New Jewish Agenda

Notarikon

Notarikon

Shorthand system which uses the single letter of a word to signify whole words.

B'shaah tova

       Congratulations to an expectent mother (literarily "in a good

       hour," means "at an auspicious time," i.e. may whatever time your

       child is born be a good time.") Also the correct response to

       announcement of a marriage engagement. In both cases, it is in

       anticipation of a "mazel tov" for something hoped for, that has

       not yet occurred. [H]

Kol Hakavod (literal translation: all honor)

       Used idiomatically to express praise or congratulations for an

       achievement [H]

     * Kol Isha 

       The voice of a women (considered by the Rabbis of the Talmud to be

       distracting to men and thus lewd). [H]

     * Kol Tuv 

       Everything good (may you be blessed with everything good) [H]

     * Kulot 

       Leniencies [H]

     * K'vod Hatzibur 

       The honor of the community [H]

     * L'shon Hara (Literal translation: "evil tongue")

       Defaming or badmouthing [H]

Pikuah Nefesh 

To save a life (usually in context of breaking Shabbat, etc.)

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to Initials

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff. (Harpercollins Juvenile Books, 1985)

Very popular books that tell the theme that everything comes back into itself. If you give a mouse a cookie he’ll want a glass of milk to go with it. Eventually, after a series of experiences, he has another glass of milk which reminds him that he’ll want a cookie to go with it. These books are wonderful stepping stones to discussing the cyclical nature of Torah readings and the Jewish calendar.

There’s also a sort of Mobius Strip quality to the theme which lends itself to a discussion of Passover and Sukkot acting as poles of the Jewish calendar which enable the year to recycle in never-ending twists. Jewish time, being non-linear and folding back into itself, constantly recreating, is in contrast to Christian time which has become linear and ending at a certain time. Also, the creation story, in Jewish eyes, becomes a Mobius Strip of folding and unfolding of partnerships:

Day 1 with Day 4

Day 2 with Day 5

Day 3 with Day 6

Day 7 with the giving of the Torah and Shabbat at Mt. Sinai.

(thanks to Rabbi Morris Allen of Beth Jacob Congregation, Mendota Heights, MN, for this insight).

Rabbi Ishmael, in the Talmud, says that time is non-linear and that there is no chronology in Torah.

I’m In Charge of Celebrations (Scribners and Sons, 1995) by Byrd Baylor.

Author of many children’s books, many with a desert theme (she lives in an adobe house in the Arizona desert). This book is written in the same style as a Yiddish poem, "How to Pray the Sunset Prayer" by Jacob Glatstein (1896-1971) of Poland and the United States, translated by Ruth Whitman as printed in the Siddur Sim Shalom prayerbook, page 801, edited by Rabbi Jules Harlow.

“How to Pray the Sunset Prayer”

I’ll let you in on a secret

about how one should pray the sunset prayer.

It’s a juicy bit of praying,

like strolling on grass,

nobody’s chasing you, nobody hurries you.

You walk toward your Creator

with gifts in pure, empty hands.

The words are golden,

their meaning is transparent,

it’s as though you’re saying them

for the first time.

If you don’t catch on

that you should feel a little elevated,

you’re not praying the sunset prayer.

The tune is sheer simplicity,

you’re just lending a helping hand

to the sinking day.

It’s a heavy responsibility.

You take a created day

and you slip it

into the archive of life,

where all our lived-out days are lying together.

The day is departing with a quiet kiss.

It lies open at your feet

while you stand saying the blessings.

You can’t create anything yourself, but you

can lead the day to its end and see

clearly the smile of its going down.

See how whole it all is,

not diminished for a second,

how you age with the days

that keep dawning,

how you bring your lived-out day

as a gift to eternity.

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. (Harpercollins Juvenile Books, 1995)

A Jewish author and bread is a very Jewish subject, but in this case it’s an opportunity to teach what is not supposed to be in bread.

Mickey is a young boy who spends the night helping the bakers bake cake. It starts out looking like bread, but once he puts milk in it we know it has to be cake unless it’s clearly marked as dairy.

The Shulchan Arukh says it is against Jewish law to put milk in bread unless it is clearly marked so that people will not mistakenly eat it with meat. Bread made with milk in Israel is usually in a distinctive shape. Rabbis should tell prospective converts this rule as soon as they first meet.

