Can you find all of the Sukkot Hebrew Vocabulary words?

Celebrate Simchat Torah!

Through the contemplative month of Elul, to the closing of the gates in the N'ilah service at the end of Yom Kippur, to the very last shofar call…
Check out these resources to enrich and deepen your High Holiday experience:

If you have more to share, please email me at shira@shirlala.com. I'd love to add it to this page.

Preparing Your Heart for the High Holidays
Kerry M. Olitzky, Rachel T. Sabath, David J. Wolpe; Jewish Publication Society: July 1996.
This spiritual guided journal will help you prepare your heart and soul for the Jewish New Year. Beginning with the first day of Elul and concluding with Yom Kippur, the authors guide you through a process of introspection and "heshbon ha-nefesh," taking moral inventory. The authors suggest ways for the reader to overcome some of the familiar obstacles to faith. This is followed by forty steps to repentance, each consisting of a page of reflections facing a blank page where the reader can set down his or her own responses. The authors' commentaries are drawn from Psalm 27, the traditinal psalm for this period, as well as the other writings on repentance. Each blank page begins with a "kavvanah," a verse to trigger thoughtful responses in the reader.

Jewels of Elul
Conceived and produced by Craign Taubman and CraignCo
In this very spot, on each of the 29 days of Elul, we will be posting a 'Jewel' of an inspiration from an amazing group of individuals. From Senators Obama and McCain to Olympic Medalist Elka Graham and Dreamworks' Jeffrey Katzenberg…29 dreamers will share 29 dreams with you.

Elul, a Month of Introspection and Intimacy
From the JCC Association's Early Childhood Curriculum Project:  "This New Month"
A loving article introducing the month which leads up to Rosh Hashanah.

Deepening the High Holiday Experience
An interview with Rabbi Karyn Kedar in Jewish Woman Magazine Fall issue 2005
One of Jewish Woman's 10 Women to Watch in 2004, Rabbi Kedar is widely recognized as an inspiring leader who guides people in their spiritual and personal growth.  In this interview she offers insights into the spiritual preparation and practice of the High Holidays.

The Stars Inside

Once upon a time when the earth was covered with forest there was a corner of the world thick with trees of all shapes and sizes.  Like a family of many generations some of these trees were thousands of years old.  They stretched up high to the heavens and spread out from mountain to mountain.

There were also young trees, budding and growing each day.  One such tree was a very sweet and little (at the beginning of this story) apple tree.
She was born one morning surrounded by adoring family who smiled upon her and waved their branches over her head.  "Welcome to the world!" they sang as the wind whistled through their leaves.

The little apple tree grew and grew every day.  She learned many stories and secrets of the forest and sang with her grandmothers and grandfathers every
night when the sky become a dark dark dark blue.  One night when she had just grown tall enough to see past the branches of her Aunt Fern and all the way up to the branches of her Uncle Oak, she saw the most amazing thing.  The night sky!  Full of stars, planets, comets, and the moon, it seemed that there were stars dangling off of Uncle's branches!  And wait a minute.  There were stars dangling off of all of those branches up there!  !  !
Stars!  Beautiful shining sparkling dazzling bright stars!  Oh they were so special and right away the little apple tree knew that she just had to have stars dangling off of her branches too.
She looked up, took a deep breath, and addressed her Creator.

"God?"  she asked gently.  "I would like to have stars dangling off of my branches."  Nothing.  She didn't hear a peep from God.  "Um, God?"  she asked again with a hopeful smile.  "I see that the bigger and taller trees have beautiful stars hanging off their branches and I want some just like that!"

And then she heard God's laughter.  Have you ever heard God's laughter?  What do you think it sounds like?  "Little apple tree," said God, "Just be patient, you'll see your stars one day."

"Hmmmmph" thought the little apple tree, "I want them now." But that was that. She didn't hear another peep from the forest that night.

Time moved forward and the days grew shorter and colder and colder and COLDER until the ground was covered with white snow.  Guess what season the forest was celebrating?  That's right,
it was winter and the trees shuddered together to stay warm during the day.  At night when the sky turned dark dark dark blue, the little apple tree would look up to her tall grandparents
and what did she see?  She saw those beautiful stars dangling off of their branches. They shone brightly and warmly against the dark winter night.

"Pleeease God!  I really really want to have stars like that hanging off of my branches.  Can I please have them?  Pretty please?" And God laughed that kind of a
special God laugh and said, "Little apple tree.  Be patient, you'll see your stars one day."

