Shabbat is different from all of the other days of the week. The (first five books of the Bible) teaches that “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” [Genesis 2:3]. Nothing else from the Creation story is described as , a Hebrew word meaning holy, sanctified or separate. Abraham Joshua Heschel, an important theologian of the 20th century, describes Shabbat as a “palace in time.” Heschel felt that on Shabbat, one should not only rest, but try to enjoy every second, minute and hour of time. For many , Shabbat is a day for being with friends and family. It’s a time for pausing from everyday work and taking part in relaxing activities such as reading, singing, meditating and taking walks.

All Shabbat, All the Time What’s the Blog Deal? Allow children to prepare for Shabbat any The PJ Library Blog has tremendous time by placing ritual objects into your resources for educators and families. dramatic play area. In addition to (http://pjlibrary.org/pj-blog/) The videos candlesticks and cups, provide a lend an opportunity to laugh, reflect, and white tablecloth and fancy dishes. The share with families and teachers. Reactions children may want to use sponges and to The Shabbat Puppy video included plans buckets to clean up beforehand. for home/school projects using old family photos, and lots of comments from parents Preparing for Shabbat who watched the song with their children Welcoming Shabbat, or Kabbalat Shabbat, to try to guess the words. has a particular order or seder. (This is the same word we use for the meal or If You Bake It, They Will Come Seder.) You might create Shabbat Have you ever tried to bake a ? sequencing cards for your manipulatives Check out Lisa’s attempt inspired by Beni’s area, that take you through the Shabbat Family Treasury, plus lots of preparations, giving , and making challah info on the PJ Library each of the or blessings leading up blog site. It’s always an to the Shabbat meal. Use this guide for adventure to try a new recipe, more ideas http://pjfor.me/shabbat-guide and children of all ages will and check out this video of the Shabbat love this one! seder: http://pjfor.me/making-challah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx34Zk bHHyc

Rosh Hashanah and Tashlich

The Jewish people are instructed in the Torah that “in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion, commemorated with loud blasts” (Leviticus 23:24). This is the holiday known as , the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah is called many names - Day of Remembrance, Day for Sounding the , and sometimes called the Birthday of the World. On Rosh Hashanah Jews are commanded to hear 100 blasts of the shofar (a ceremonial horn, usually from a ram). While there are many traditions associated with Rosh Hashanah, one of the most significant is the ceremony of Tashlich, which means to cast or throw. Bread crumbs are thrown in moving water from a natural source to symbolically represent casting away sins of the past year, so that we can start the New Year with a clean slate.

Apples and Honey Red Light, Green Light Try out multiple types of apples and honey as Help children learn the different sounds of a fun, family friendly taste test. Have the shofar, tekiyah, shevarim, and teruah, by participants vote on the winners, and send playing this game. Enlist children’s help to call home a lucky winner with a gift basket full of out the names of each sound. With each the top choices. blast, children move the appropriate number of steps. Tekiyah means one step, shevarim is Bathtub Tashlich three, and teruah is nine quick little steps. Leading up to Rosh Hashanah, use bath crayons to write or draw things you are sorry Challah Cover about in the tub or a classroom water table, Using apples and and then wash them away. This is a great pomegranates as lesson in starting fresh with an opportunity to stamps and red cleanse our souls. To learn more about this grape juice and meaningful tradition: Pjfor.me/about-tashlich pomegranate juice for paints, create a special class challah cover. Challah in the Round Wash and enjoy your tools as your snack and once the challah cover dries, it can be used Challah is delicious no matter what the shape, for holidays and Shabbat all year long. At the but there is something about the traditional end of the year, hold an auction to raise round Rosh Hashanah challah, dipped in money for a local charity, and the family with honey, seems extra sweet and special. Check the highest bid gets to take it home. out this great tutorial for a how-to. Pjfor.me/round-challah-how-to