We make challa every week. It’s really very easy. The secret for me, after years of trying to make bread only to have it come out like a stone, is to use a special dough cutter I found at one of those outlet kitchen supply stores. It’s thin plastic and shaped like half of a yin/yang symbol (appropriate since some poeple have found that if you take the Magen David symbol and put curves on it and push a little it turns into the yin/yang symbol). I used to get exhausted trying to mix the dough with a spoon and then I’d be left with a doughy, sticky mess to clean up. The dough cutter, which cost all of 50 cents, lets me cut in all of the dough and leaves a clean bowl. If my wife doesn’t work Friday, then I mix up the dough before leaving for work and she finishes it during the day. If she does work, I do the mixing and baking Thursday night. Sometimes in the long summer days, I’ll put up the dough Friday morning, then bake it when I come home from work. It would be done just before lighting candles and saying the blessings. The boys would love to get the challa hot and fresh out of the oven. Sometimes, if I baked it Thursday night and if I had room in the oven on Friday, I would put the challa in a large brown paper bag, wet the bag and put the bag into a 350 degree oven to rewarm or cover it with a damp towel and then rewarm.

Here’s our recipe and procedure, slightly adapted from the challa recipe in the First Jewish Catalog by Michael Strassman and others (all three Jewish Catalogs are indispensable).

Ingredients:

For 2 large challot:

1 Tbls yeast

1 Tbls sugar

1/3 cup hot water

2 cups hot water

1/2 cup oil

6-7 cups flour

1 Tbls salt

2 eggs (or more, depending on taste)

Get a cereal bowl and a glass bowl from the cupboard. Get a dinner fork. Run water until very hot. Pour one-third cup of the hot water into the cereal bowl. Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon yeast into the water (ask someone who belongs to one of those wholesale warehouse food stores to get you the shrink-wrapped, double package of yeast; it costs so much less than indivdiual packets that it’s almost worth the membership in those places; if you get the yellow, individual metal foil packets of Fleischman’s yeast point out that it’s a Jewish name; call the 800 number on the packet to get some fascinating information about yeast). Don’t worry about the temperature of the water. Once it goes into the bowl it will cool down enough to not hurt the yeast. Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon sugar over the yeast. Stir with the fork.

Add the salt and the oil into a large bowl (stainless steel or something non-plastic that will go into the oven when the oven is warm). Use the same cup from the oil to measure the hot water. Pour in the water. Mix with a large rubber spatula and add 2 cups of the flour. Pour in the yeast.

Crack one egg at a time into the glass bowl. Check for blood spots by picking up the bowl and looking underneath (that’s why the glass bowl is traditional). I’ve seen one blood spot in 12 years of shipboard cooking. Commercial eggs nowadays just don’t have the blood spots that farm eggs do. But, there are few times in a vegetarian household to teach the commandment about not eating blood. It’s a nice tradition with the glass bowl and our grandmothers did it, so that should be enough reason. Once, when we were helping to cook breakfast at a homeless shelter, I cracked an egg that had a blood spot. Unfortunately, I cracked it into a huge pot that was already full of cracked eggs ready for scrambling. There is a rabbinic ruling about the mixture being alright if it constitutes less than one 60th of the total as long as it was accidental. I let it go.

Pour each egg into the bowl you used for the yeast. Beat the eggs with fork you used for the yeast and pour into the flour mixture. Add flour cup by cup until it’s too stiff to use the rubber spatula, then switch to the special yin/yang dough cutter. Use the dough cutter to turn and cut the dough while adding flour now by the 1/2 cup. I like to get the dough so it’s still a little sticky but not too much flour. It should get the sides of the bowl clean while mixing. The less flour I leave on the sides of the bowl, the more I feel in touch with the ancient Hebrews who had to spend most of their day just to have bread on the table. The rabbis say that a loaf of bread on the table is a greater miracle than the parting of the Reed Sea.

Knead the dough a few minutes by following the directions in any cookbook. An alternative is to repeatedly throw the dough very hard onto the worktable. I saw this on a Julia Child cooking show once. It works and is easier for children. Remember to clean up the flour on the table first or there’ll be flour everywhere. I usually give the boys their own ball of dough to knead and to make their own challa. When we have a large group for Friday night dinner, they like to hold up their challa for the blessing at their end of the table. It’s a good way to let them use their challa covers they made in school while at the same time letting you use the challa cover your wife gave you.