Not too long after, colorful flowers started popping up through the snow.  The forest began to yawn and stretch, waking up from the long winter's rest.  Many trees playfully sprouted little green leaves while others shook off their heavy winter coats and spread their branches wide.  Red and pink and blue
and purple and orange flowers appeared everywhere.  The air was thick with a wonderful scent.  Can you guess which season the forest was celebrating?  That's right, it was springtime!  People walked through the grounds and ooooohd and aaaaaahd over the magnificent sights, sounds, and smells.  But they always stopped in the same place, right next to the little apple tree.  She had the sweetest smelling flowers in the whole forest!  Children and grownups alike would rest under her branches and breath in the heavenly scent of apple blossoms.

"Thank you," they always said to the little apple tree.

This made her very happy and she loved having so many new friends.  But at night, when the sun went down and the dark dark dark blue sky appeared over her head she saw nothing but the stars dangling off her family's branches.  She sighed with sadness and asked each night "God?  Why can't I have stars on my branches?  Please?  Please?  Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassse? Please give me stars on my branches!"  And you know what happened.  God laughed.  Can your remind me what God's laughter sounds like?  "Be patient little apple tree.  You'll see your very own stars some day."

Spring passed as seasons do and the days grew longer and warmer.  The flowers blossomed and blossomed until finally the sun shone so brightly they could barely keep their heads up.
During the day it was hot hot HOT! Can you guess which season the forest was celebrating?  That's right it was summertime!  The thirsty trees drank up every drop of rain and each one grew bigger and stronger in the sunshine.  People passed through the forest and oooooohd and aaaaaaaaaahd at the wonderful sights, sounds, and smells.  But they always stopped in the same place, right next to the little apple tree. Her branches were so thick with flowers and leaves that she provided the most shade in the whole forest!

"Thank you," they always said to the little apple tree.  What a relief it was to find the shade!  This made the little apple tree very happy indeed.  But every night when she looked up at the dark dark dark blue sky, guess what she saw? That's right, she saw those stars dangling off branches and she sang out "Dear God!
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaas sse!!  Can I have some stars on my branches?!  I will take very good care of them I just want stars so much please can I have some stars pretty pretty pretty pleeease?"  And …   God….  Laughed.  Just laughed.  "Be patient little apple tree," said God's smile.  "You will see your stars soon."

The long summer days seemed like they would stretch on forever when finally new colors arrived in the forest:  dark greens, oranges, reds, and browns.  When people passed through, they heard the lively crunch of dried leaves beneath their feet.   Can you guess which season the forest was celebrating?  That's right, it was fall!  And the little apple tree began to grow and grow in a whole new way.  She was growing apples!  Big beautiful red apples that were heavy with juice and sweetness.  People oooooooohd and aaaaaaaaahd at the delicious smells, sights and sounds of the forest.   But they always stopped in the same place, right next to the little apple tree.  They reached up and plucked a big apple from her branches and the juice rolled down their chins with each bite.  "Thank you!" theyalways said to the little apple tree.

This made the little apple tree very happy and proud of her apples.  But every night when she looked up into the dark dark dark blue sky and she saw those stars, she just couldn't help it!  "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeee-"   she started to cry one night when suddenly a strong wind blew through the forest.   It blew so hard that all of the trees swayed and shook with laughter!  (Trees are ticklish too you know.)  The wind blew and blew until one of the apples just dropped right off of the little apple tree and fell to the ground.  It
cracked right down the middle.  And do you know what she saw when she looked down at that apple?

There was a star right in the middle of her apple!

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "Look at that!  I had stars inside me all along!"  The forest trees smiled down at her.  She knew that every one of them had stars inside them too.
And God…. Winked.

Adapted by Shira Kline

Source unknown

Put the Fire Out!

Once there was a man who sold buttons. He went from town to town talking to people and selling buttons. This man's name was Moishe, and he loved to travel. He liked selling his buttons, but most of all he loved learning things like how different people said hello in other places, what they ate for breakfast in the next town over, or how they decided big, important things - like where to build a school or how to help each other out in times of trouble.

One day, he reached a town called Plotchk late at night and decided to stay over at an inn. He awoke, surprised, in the middle of the night, to the sound of lound drums banging. Even stranger, he heard people get up from their beds to leave the inn. "How strange," he thought to himself, and went back to sleep.

The next morning, he asked the innkeeper what had happened. The innkeeper replied, "In our town we have a system: whenever there is a fire we all beat the drum so everyone knows there's a fire."

This amazed Moishe. "What an amazing way to communicate!" he exclaimed, "I will teach it to my people back in our town."

And he did. From that time on, every time there was a fire, Moishe went out and beat the drum. Everyone woke up when they heard the drums, left their homes, and came to the center of town. But still, buildings kept burning down.