Sukkot

Having both agricultural and historical significance, is a jubilant seven-day festival that comes on the heels of Rosh Hashanah and Yom . The Torah literally tells us to “rejoice in your holiday” (Deuteronomy 16:14). Many Jewish families build a , a hut reminiscent of the temporary booths in which the Hebrews lived as they wandered forty years through the desert after from Egypt. One of the rules about the placement and structure of a sukkah instructs that its roof covering (in Hebrew - s’chakh) provides shade from the sun, yet allows the light of the stars to shine through at night. There is a (commandment) to dwell in the sukkah, which is fulfilled by eating one’s meals inside. Hearty enthusiasts even sleep in the sukkah, though it is not required to suffer through very bad weather. Sukkot is one of the three pilgrimage holidays, for which many Jews traveled to the site of the Holy Temple in . It is also a celebration of the fall harvest - one of the reasons many people choose to decorate their sukkah with fruit. The Hebrew calendar date is the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. This date always coincides with the evening of the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, otherwise known as the Harvest Moon.

It’s All about the Décor More New Tricks for Old Decorating the sukkah is all part of the fun of Etrogs are great for science and cooking the holiday. Turn the holiday into a celebration experiments, such as measuring and weighing. of families by creating family photo mobiles. Compare and contrast with other citrus fruits Photos can be of past or present family for language development. For lots of fun, members. Add in the (mysterious click here. guests) and draw pictures of Bible characters. The Great Etrog (or What are the sounds of Sukkot? Anything) Cook-off Ask your children to imagine what sounds they The staff of the Harold hear when they are outside in a sukkah, such as Grinspoon Foundation sirens, tweeting birds or the rustling of trees. sponsored an apple cake What sounds do they hear when they are inside bake-off before Rosh Hashanah. Challenge your your home? Make recordings or buy families to come up with recipes that use etrogs inexpensive sound effects CDs to play for fun. – or ask families to create confections that look like in honor of . Come What Do You Do With an Old Etrog? up with other creative and healthy food The schools at Adath in Philadelphia have challenges as the year progresses, and everyone collected etrogs to create Havdallah spice will be well-fed and happy! boxes. For complete instructions, check out Sukkot Pinterest board

Hanukkah

The story of is the tale of the victory of the Jewish people led by the high priest and his sons (the ), over the Syrian-Greek army in 167 BCE. The triumphant Maccabees then had to clean and restore the defiled Holy Temple. The final step in rededicating the Temple (the Hebrew word hanukkah means dedication) was relighting the Ner , the Eternal Lamp, for which pure olive oil was required. The one cruse of pure oil discovered lasted a miraculous eight days, so the rabbis of ancient times declared Hanukkah “days for praise and thanksgiving” (, Tractate Shabbat 21). Part of the celebration famously includes foods cooked in oil, such as potato or sufganiyot (jelly donuts.)

The Sounds of Hanukkah Sizzle! Flop! Splash! Teachers at a Philadelphia workshop noted the use of onomatopoeia in the book The Runway Latkes. This got everyone thinking of all of the sounds of Hanukkah, such as the singing of brachot (blessings) and songs, as they fall, , and laughter at parties. Soundscape challenge: record a collection of these sounds (and more) with your students. Play it back, and see how many sounds you can identify.

Latke Bowling Other teachers reading The Runaway Latkes got carried away with…latkes! “What if we stack

pretend latkes and knock them down with matzoh balls?” The ideas are infinite!

The Yellow Comforter Tzedakah Project Silicon Valley’s Hanukkah Tzedakah Project was off the charts successful. The project was based on the book How Dalia Put a Big Yellow Comforter Inside a Tiny Blue Box: And Other Wonders of Tzedakah.

How Many Books Can You Read? "For Hanukkah we read ALL of the PJ Library Hanukkah books," said Rachael Schwartz, ECE Director of the Beth Israel Preschool in Owings Mills MD. The school truly celebrates Hanukkah as a Festival of Light. Classes made displays that involve electric lights, including a Lego chanukiyah (Hanukkah menorah). Families gathered one night of Hanukkah to see how the school had been transformed. Lighted displays lined the darkened hallways. Children were greeted with light stick bracelets, and families were encouraged to bring a flashlight to add to the light show.