Put the dough back in the bowl. Most cookbooks say to put a film of oil on the sides of the bowl. I’ve found that it’s unnecessary and doesn’t help the dough grab onto the sides while it’s rising. Turn the oven on at 200 degrees for one minute. Use a timer to remind you to turn off the oven. Nothing like slow-cooked bread dough when you’ve forgotten to turn off the oven. One time forgetting should be enough. Put the bowl with the dough covered with a cloth into the oven. Use a cloth so the burning smell will remind you that you forgot to turn off the oven.

Let it rise at least 1-2 hours. It can go longer. I’ve let it go all day, but the top can dry out if you don’t oil it and cover with plastic wrap. Take it out and punch it down. Shape it back into a ball and put it back in the oven repeating the ritual designed to help you remember to turn off the oven. As an alternative, you can just leave the dough on the counter all day. I’ve even made the dough Thursday night, covered it with plastic wrap over the top of the bowl and left in the refrigerator all night. It will need to come to room temperature and rise before punching it down. Let the dough rise another 1-2 hours, at least. This second rising in one of the big differences between my recipe and most other challa recipes I’ve seen including the one in the First Jewish Catalog. We seem to get a much puffier loaf with the extra rise.

After the second rise, punch it down again (the boys’ favorite) and do the challa separating ritual if you’ve used enough flour. There are rules about when to separate challa. Generally, if you’ve used less than 6 and a half cups of flour, then you don’t separate, which is too bad since separating challa is one of the three mitzvot traditionally required of women which means it’s a chance to keep us aware of tradition. The other two are lighting the Shabbat candles and using the mikvah (all rabbinical mitzvot). Men may do the separating if they are the ones baking. You separate without a blessing if using between 8-12 cups of flour and separate with a blessing if using more than 12 cups. It is traditionally alright to say a blessing that is not required if you are teaching a child. If you’re uncomfortable not separating and not saying a blessing then use it to teach your children. The challa is separated (use a piece at least as big as an olive) and held high while saying, "This is the challa." Then say the blessing. The next step is burning the challa. Either throw it into the oven and stink up the house and get your wife upset or burn it outside in an aluminum pan (tricky in the winter). Trying to burn challa with a 4-year old helping is high on the Shabbat fire danger list. Have the Shabbat fire extinguisher nearby. Another idea for burning the challa is to save them for Pesach and burn them with the chametz.

Now braid the dough. The First Jewish Catalog has very clear directions for braiding 3 or 4 strand challa. The 3 strand is more traditional and symbolizes the 12 tribes since 2 challot is 3 + 3 = 6 and 6 x 2 = 12. The 4 strand is easier to cut equal pieces for braiding since you just have to cut each ball in half and then half again. The 4-braided loaf is very impressive and easy to do by following the directions in the Catalog. However, it doesn’t specifically symbolize anything. In the movie, "A Stranger Among Us," (not a children’s movie, but nonetheless, a good Jewish-themed movie) there’s a beautiful scene of a huge loaf of challa coming out of the oven. The 6-strand loaf described in the Catalog is beautiful and easy to do.

For an impressive pre-Yom Kippur feast try the bird challa described in the Catalog.

Let the loaves rise about an hour or less. This is tricky since they lose their shape if you let them rise too long. Then brush with a whole egg beaten with a little oil and water (the golden-brown color is worth the extra egg). Place in the pre-heated 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Slightly over-done is better than under-done. Test by tapping the bottom of the loaf. It should sound hollow.

This recipe makes great weekday bread just by leaving out the eggs, adding some under-cooked oatmeal (to replace the liquid) and putting in a loaf pan.

Try making two large challot even if you won’t need them. It looks really nice on the Shabbat table and makes great French toast the next day. If you really only want small loaves, try making one big one and using a dinner roll or bagel in order to say the blessing over a double loaf.