One day, a visitor arrived from Plotchk, that same town where Moishe had first heard the drum. Moishe was very excited to tell the visitor all he had learned about drums and announcing fires.

Sure enough, there was a fire that night. Sure enough, Moishe beat his drum and everyone came out to the center of town. And sure enough, the building that was on fire burned right to the ground.

"What is this strange custom you taught our Moishe?" they all asked the visitor. "He beats the drums to announce a fire, but still our buildings burn down. What's the point of beating the drum if the buildings still burn down?"

"No, you silly people!" cried the visitor, "You're missing the most important thing. In Plotchk, when we hear the drum, we all gather together, find the fire, and PUT THE FIRE OUT. Hearing the drum is only the first part - it tells you there's something burning. The second part is actually going and putting the fire out."

******************************************************

For us on Rosh Hashanah, the shofar is like Moishe's fire. When we hear the shofar, that's the first part. The second part, the part that helps us to make a better world, is when we use our own two hands to make things better.

The shofar helps us to notice all the things that need fixing in the world - and then it's up to us to go out and DO something!

Shana Tova U'metukah - a happy and sweet year.

Adapted by Chana Rothman

Source Unknown

Chana Rothman is a musician, educator,
songwriter, and activist based
in Brooklyn.
www.chanarothman.com
www.myspace.com/chanarothman

The Shepherd and His
Flute

There is a story told of a young shepherd who on Rosh Hashana came to his synagogue to pray. But he could not pray.  For he had not learned to read the words that skipped across the pages of his books and prayers.  He sat quietly, listening to words that "climbed in wisps, soaring upwards into the white light to meet the heavens."  The more he listened, the more he wanted to pray.  But all he could do was sit silently and listen.

Then he remembered that in his pocket was the little flute he carried, with which he led his flocks.  He drew the flute from his pocket, lifted it to his lips, and began to play the simple melody he used to call his sheep.

Of course a shepherd's flute has to be very loud, and indeed it was.  The sound of his melody filled the synagogue with its high, piercing notes.  The people around him looked up in surprise!  What was this?  Who was this young boy, not dressed well, not holding a prayer book, playing his ugly flute in the middle of services on holy Rosh Hashanah?!

Immediately a murmer went through the congregation as all heads turned to stare at the young boy, each face with a look of shock and anger.  But the young shepherd did not even notice!  His eyes were closed as he played his flute, his heart filled with the feelings of his prayer.

"Rabbi, Rabbi!"  one woman said.  "Can't you make this young boy stop!  He does not respect the prayers!  He is interrupting our service and should leave at once!"

The other angry people murmered in agreement at the woman's words.  All eyes turned to the Rabbi for his response.  But the Rabbi too had his eyes closed! What was he doing?

Slowly, the Rabbi opened his eyes and looked out upon the congregation with great love and wisdom.  He said, "Do not be angry my friends.  This young boy plays his flute as we sing our prayers.  It is his prayer, his way of speaking to God on Rosh Hashanah. Listen again, my friends, and maybe you will hear a touch of what he hears."

And so the people closed their eyes, and their anger quickly melted away.  They heard the shepherd play a sweet soft melody for God.  As the music filled the room, the people fell quiet before the melody, listening to the prayer of the shepherd and his flute.

Adapted by Shira Kline

Source unknown

©ShirLaLa 2002

Reb Zusya

Once there was a rabbi named Zusya who loved God with all his heart and soul, and who treated all God's creatures with respect and kindness. Rabbi Zusya studied Torah, kept Shabbat, visited the sick, and praised God for all the goodness in the world. Though he was not a rich man, Zusya gave generously to those in need. Students came from far and near, hoping to learn from this gentle and wise rabbi. Zusya often told his students, "Listen to the still, small voice inside you. Your neshamah will tell you how you must live and what you must do."

Each day Rabbi Zusya"s students came to the House of Study, called the Bet Midrash, eager to learn what they could from him. One day, Zusya did not appear at the usual hour. His students waited all morning and through the afternoon. But Zusya did not come. By evening his students realized that something terrible must have happened. So they all rushed to Zusya's house. The students knocked on the door. No one answered. They knocked more loudly and peered through the frost-covered windows. Finally, they heard a weak voice say, "Shalom aleichem, peace be with you. Come in." The students entered Rabbi Zusya's house. In the far corner of the room they saw the old rabbi lying huddled in bed, too ill to get up and greet them.

"Rabbi Zusya!" his students cried. "What has happened? How can we help you?"

"There is nothing you can do," answered Zusya.  "I'm dying and I am very frightened."

