A Newsletter for Young Families (June 2015)

FOR
FAMILIES
• Ideal for use in preschool
classroom and for parent
education classes
• Giving or selling them to
parents can benefit your
preschool
and your families!
• Great gift for new parents
Apples & Honey: Helping
Parents Create a Jewish Home
Published by the Robert E. Loup
Jewish Community Center,
Denver
—
Lisa Farber Miller, Editor
A.R.E. is proud to distribute these
important new and unique titles.
Families will find them helpful in
the raising of Jewish children;
schools and agencies will find
them helpful in the raising of
Jewish consciousness.
Vital Statistics:
Practical tips on Jewish child
rearing in engaging 8-page
newletters
For parents of newborns to age 5.
Prenatal issue, $2.00 each.
Set of 6 newsletters for parents of
newborns to 24 months, $9.95.
Set of 6 newsletters for parents of
preschoolers ages 2 to 5, $9.95.
Content:
• Celebrating Shabbat at Home
center spread
• Feature articles on creating a
Jewish home, Jewish parenting,
choosing a preschool, choosing
a synagogue
• Parent-child Jewish activities,
recipes, resources, develop
mental time line
Special Features:
• Each issue geared to the devel
opmental stage and age of the
child
• A novel, interactive approach
to parent education in a
Jewish context
CREAflfl EWISH ION!
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HElpinG P*REyrs
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ACTIVITY
SHABBAT PLACEMATS
T
even a tiny child. All you need is
clear
Contacis simple
paper (shelf
paper
his
activity
enough
for
with a sticky back available at
hardware stores) and some cut-out
Jewish designs to place inside. You
can use the templates below or
make your own Jewish symbols.
1. Trace the symbols onto colored
paper and cut them out. You can
also cut outthe letters thatform the
names of the members of your
family. If you wish, have decorative
items such as glitter, drawings, and
pictures available.
2. When you have everything ready,
cut a double width length of the
Contac paper.
3. Carefully peel back the paper
halfway, with the sticky side up.
4. Have your child help you place the
symbols and your child’s name on
the sticky side.
5. Carefully peel back the other side
of the paper, and place it over the
other side. Try to make the edges of
the paper square up.
Jewish Food For Toddlers
) 1~
~)
(
‘‘
‘
(
~l%
~
ewish
food for
toddlers?
a
a a
Is there such a
thing? You
4Pf~~A~~ ~
bet. There’s
— .—. —.~
a
no better
teething food than
frozen cocktail bagels. They don’t
fall apart easily, they’re the perfect
shape, and—best of all—they are
indisputably Jewish.
You can easily move beyond
frozen bagels, though. When you
think about it, some of the bestloved Jewish foods are perfect for
babies. It’s comfort food—matzoh
balls, noodle kugel, gefilte fish. And
it’s delicious. You can buy many of
these foods already prepared.
Gefilte fish, for example, is a laborintensive food to make, and you
can find it on the kosher shelves of
your local supermarket. But here
are a couple of recipes for these
delicious foods that will give your
child something you can’t buy—the
cozy, comforting, Jewish aroma of
home.
-
—
Apple Noodle Kugel
8 oz. wide egg noodles
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cottage cheese
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 eggs
1 cup chopped, peeled apple
1 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon cloves
Cook noodles in
boiling salted
water al dente,
or until cooked
through but still
— chewy. Drain
I
noodles. Beat
together eggs, sugar,
and salt. Stir in cottage cheese,
apples, raisins, sour cream, and
lemon peel. Mix in noodles. Pour
into a greased 11/ quart casserole
or baking dish. Combine brown
sugar, cinnamon and cloves and
sprinkle over noodle mixture. Bake
at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or
until pudding is firm and browned.
Serve warm. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Low-fat cottage cheese and sour
cream may be substituted to create
a low-fat version of this recipe.