Initials

Most are from Nehama Leibowitz’s New Studies in Bereshit, (Haomanim Press, Jerusalem). (a wonderful series of commentaries on the Torah)

Amen	The Hebrew spelling is aleph-mem-nun. These three letters began the three words, Al Melakh Nehaman, which are found immediately before the Shema and are said when davening alone. One reason for this is that it brings the word count for the entire Shema to 248 which is the number of positively stated commandments in the Torah. The number of negatively stated commandments is 365 (for a total of 613). This has traditionally been thought to correspond to the number of days in the year while 248 corresponded to the earlier understanding of how many bones were in the human body. Of course, it also means, “so be it.” Most traditional Jews do not say “Amen” after saying a blessing. However, they do try to say it after someone else has said a blessing.
Ari	Adoni Rabbenu Yitzchok Zechorono LeVaracha our master Rabbi Yitzchok. Better known as Yitzchok Luria the great 16th century Kabbalist Gur Aryeh (1525-1609) (Ari) also known as the Maharal of Prague
Bach	Rabbi Joel Sirkes (1561-1640), he is known by the initials if his major work, Bayit Hadash. He is also an ancestor of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, of blessed memory, who was a well-known and well-loved rabbi from the 1960’s and 70’s.
Besht	Baal Shem Tov: Founder of the Chassidic movement
Chabad	The name is derived from the initials Chachma (wisdom), Binah (understanding) and Daat (knowledge). Founded by Shneur Zalman (1745-1813) His intention was to bridge the gap between the Mitnagdim and the Hasidim, combining intellectualism and mysticism. His Lekutei Amarim (Collected Sayings) became known as the Tanya and is one of the important study texts of the CHabad Hasidim.
Chazal	Hebrew initials for: Chochmenu Zichrona Levaracha (Our sages of Blessed memory) Used to refer to Rabbis of the Talmud.
Chida	Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai. In the 18th century he was sent to Europe by the elders of the Jerusalem community to raise money for the support of the institutions and inhabitants of Jewish Jerusalem.
MaHarsha	Moreinu HaRav Shmuel Eliezer (our teacher Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer) a famous Talmud commentator.
Mahrasha	Edels, Shemuel Eliezer ben Yehuda Halei (1555-1631), Rabbi of Chelm (the real one), Lublin, and Ostrog. Wrote foremost commentary to Talmud after Rashi.
Malbim	Meir, Yehuda Leibush ben Yehiel Michal (1809-1880), Russian rabbi.
Netziv	Berlin, Naphtali Zvi Yehuda (1817-1893), Russian rabbi. His son, Meir Berlin, moved to Israel and changed his name to Bar Ilan. The Bar Ilan Univesity is named after him.
RA’VAD	Abraham ben David, (1125-1198) French rabbi.
Radak	Kimhi, David (1160-1236), French rabbi.
RADAL	Rabbi David Luria (1798-1855), Lithuanian rabbi. Leading rabbi after death of Gaon of Vilna.
Rambam	Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon also called Maimonides (1135-1204)
Ramban	Rabbi Nachman ben Moshe, also called Nachmanides (1194-1270)
RaMHaL	Luzzatto Moshe Hayim (1707-1746), Italian Kabbalist.
Ran	Gerondi, Nissim ben Reuven (died 1380), Talmudic commentator.
RaNaK	Krochmal, Nachman (1785-1840), Polish philosopher known for The Guide to the Perplexed of Our Time.
Rashba	Rabbi Solomon ben Abraham Aderet (Barcelona, Spain, 1235-1310)
Rashbam	Rabbi Shemuel ben Meir (1080-1158) grandson of Rashi.
Rashi	Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki (1040-1105), French commentator. Greatest of all Torah and Talmud commentators.
Rivya	Yehuda ben Eliezer (14th century), French rabbi.
Shadal	Luzzatto, Shemuel David (1800-1865), Italian scholar.
TaZ	Divrei David (1689), Polish Talmudist known as TaZ after initials of commentary to Shulchan Arukh: Torei Zahav.
YaSHaR	Reggio, Yitzhak Shemuel (1784-1855), Italian rabbi.
Yavatz	Yaakov ben Tzvi. Name of Rabbi Yaakov Emden.

When Moses spoke to us about going into the desert he said
"tachin lekha haderekh, prepare for yourself the way."
TaChIN has the initials of tefillin, kikar, yayin and ner.
(Tav, chaf, yud, nun.) To prepare yourself for the way
means that wherever you go,
 take your tefillin, a little bread, wine for kiddush and a candle.
 Always have a little bottle of wine for Shabbos, a little challah,
two candles and tefillin with you all the time, wherever you go.