"Why are you afraid?" the youngest student asked. "Didn't you teach us that all living things die?"

"Of course, every living thing must die some day," said the Rabbi. The young student tried to comfort Rabbi Zusya saying, "Then why are you afraid? You have led such a good life. You have believed in God with a faith as strong as Abraham's. and you have followed the
commandments as carefully as Moses."

"Thank you. But this is not why I am afraid," explained the rabbi. "For if God should ask me why I did not act like Abraham, I can say that I was not Abraham. And if God asks me why I did not act like Rebecca or Moses, I can also say that I was not Moses." Then the rabbi said, "But if God should ask me to account for the times when I did not act like Zusya, what shall I say then?"

The students were silent, for they understood Zusya's final lesson. To do your best is to be yourself, to hear and follow the still, small  voice of your own neshamah.

From Partners with God by Gila Gevirtz

Behrman House

Pebbles From the Heart

Reuben Kaplan was a talker. At breakfast he told the stories of his dreams from the night before always adding a thick layer of interpretation. On the way to school he told the same stories to his neighbor Sam but this time they seemed a little more detailed, a little bigger. While he hung up his coat and put his lunchbox away, Reuben told the stories to his friend Emily. Only this time, he raised his voice during different parts and when Emily asked him if the stories were true, Reuben just raised his eyebrows and gave her that look.

In their spelling lesson that day Reuben noticed that his friend Jake peered into his backpack every few minutes. Reuben figured that Jake must be hiding something pretty special so he told his friend David that Jake was hiding a pet snake! But really Jake was just looking for his homework. At lunch Reuben saw that his friend Franny didn't finish her sandwich. Reuben figured it must because she's on a diet so he told his friend Annie that Franny was worried about being too fat to fit in the doorway! But really Franny just didn't like peanut butter and banana sandwiches. On the way home from school Reuben saw his neighbor Mr. Shlimkovitz studying a book very hard and shaking his head. Reuben figured that Mr. Shlimkovitz was having a tough time understanding something so he told his parents that Mr. Shlimkovitz was still learning how to read! But really Mr. Shlimkovitz was studying Torah and disagreed with one of the commentaries.

Every day Reuben talked so much that his parents started to roll their eyes and his friends started to turn away whenever Reuben came around. His parents decided to visit Rabbi Leah for a little help. When Reuben entered Rabbi Leah's office and saw all of those books he figured that she must know everything so he started to tell her the stories of his dreams from the night before but this time somehow he included a snake and a million peanut butter and banana sandwiches and old Mr. Shlimkovitz who still didn't know how to read. "Enough!" shouted Rabbi Leah. "Go outside and gather a big handful of pebbles." So he did. He went outside and returned, his hands overflowing with pebbles. Rabbi Leah looked at Reuben very seriously. She selected one pebble from his hands and said "Now Reuben I want you to go back outside and place this pebble back exactly where you found it." Reuben was surprised! He laughed and said, "Rabbi Leah how am I supposed to remember where a little pebble like that goes?" And Rabbi Leah said, "This pebble is too small and unimportant for you to take much notice of it or where it came from." And then suddenly she flung the pebble at the window. Crashing loudly, it shattered the window! Rabbi Leah looked back at Reuben and said "That pebble is just like a word. It was too small for you to take notice but it was powerful enough to break the heart and trust of your friends. After a while you may not remember where your stories come from, but you can be sure that they still hurt people nonetheless." Rabbi Leah pointed to the rest of the pebbles in Reuben's hands. "What will you do with the rest of these pebbles?" she asked. Reuben decided to carry one or two of those pebbles in his pocket to remind him of his Rabbi's shattered window and of the fact that each word counts. Every word that comes from our mouths is very powerful.

Adapted by Shira Kline

Origins unknown

©ShirLaLa 2007

There are so many wonderful things you and your children can do to prepare for the High Holidays. All of these activities help to better understand the themes, learn Hebrew vocabulary, and become more familiar with the symbols. Please take this opportunity to send in more activities as well as photographs of your children in action so that we can add to the list for parents and teachers everywhere. Send your ideas to shira@shirlala.com

Do the Shofar Dance!

Tekiah - one medium length blast
Shevarim- three short blasts
Teruah- nine very short staccato blasts
Tekiah G'dolah - one single blast that is held for long as you can possibly hold it!

For each shofar sound, make up a dance movement. The leader (children can take turns being the leader and practice pronouncing the different shofar calls) calls out the name and the group dances the associated movements. For example, for Tekiah - how about one high jump, for Shevarim - turn around in a circle 3 times, and for Teruah - do the twist until the end of the Shevarim sounds. The leader can either call out the names ("Tekiah!") or make the sounds of the blasts.

