Singing Torah

There's a lot of questions lately within the field of Jewish education. What is our ultimate goal? Do we care about details and facts, or are we concerned about belonging and connection? I think that relational connections are crucial and seeking them out is a very important goal of Jewish education.

And yet it totally warms my heart when my kids can demonstrate something that they have learned in Religious School....something concrete, specific, and delivered with pride and enthusiasm....



I do believe that our children learn to value what we value.
A little knowledge goes a long way....

We're Tweeting #Torah to the Top all day Friday in preparation for standing at Sinai. Join us!

Haircut Mitzvah

My daughter has beautiful hair. She is pure adorableness.

Each year at the synagogue, we offer our students the opportunity to cut their hair for Locks of Love, an organization that provides wigs for children with long-term medical hair loss.

I have participated a few times (I think it was 3 or 4 times) but not in Yael's memory.
We have talked about her possible participation for quite some time.
Can a five-year-old understand what it means to donate her hair?
I don't really know.
But she was totally into the idea.
So I went with it.
People asked me if she really understood what she was doing.
I don't know.
But does it really matter? She did it.
Na'aseh v'nishma.
We will do and (perhaps) then we will understand.

This week, we stand at Sinai.
Sometimes it takes something as simple as snipping a ponytail to help us remember what it all really means.

Making Bourekas

I somehow got it in my mind that I wanted to make Bourekas for Shavuot. One of my favorite Israeli treats, a boureka is a flaky pastry stuffed with...cheese, potatoes, tuna...etc. I found a recipe online and it went something like this:

You need:
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces (1 3/4 cups or 225 grams) cups shredded mozzarella cheese
salt, pepper, your favorite seasonings
(chopped leeks - which I added into half the bourekas, because I had one leek from my vegetable delivery)
1  package frozen puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mix the egg, cheese and spices (and leeks)

3. Divide puff pastry into 5 inch squares. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling in each square. Dampen the edges of the squares with water, and fold in half diagonally to form triangular pastries. Pinch the edges together to seal the filling inside.*

*Working with the puff pastry was super easy. I defrosted it overnight, and then when I was ready to use it, I spread it out onto a lightly floured surface, cut each piece into quarters (so I ended up making 8 bourekas), and made the pastries. So easy I did it with one hand - held the baby with the other hand!)
4. Brush tops of borekas with beaten egg.

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Serve with salad - super duper yummy. I have one more package of puff pastry left in my freezer, can't wait to make them again. Next time I'm trying a potato filling...or a potato and cheese filling...or mushroom and spinach...or....yum.

Sweet as Honey

Chag Sameach - Shavuot is here!
Shavuot is the holiday that celebrates the giving of the Torah.
It tends to be a slightly overlooked holiday, even though it's really one of the most important!
On the eve of the holiday, it's traditional to stay up all night and study Torah. (This isn't the most kid-friendly part of the holiday.)
It's also known as Chag ha-Bikkurim, the celebration of the first fruits of the harvest, which can be extended nicely into celebrating nature as well.

So, in honor of Shavuot, we started a new family tradition, a nature hike walk.
But, not just any walk of course. We talked about Torah and we talked about God, and we talked about nature. We brought books and read bible stories along the way.

Here's Abba reading about Abraham's Search for God:

Walking on the path...

We made some drawings and told stories about them. Sam is explaining his flower, so is Yael.

And what is a hike walk without snacks?


And because Torah is sweet as honey, we stopped by the honey beehives at the nature center.
(We didn't get too close to the maybe-friendly-but-not-likely bees.)

A good holiday always comes with dessert. Shavuot is known for its desserts, since it's customary to eat dairy on this holiday. That makes ice cream, cheesecake, and other dairy desserts a special part of this holiday.
So I made a cake with sprinkles in it (trust me, they're in there) because Torah is colorful!

How did your family celebrate?

See how LeighAnn and her family made Torah-inspired cupcakes 

Plus, check out the #Torah tag on Twitter to see how many of us spent Erev Shavuot.

Read Auntie Liz's post about Torah and Twitter.

Here's what @RebMark had to say about Tweeting Torah as well.

(it was so much fun, so many of my colleagues and friends were creative and inspiring with their #Torah tweets!)

Celebrating Shavuot (Re-post)

Tonight begins Shavuot, one of my favorite Jewish holidays! In its honor, I'm reposting this list from last year about Shavuot - and you can join me over on Twitter where today, all day, we're tweeting #Torah to the top...

While Shavuot is one of the most important Jewish holidays, it does tend to get overlooked.
So here are some things to help you learn more about this holiday!

1. Shavuot falls on the 6th day of Sivan. Its calendaring is directly related to Passover, as it is the end of the period of the counting of the Omer. (In English, it's usually called Pentecost, but the actual translation is "weeks" -- as in the weeks of the counting of the Omer.)