Harry Potter to How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have

Harry Potter and the . . . by J. K. Rowlings (Scholastic Trade, 2002)

Immensely popular. We’ve had extensive spontaneous discussions about if Harry is Jewish or what Jewish values are reflected in the characters (especially the value about being truthful and if it’s always the best policy). The fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is thick enough to be impressive just sitting on the coffee table. At the same time that my nine-year old was reading it, I was reading the novel, Only Yesterday, Princeton University Press, 2002, (original publication, 1945), by the Israeli writer, S. Y. Agnon. (I read his Days of Awe each year before the High Holydays). It happens to be as thick as the Goblet of Fire which made a nice picture on the coffee table as we both put down our books one evening. It impressed me that I was reading a novel as thick as my son’s. Only Yesterday deals with a Jewish man’s search for his dream in Israel during the Second Aliyah period in early 1900‘s Israel. There’s a wonderful description of Shabbat in Jerusalem that is worth repeating:

“Isaac was most excited on Sabbath eves, when the city stops its give and take and gleams with the light of the Sabbath. This is the light of the Sabbath whose splendor glows even in the rotten generations. The sun has not yet finished its course in the firmament but beneath the heavens, on the earth below, a great change is already visible. The air is transformed and a kind of hidden joy rises. All the shops are locked and all weekday business comes to a halt. The streets of Jerusalem are emptied of carts and the Holy earth dwells in silence. No wheel turns, no whip lashes, The expanses of the world are silent, and a holy calm is ignited by the silence of the city. At that hour, the old beadle goes out from the Great Synagogue of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai and calls out, The time for lighting candles has come! At that hour, someone jumps from the homeless shelters on Mount Zion and goes up to the top of the roof of a tall house and blows the ram’s horn to warn the nation that the Sabbath is coming. Opposite him, one of the Sadigura Hasids jumps to the top of the roof of the Great Synagogue, Tiferent Israel, with a brass trumpet two cubits long in his mouth, and blows. Immediately, they come out of the rest of the synagogues and climb up to their roofs and blow until their voice is heard outside the Old City walls. Yeshiva students dressed in Sabbath clothes come and climb up on the roofs of the tall houses in the new city and ring the bells in their hands to announce that the time has come to light candles. And in every house and every courtyard, people hurry to prepare themselves to honor the Sabbath. Some savor the Sabbath dishes, for those who savor the Sabbath gain eternal life. And some search through their clothing lest they have forgotten something that is forbidden to carry on the Sabbath, and others urge their little sons to arrange the prayer books for the Sabbath; some put oil in glass lamps and others put some red wine into the oil to make it beautiful; some set the table and others don Sabbath clothes. Anger vanished from their faces and every speech is soft and good, and from every house and every courtyard shine many candles, and the whole city is like a palace adorned with candles and lights. Here a lamp is lit and there a lantern. Here a bowl of olive oil and there pure white candles. Here two candles for remember the Sabbath day and keep the Sabbath day, and two tablets of the Covenant, and there ten candles for the Ten Commandments. Here seven candles for the seven days, and there twelve candles for the twelve Tribes of Israel. Here as many candles as there are people in the house, and there are candles without number. There are houses and courtyards where you don’t see the light of a candle all the nights, and when the Sabbath comes, the whole house is lit up. There are women who used to drop a coin in the box of Rabbi Meir Ba’al Haness and say a special prayer every Sabbath eve before they lit the candles, and now they themselves are supported by that Charity, like people who deposited their money in a secure place and take it out in their hour of need. Now all of Jerusalem has ceased its work and from every house and every courtyard come old and young, dressed in Sabbath clothes, their faces glowing with the light of the Sabbath. People who aren’t important in your eyes on weekdays are exalted at that hour. Gone are angry faces and every eye is shining. Some go to the synagogues and study houses and others go to the Western wall. Some walk slowly and others hasten, as their multicolored robes in all handsome hues are dragged over the stones of Jerusalem and cloak the streets of Jerusalem in velvet and satin. At that hour, all kinds of handsome hues appear in the sky overhead, whither because the Sabbath garb is reflected in it, or the Sabbath garb is handsome because the shine of the firmament is reflected in it when the Sabbath enters. Often, our comrade Isaac followed behind those going to pray until he came to the Western Wall and stood and read with them Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever, as if he too merited that mercy the Holy-One-Blessed-Be-He bestows on those who keep His commandments.”