Purim

The festive holiday of celebrates the Jews’ eleventh-hour escape from an ancient Persian decree to destroy them. According to the Megillat Ester, aka the or the biblical Book of Esther, King Ahasuerus’s evil advisor Haman (“Boo!”*) convinces the king to allow the annihilation of the Jewish people. Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai find the courage to speak out about their Jewish identity and save the day. (*It is customary to boo or hiss at the mention of Haman’s name.)

The four mitzvot (plural of mitzvah, commandment) associated with Purim are all related to taking care of one another. The first is listening to the Megillah, a story meant to inspire bravery and determination. The second mitzvah is —sending gifts. Gifts of food to friends and colleagues ensure that everyone has the means to be happy, further foiling Haman’s (“Boo!”) plans. Third is the mitzvah of matanot la’evyonim—gifts to the poor. The gifts can be money or food, so the needy have cause to celebrate, too. The fourth mitzvah is a seudah, a Purim feast, helping to truly enact the phrase “eat, drink, and be merry!”

Pinch or fold? What’s hidden in each of us? There is an Costumes and masks are a part of Purim ongoing debate because God is not mentioned and therefore about whether to “hidden” in the Purim story. The name pinch or fold the Esther, the heroine of the story, also means dough circles to hidden. Make your own papier-mâché masks form the triangle with your students. Exploring with masks can cakes. Stefani lead toward discussions about dressing up in Pollack, PJ Library costumes and can empower students to “try mom and cupcake on” different appearances and express a blogger (www.cupcakeproject.com) swears by hidden part of their true selves. the folding method. Where do you stand on this issue? Photo courtesy of J. Pollack Photography Now is your chance (www.jpollackphoto.com). Purim (pu-reem) is the Hebrew word for lots or lottery. Haman (“Boo!”) chose a date at Hamentaschen math ransom for his evil plan. But a lottery can be Make salt-dough hamentaschen of different fun! Use a deck of cards or raffle tickets to colors and sizes with your students for sorting assign jobs for the week, choose snack, or and patterning. You might also supply your cast parts in your Purim spiel (play). classroom with a container of hamentaschen fillings to sort, such as dried apricots, cherries, More info and related books and prunes. If you are really daring, add in poppy Check out the PJ Library Purim page. seeds and chocolate chips.

Passover

Passover is arguably the most widely celebrated of all . Passover recalls the time of the Hebrew slaves’ exodus from Egypt. It is simultaneously the celebration of freedom from slavery and freedom to become a people with a shared purpose. According to tradition, everyone should see themselves as someone who personally went out of Egypt. The , the festive meal, is structured like a story and filled with sensory experiences to make history come alive.

Passover has several names: Pesach, which means to pass over, z’man cheiruteinu, the time of our freedom, chag hamatzot, the holiday of matzah, and chag he’aviv, the holiday of spring. The name chag he’aviv describes the time of year in which Passover occurs, and hints at some of the underlying themes of the holiday. Like spring, Passover marks a time of renewal and new beginnings.

Passover is customarily a time for spring cleaning. The Torah instructs "For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses" (Exodus 12:19). Many families spend the days before Passover removing from their homes. Chametz, a Hebrew word derived from the verb “to sour or ferment”, refers to any food made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, or their derivatives, which has come in contact with moisture and has been allowed to leaven or rise. Removing chametz is both the physical act of sweeping away bread crumbs, as well as a spiritual practice of getting rid of over inflated egos and pride.

Matzah vs. chametz Sensory tables Help children learn about chametz. Bake Experiment with the textures and smells of challah on one day and matzah on the next; Passover. Feel the matzah, smell (mild) serve the challah and matzah together at and herbs, taste salt water, etc.

snack time. Ask the children to compare Put it in order and contrast the taste, texture, Seder means order, and the steps of the appearance and process by festive meal are always the same. You can which the two foods make cards that signify the Kiddush cup, were made. washing hands, etc., and challenge children Hide-and-seek chametz to guess the order. Try creating story cards Searching for chametz with to tell and sequence the Passover story.

a candle and feather the night before Signs of spring Passover is a fun holiday tradition. Why Take a nature walk and look for new wait? Hide crackers (real or paper) around growth, budding trees, and signs that the room. Arm the children with cleaning animals are nesting. supplies and send them on a search and scrub mission.