims came to American in 1620, they felt just like the Children of Israel. They too, had come to a new land to find freedom. The Bible was a very important part of their lives. Their first year in America was very hard. When their first harvest was completed, they wanted to have a celebration to thank G-D for helping them survive. They read in the Bible about the harvest feast called Sukkot, and they believed they too should give thanks to G-D for helping them. They called their American celebration of Sukkot, "Thanksgiving."

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks. The oldest Jewish prayers are the brachot, those prayers which begin with "Baruch Atah Adonai," Blessed are You, Adonai." The students are quite thankful for the many commandments we observe, and sing words of praise and gratitude, recite prayers before enjoying the bounty of their senses, and sing brachot before fulfilling the mitzvot. Here is just a sample of the many things the students in Kitah Vav are thankful for. From my house to yours, I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving Celebration.

Thank you for G-D making my family healthy. In these time of H1N1, it is amazing that none of us have gotten it yet. Also, thank you for not having any cancers or life threateding diesease. Thank you G-D for my education. In order tohelp the world out of its current state, we will need to be able to do many things, especially in maths and sciences.

Thank you for my life. I really like to live, it's so fun. I wouldn't have anthing without life. Thank you for trees. I like to breathe. Air is important and comes with trees.

Thank you for my great family, my good health, and my home. Thank you for food to eat, my beautiful room, clothing I get to wear, and my good education.

Thank you for my life. By that, I mean thank you for letting me meet so many people. Now I have a lot of friends. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for keeping my family safe. For protecting me from H1N1 9swine). I am so blessed with my family. They are greater than anything else in the whole world. Thank you for a great dog too! She is crazy but I can tell you put a little extra magic in her.

Thank you for my life and for my family. I love my family. Thank you for my good education. I enjoy learning about new stuff every day.
Thank you for love, knowledge and life. Thank you for all you have done. Thank you for Judaism.

I am thankful for my friends and loved ones, my mom and dad. I am thankful for my shelter, food, and a good family. I am thankful for life, a good school, clothes, restaurants and bathrooms.
Thank you for for my good fortune and my ability to give to others who need my giving. Thank you for opening my lips to pray to you for my intelligence, clothes, normal birth, spirit and everything else.

I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for shelter and food.

Thank you for my clothes, my life, shelter, my knowledge, making us the chosen people, my doing well in school. Thank you for sight, speaking, hearing, smelling, and being Jewish. Thank you for the Torah.

Thank you for my life. Thank you for my health, our world, and my friends.

Thank you for my family and my health. Thank you for my house, my friends, and birth. Thank you for my food, my long hair, my smartness, my Jewishness, and my hearing.

Thank you for my life and my family. Thank you for my good friends and my good education.

Thank you for a good family. Thank yo for making me smart.
I am thankful for life. Thank you for giving me food, shelter, night and day. Thank you for sights, hearing, health, clothing, school, education, taste, and Torah. Thank you for giving me feelings, emotions, family, water, toilets, friends, Judaism, knowledge, and entertainment.

Thank you for life. Thank you for knowledge and live. Thank you for giving us family, friends, and schools, Thank you for giving use eyes to see, and ears to hear. Thank you fo rmaking us the chosen people. Thank you for giving us clothes to wear and good looks.

I am thankful for life, food, water, shelter, and all of the necessities I have in my life. Thank you for giving me sight, taste, feel, hearing, smell, school, night, day, family, and knowledge.

Thank you for my pet dog Satchel because he is so awesome. Thank you for my very great educaton because I wouldn't be smart now.