Only Yesterday pp.270-272

The Chamber of Secrets is also the name of the special place in the ancient Temple where people could put in tzedaka money if they had extra or take it out if they needed it without anyone knowing.

In Beacham’s Source Books Exploring Harry Potter, (2000), by Elizabeth Schafer, several Jewish connections are made. She points out that the Slytherin House has the initials “S.S.” and that the Ravenclaw House resembles the Ravensbruck women’s concentration camp. She also mentions that Harry Potter and his friends resemble the Jewish ghetto children who would fabricate an imaginary world.

Dumbledore presents a beautiful Jewish explanation of the concept of free will when he tells Harry towards the end of the second book that the Sorting Hat may have wanted to put Harry in Slytherin House because of the traits that Harry had which were similar to Lord Voldermort but it put Harry into Gryffindor because Harry asked to be put there. In other words, as Dumbledore says, “It’s not your abilities that get you where you are, but the choices you make.”

Hildilid’s Night by Cheli Duran Ryan (illustrated by Arnold Lobel) (Macmillan Publishing, NY, 1971)

In this Caldecott Honor book, Hildilid hates the night. She tries everything to get rid of it. In the end, she misses the glory of the dawn light because she’s too tired from fighting the night.

Adam and Eve also found the night to be a fearful event. Here’s a rabbinical interpretation from the Havdalah service (the service marking the end of Shabbat) as the candle is raised (said before saying the blessing for the Havdalah candle):

“The Rabbis tell us: As night descended at the end of the world’s first Shabbat, Adam feared and wept. Then G-d showed him how to make fire, and by its light and warmth to dispel the darkness and its terrors. Kindling flame is a symbol of our first labor upon the earth.

Shabbat departs and the workday begins as we kindle fire. And we, who dread the night no more, thank

G-d for the flame by which we turn earth’s raw stuff into things of use and beauty.

The candle’s double wick reminds us that all qualities are paired. We have the power to create many different fires, some useful, others baneful. Let us be on guard never to let this gift of fire devour human life, sear cities and scorch fields, or foul the pure air of heaven, obscuring the very skies. Let the fire we kindle be holy; let it bring light and warmth to all humanity.” (from a service sheet for Havdalah edited from the Book of Songs and Blessings, published by the United Jewish Appeal; Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book, published by the Rabbinical Assembly of America and the United Synagogue of America; Gates of Prayer, published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis)

Use an aluminum pan to save the wax that dripped from the Havdalah candle throughout the year. On Erev Yom Kippur melt the wax and pour it over one of the short, stubby candles and into one of the glass candle holders that are made for them, the kind that fit into most candle holders. If you use the same blue and white Havdalah candle throughout the year, then you get a beautiful set of blue yartzhiet candles that will burn throughout Yom Kippur.

Havdalah needs to be made after three stars are visible in the night sky (not at 5:30 in the afternoon so you can go to a movie) or at the time on your calendar. If it is too late for the kids to be up (in the summertime when they are young) or if it is too late for you to be up (in the summertime when you are too old) then Havdalah can still be made anytime before Tuesday morning as long as you still keep Shabbat. We would often make it early Sunday morning when the kids were younger.

Havdalah is like Shabbat: We make it, not do it.

House That Jack Built-a traditional tale.
Here's the Jewish version from the Passover Seder, Had Gadya:
Once a father bought a little kid for his child for two zuzim.
Then along came a cat that ate the kid that a father bought for two zuzim.
Along came a dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that a father bought for two zuzim.
Along came a stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that the father bought for two zuzim.
Along came a fire that burnt the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that the father bought for two zuzim.
Along came water that quenched the fire that burnt the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that the father bought for two zuzim.
Along came an ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burnt the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that the father bought for two zuzim.
Along came a slaughterer who killed the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burnt the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that the father bought for two zuzim.
Along came the Angel of Death who killed the slaughterer who killed the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burnt the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that the father bought for two zuzim.
Along came the Holy One who killed the Angel of Death who killed the slaughterer who killed the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burnt the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that the father bought for two zuzim.
Had Gadya-all because of one little kid!

How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? by Julius Lester (Scholastic, 1989)

Jewish-African-American author of many children’s and adult books. He has written three volumes of his autobiography, the last two dealing with his conversion to Judaism. His children’s books include Brer Rabbit retellings, slave stories, and How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have?, a collection of African and Jewish stories.