2. Shavuot is considered to be the anniversary of the acceptance of the Torah at Sinai. (That's why it follows Passover -- first we were freed, then we got the Torah.)

3. This is the day that began the season of bringing the first-fruits to the Temple. The first fruits were the first of each harvest to blossom, and were harvested and brought to the priests in a ceremony.

4. It is a tradition to read Akdamut, a liturgical poem, on Shavuot. This long poem is read at the morning service before the reading of Torah.

5. It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot. I like the explanation that the Torah is like "honey and milk" on our tongues as it says in Song of Songs 4:11. Other people say that we did not eat meat before the giving of the Law at Sinai and thus we remember that. Either way, Shavuot is a vegetarian's paradise of a holiday!

6. We read from the Book of Ruth on Shavuot. It is about a woman who chooses to accept the Torah, just as we commemorate our people's acceptance of the Torah. Plus it talks about the harvest. And it's a good read.

7. Midrash teaches that Mt. Sinai burst into blossoms at the giving of the Torah. Perhaps this is why it is customary to decorate synagogues and homes with flowers and greenery for Shavuot.

8. Most people stay up all night on Erev Shavuot, in a practice known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot. The idea is to study Torah all night in preparation for receiving the Torah at Sinai.

9. The idea of staying up all night really took off when coffee became available in Europe.

10. Conservative and Reform congregations typically choose Shavuot to celebrate Confirmation, the high-school affirmation of Jewish identity.

11. There is a slightly obscure tradition of making and displaying papercut-art. (I definitely need to explore this one more. I think there's something fun in this for Shavuot for next year...)

12. You could honor Shavuot by baking a "Bible Cake". It's a cool scavenger hunt through the Bible that yields a cake! How cool is that.

13. And in keeping with the cake idea, Sephardic Jews have the custom to bake a seven-layer cake called Siete Cielos or Seven Heavens. This symbolizes the seven celestial spheres that God traveled to present the Torah to Moses. Seven graduated circular layers are decorated with a star of David, the staff of Moses, the Tablets of the Law, manna, Jacob's ladder and the Ark of the Covenant. Here are some more foodie customs for Shavuot.

Celebrating Shavuot

The holiday of Shavuot is almost here!

While Shavuot is one of the most important Jewish holidays, it does tend to get overlooked.
So here are some things to help you learn more about this holiday!

1. Shavuot falls on the 6th day of Sivan. Its calendaring is directly related to Passover, as it is the end of the period of the counting of the Omer. (In English, it's usually called Pentecost, but the actual translation is "weeks" -- as in the weeks of the counting of the Omer.)

2. Shavuot is considered to be the anniversary of the acceptance of the Torah at Sinai. (That's why it follows Passover -- first we were freed, then we got the Torah.)

3. This is the day that began the season of bringing the first-fruits to the Temple. The first fruits were the first of each harvest to blossom, and were harvested and brought to the priests in a ceremony.

4. It is a tradition to read Akdamut, a liturgical poem, on Shavuot. This long poem is read at the morning service before the reading of Torah.

5. It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot. I like the explanation that the Torah is like "honey and milk" on our tongues as it says in Song of Songs 4:11. Other people say that we did not eat meat before the giving of the Law at Sinai and thus we remember that. Either way, Shavuot is a vegetarian's paradise of a holiday!

6. We read from the Book of Ruth on Shavuot. It is about a woman who chooses to accept the Torah, just as we commemorate our people's acceptance of the Torah. Plus it talks about the harvest. And it's a good read.

7. Midrash teaches that Mt. Sinai burst into blossoms at the giving of the Torah. Perhaps this is why it is customary to decorate synagogues and homes with flowers and greenery for Shavuot.

8. Most people stay up all night on Erev Shavuot, in a practice known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot. The idea is to study Torah all night in preparation for receiving the Torah at Sinai.

9. The idea of staying up all night really took off when coffee became available in Europe.

10. Conservative and Reform congregations typically choose Shavuot to celebrate Confirmation, the high-school affirmation of Jewish identity.

11. There is a slightly obscure tradition of making and displaying papercut-art. (I definitely need to explore this one more. I think there's something fun in this for Shavuot for next year...)

12. You could honor Shavuot by baking a "Bible Cake". It's a cool scavenger hunt through the Bible that yields a cake! How cool is that.

13. And in keeping with the cake idea, Sephardic Jews have the custom to bake a seven-layer cake called Siete Cielos or Seven Heavens. This symbolizes the seven celestial spheres that God traveled to present the Torah to Moses. Seven graduated circular layers are decorated with a star of David, the staff of Moses, the Tablets of the Law, manna, Jacob's ladder and the Ark of the Covenant. Here are some more foodie customs for Shavuot.

Learn more about Shavuot...check out some of Leora's and Ilana-Davita's great posts about it.

See more Thursday Thirteen here.