Shofar Red Light Green Light

The participants line up on one side of the room. The leader calls out the different shofar calls ("Tekiah!") For each shofar call, the children take a certain number of small steps forward. For Tekiah - 1 step. For Shevarim - 3 steps. For Teruah - 9 baby steps forward. For Tekiah G'dolah - Run for it! First one to the leader wins.

Hebrew Lessons

Teach the words tapuach and d'vash using a picture of an apple and a picture of honey. After initially going over the two words in Hebrew, hold the picture of the an apple at eye level and have them say the word "tapuach" in a medium voice. Then hold the picture high above their heads and let them shout out "TAPUACH!" Follow this up by holding the picture down low by their toes and get a whisper "tapuach." Play with different volumes. Use one picture at a time or interchange two or three pictures for an extra challenge.

Other Hebrew vocab words for the High Holidays: challah, shofar, shanah tovah (on a greeting card), sefer chaiim

Roll Play

A. Different ways to say "I'm sorry"
B. Different situations in which we need to say "I'm sorry"

Duck Duck Goose

Play this fun game using High Holiday vocabulary words, like "tapuach, tapuach, tapuach, tapuach….dvash!" or "challah, challah, challah,…. shofar!"

Apple Relay Race

Have a relay race with children running back and forth with apples under their chins

Apple Taste Test

Bring in a number of different color/varieties of apples and have the participants choose their favorite. Make a chart to show which apples everyone chose.

Apple Prints

Slice apples down the middle (vertically), let them dry a little bit, dip the cut side into paint, and use them like a stamp all over some construction paper. This works particularly well on the cover of a Shana Tova (Happy New Year) card.

I Got The Whole World In My Hands

Play catch with a blow up globe beach ball. And play very very carefully, don't let it drop!! Take care of our world.

Happy Birthday!

Have a birthday part for the world. Using children's birthday supplies, show the similarities of the symbols. Something sweet (like apples dipped in honey), a round cake (like the round challah we use on Rosh Hashana), noise makers (like the shofar), decorations and birthday cards (like the Shanah Tovah cards we send).

Telephone

Play the classic game of telephone using Hebrew phrases from our vocabulary lists and from the prayers.

Avinu Malkeinu
Shanah Tovah
Shana M'tukah
Tapuchim U'Dvash
Al Chayt
G'mar Chatimah Tovah

Acrostic Poem

Write an acrostic poem in the same way that some of our Sages wrote our prayers.
Use the letters T-S-H-U-V-A-H

Chayt/T'shuvah

Go around in a circle and list last year's chayt and this year's t'shuvah. Each participant can say one chayt from last year (or last week) and then on the second round say one act of t'shuvah for the coming year (or week). This is a good exercise if you see children weekly during the month of Elul or daily in the time in between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

T'shuvah Quiz

Visit www.Babaganewz.com for a wealth of online activities. And while you're at it, subscribe to the magazine. You won't regret it!

http://www.babaganewz.com/archive/article.cfm?ID=269&STEP=resultsByDat e&requestXY=Tishrei%205764

Chayt Bulls-Eye

Create a giant colorful target and a small ball made out of rolled up paper and covered with tape. Have participants practice throwing, trying to hit the target - showing how hard it is to hit the mark every time.

Tashlich

Do tashlich with your children. If you have a source of natural water nearby all the better. If not, use a baby pool! Or create a mural of the ocean and then use it later to tell the story of Jonah and the Whale.

Fall Leaves

Glue them all over anything!

Tzedakah Project

Make Shanah Tovah cards for the local Home for the Elderly and the Hospital.

Paper Bag Dramatics

Supply groups of participants with a paper bag holding a random assortment of items (rubber band, hair brush, shoe, etc.) and challenge them to come up with a skit about Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Present the skits to each other. Extra challenge - they have to use some or all of their new vocabulary words.

Hidden Mysteries

Hide a shofar, a prayer book, an apple, a honey jar, a shanah tovah card, etc. behind a curtain or inside a box and see if participants can reach through and identify the item just by feel.

Sit in a circle and send one participant out of the room. One person hides one of these items behind her back. The participant re-enters the room and tries to guess who's hiding the shofar!

Lay several items in a line on the floor in front of the children. Ask them to take a close look and then to close their eyes. Remove one or more objects. When they open their eyes, let them guess what's missing. Try to use the Hebrew name of the items as much as possible.

Have more ideas?  send them in to shira@shirlala.com and I'll post them right here!