Goodnight Moon to Iron John

Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (HarperFestival, 1991
A classic and a good time to say bedtime prayers. Check any siddur for bedtime prayers. They are usually found right after the Maariv prayers.

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss (Random House, 1960)

A Jewish ending (start on page 54) (from a website I can’t remember):

Sam!

Will you never see?

They are not KOSHER,

So let me be!

I will not eat green eggs and ham.

I will not eat them Sam-I-am.

But I will eat green eggs with a biscuit.

Or I will try them with a Trisket.

I will eat green eggs in a box,

If you serve them wearing socks.

And those green eggs are worth a try

Scrambled up inside some matzoh brie!

And in boat upon the river,

I will eat green eggs with bow and quiver.

So if you’re a Jewish Dr. Seuss fan,

But troubled by green eggs and ham,

Let your friends in on the whole scoop:

Green eggs taste best with matzoh ball soup!

Iron John

Many Jewish values are incorporated into this classic story. In Eric Kimmel’s version, Iron John, (Holiday House, 1996), the hero, Walter-in-the-Mud, is saved by Elsa the Garden Girl who is dirty but worthy. In the earlier versions the beautiful but unworthy princess gets the hero.

Ferdinand to Fredrick

Ferdinand, The Story of by Munro Leaf (Viking Press, 1988)

darchei shalom--ways of peace and Tsa’ar Ba’alei Chayyim prohibition of cruelty to animals, acts of compassion, and proper methods of treatment of non-human life.

The classic story of the peace-loving bull who won’t fight no matter how provoked he is. Also a good story to discus the prohibition against cruelty to animals. This book may be a classic but trying to explain bullfighting as a sport was totally incomprehensible to my 5 year-old son who had learned the Jewish value of not mistreating animals. What a mensch!

Folk Tales

Most of the Yiddishkeit that gets absorbed by children is done through the retelling of folk tales and stories. Here is a collection of the ones I have or have used. All of them are excellent resources and most are favorites of my children.

A Treasury of Jewish Folk Tales

edited by Nathan Ausubel

A Treasury of Yiddish Stories

edited by Irving Howe and Eliezer Greenberg

God’s Mailbox: More Stories About Stories in the Bible

by Marc Gellman

Hammer on the Rock: A Midrash Reader

edited by Nahum N. Glatzer

Jewish Folktales

selected and retold by Pinhas Sadeh

Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another

retold by Peninnah Schram

Journeys With Elijah: Eight Tales of the Prophets

by Barbara Diamond Goldin

Legends of the Bible

by Louis Ginzberg

Miriam’s Tambourine: Jewish Folktales From Around the World

selected and retold by Howard Schwartz and Lloyd Bloom

Saving the World Entire and 100 Other Beloved Parables From the Talmud

by Rabbi Bradley R. Bleefeld and Robert L. Shook

Stories From the Past; Seeds for the Future by

Tales of the Hasidim by Martin Buber

The Diamond Tree: Jewish Tales From Around the World

selected and retold by Howard Schwartz and Barbara Rush

The Land of Sheba: Tales of the Jews of Yemen

edited by S.D. Goitein

While Standing on One Foot: Puzzle Stories and Wisdom Tales from the Jewish Tradition

by Nina Jaffe and Steve Zeitlin

Yiddish Folktales edited by Beatrice Silverman Weinreich

Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni (Pantheon Books, 1970)

A fish wants to be a frog but discovers that it is best to be himself. Here’s a good story to tell:

The story is told of Zusha, the great Chassidic Master, who lay crying on his deathbed. His students asked him, "Rebbe, why are you so sad? After all the mitzvahs and good deeds you have done, you will surely get a great reward in heaven!"

"I'm afraid!" said Zusha. "Because when I get to heaven, I know God's not going to ask me 'Why weren't you more like Moses?' or 'Why weren't you more like King David?' But I'm afraid that God will ask, 'Zusha, why weren't you more like Zusha?' And then what will I say!?"

Fredrick by Leo Lionni

His book about a mouse who stores up mental pictures of colors and warmth to get through the winter while his friends are busy working reminded me of the Jewish tradition of storing up good deeds to be rewarded for them in the world-to-come. His friends chastise him for not working but when winter comes they turn to him to tell of the mental pictures he stored as a way of relieving the dullness of winter. Reading this book reminded me that all the effort used to help my children learn to love Shabbat will hopefully be rewarded in my world-to-come here on earth. Each time I guide them gently away from a non-Shabbat activity and towards observance then perhaps I will be rewarded with children and grandchildren who see Shabbat as a joy rather than a burden as my grandparents must have seen Shabbat.

Everybody Needs a Rock

Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor (Scribner, 1974)

A touching Jewish custom is to put a rock on top of the headstone when visiting a grave. It is a sign of respect and shows the survivors that someone has visited the grave. A story of how that custom started goes like this:

Many years ago, Jews in a certain community were being accused of terrible crimes. The Jews were, of course, innocent. One Shabbat, the non-Jewish rulers who were part of the accusations threatened to kill all the Jews unless someone confessed. One old man knew that the real criminal was a non-Jew but he did not want to say so for fear of being accused of another crime. Instead, he asked G-d’s forgiveness and while it was still Shabbat wrote the real criminal’s name on a piece of paper and set the paper where the authorities could see it. They did and investigated that same day, found it was true, and spared the Jews.

The old man was grateful but felt he had committed a grave sin for having written on Shabbat even though he did it to save a life as is permitted. He spoke to the rabbi and insisted that he receive the biblical punishment for violating Shabbat and be stoned to death. The rabbi refused, saying that the old man had performed a great mitzvah. Instead, the rabbi said that after the old man died all the Jews would honor him by placing a stone on top of his headstone.

I wish I could remember the source for this story. It came from a book I read several years ago and forgot to write it down. Another reason comes from the Zohar which talks about the stone helping to keep the soul on earth a little longer.

Here is a list of Jewish funeral requests (copyright by Rabbi Morris Allen of Congregation Beth Jacob, St. Paul, MN)

Jewish Funeral Requests--K’vod Ha-Met: Dignity in Death

I want to be buried in accordance with traditional Jewish burial laws. I want to maintain our tradition’s commitment to modesty and equality in life as in death. Therefore when the time comes, I want a Jewish funeral which includes the following:

1. I want to be buried in a simple wooden casket so that my body may fully return to the earth. The only metal in my casket will be hinges or nails.

2. If a vault is required by the cemetery, I want a grave liner with openings on the bottom.

3. I want to have ritual washing of my body by the chevra kadisha (holy burial society).

4. I want to be buried in tachrichim, shrouds, and wearing a tallit.

5. There should be no viewing of my body.

6. Please make donations to ___________________________in lieu of flowers.

7. I want my coffin lowered. My family and friends may observe this mitzvah and put dirt on my coffin before leaving the cemetery.

8. I would like my family to sit shiva for me.

9. I want my organs donated to help perpetuate life. Please consult my rabbi for further information.

Leon Wieseltier has written a deeply personal account of a year of saying Kaddish for his father. Interwoven in his book Kaddish (Knopf, 1998) is a thorough researching of the history of the kaddish. Some quotations that I found especially meaningful follow:

"The kaddish is a response to the evil inclination that we will not be swayed on account of our loss (as Jews, we use the kaddish to keep from using our loss to escape into behavior that destroys the world);”

"Socialbility poses a threat to spirituality. We pray in a minyan so that we do not escape from reality.

"The function of the Mourner’s Kaddish is the redemption of the dead.”

"The kaddish saves us from the task of improvising (or improving) the rituals of bereavement.”

"The pains of the soul are felt more intensely than the pains of the body.”

"The urgent question is whether the soul survives the life of the body (not whether it survives the death of the body).”

“Children who giggle and yawn in shul are showing early signs of critical intelligence.”

"The world is sustained in existence by the utterance of ‘May G-d’s great Name be blessed.’ -- Talmud

"Phylacteries do not bind, They gird.”

"We are few and owing to the love with which G-d loves us, each one of us is, for G-d, an entire legion. G-d does not have many replacements for us. G-d’s greatness is lessened when one of us is gone. The kaddish prays for the praising of G-d so that G-d may be Magnified and Sanctified so that G-d’s Name will be magnified in its power so that there will be no loss of strength and sanctified so that we need not fear for ourselves.”

"Shul is sometimes Judaism’s last bastion against religion.”

"It is the dead who are responsible for the kaddish for the dead.”

"The kaddish is not a prayer for the dead. It is an achievement of the dead."