—
—
Potato Kugel
6 medium potatoes
I large onion
1 carrot
2 large eggs, well beaten
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons oil
Grate the potatoes, onion, and
carrot. Mix them with the eggs,
pepper, salt, oil, and flour. Grease
well a rectangular glass 13” x 9”
baking dish. Pour mixture into dish.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for
about 1 hour or until firm and
browned. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
TIM [[I N F
One-Minute Bible Stories from Shari Lewis
18-24 Months: What Your Child Does
Social Development
• Learns the meaning of the word
“mine”—and uses it often
• May have trouble getting along with
siblings; is self-centered
• May develop separation anxiety
Intellectual Development
• Will begin to think through ~ problem
to solve it
• May begin to develop a sense of time
• Will begin to pick up more words ~in~1
make two-word sentences
Physical Development
• May see everything as a climbing
challenge
• ~ begin playing “catch”
• May be able to manage tooth brushing
by himself
What You ~JiJ Do
Social Development
o Plaöe colorful labels on his posses
sions to distinguish them f~~iiii those of
others
• Understand that she needs to learn
by herself how to get along with
siblings
• Let your child know when you will be
leaving and when you will be coming
back
Intellectual Development
• Allow your child to begin to think
through problems herself
• Don’t expect your child to have a clear
sense of what “yesterday” and “soon”
mean
• Read to your child every night; tell him
what you ~Il~ doing as you do it
Physical Development
• Keep an eye outfiD? safety: watch
dangerous climbing experiments, keep
cleaning supplies and medicines well
out of reach
• Play “catch” but don’t expect to
connect 100 percent of the time; you
may want to teach your child to cradle
her arms to catch the ball
• Teach him how to brush his teeth, but
repeat the process when he finishes
In every issue we will feature one of Shari’s Bible stories to read or re-tell to your
child. Here is her rendition of the story of Joseph’s coat-of-many-colors.
Joseph and His Wonderful Coat
acob had twelve sons, but he loved his youngest, Joseph, the most.
When Joseph was seventeen, Jacob gave him an absolutely beautiful
long-sleeved silk coat.
Joseph’s eleven older brothers were jealous
of the wonderful coat and of all the attention
Joseph got. They were even more
upset when Joseph told them he
had dreamed that someday his
brothers would bow down
4
before him and obey his
commands.
4
One day Jacob sent his
-4
)
favorite son to the pasture to see
how the sheep and goats were
doing. The brothers were so angered
4(
at the sight of his beautiful coat
that they took the coat away and
threw Joseph into a deep pit
without food or water. They
~
intended to kill him, but before
they could, a camel caravan
passed and the brothers sold
Joseph into slavery. He was
taken to Egypt.
To fool their father, the
brothers splashed goat’s blood on
Joseph’s coat. When Jacob saw it
he thought Joseph had been killed by a wild
beast, and he wept for days.
In Egypt the Ishmaelites sold Joseph to a captain
of the Pharaoh’s guard named Potiphar, and Joseph
knew he would never see his home again.
(4
I
~‘-~
Ø44~
*
(‘~
~
~
*4
Ifyour children are interested in what happens to Joseph after this story ends, tell
them that he becomes the Egyptian Pharaoh’s dream interpreter and trusted advisor,
and later reconciles with his eleven brothers who find him in Egypt, having fled
their home because offamine. For the complete story see Genesis, chapters 37, 39-50.
From One-Minute Bible Stories-Old Testament by Shari Lewis. Copyright© 1986 by Shari Lewis;
Illustrations © 1986 by Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
All p(C≤~,jjIOH &~I
HELPING PARENTS
FALL
Ho LID AY
CREATE A JEWISH HOME
ROSH
ISSUE
Y0M
HASHANAH,
KIPPUR,
5-
SUKKOT
~11
G7~H~N~.
-
THE START
--~-
./
OF THE
-,~
-
~
‘~
-
-~-~
NEW YEAR
PERFECT
\~_~
TIME FOR
FAMILIES
TO SIT
T
champagne toasts
DOWN
or party
here
are hats,
no no
AND
frenetic parties. The
start of the Jewish year
DISCUSS
is, instead, a time to
THEIR
reflect, to pray, to make
LIVES AND
amends, and to resolve
to do better next year.
THE YEAR
These holidays are
AHEAD.
unlike any other, as
Anita Diamant points
out in Living a Jewish Life. Other
holidays are based on agricultural
festivals or historical events, but the
holidays that begin the Jewish year
focus on our morality.., and our
mortality.
On the surface, these solemn
holidays seem difficult ones in
which to involve children. What
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
stress, however, are an investiga
tion of what is important to us and
what we want our lives to be. This
A
PUBLICATION
start of the new year is a
perfect time for families to sit
down and discuss their lives and
the year ahead. This time of
serious reflection can prove a
catalyst for bringing families closer
together.
The season begins in the month
of Elul, which usually begins in
mid to late August. In some com
munities, the haunting sound of
the shofar, an ancient instrument
made from a ram’s horn, is heard
each weekday morning. During
this month, Jews are to seek for
giveness from those they have
wronged, and grant it to those
who have wronged them. Selichot
(forgiveness) services the Saturday
night preceding Rosh Hashanah are
designed for just this purpose.
Rosh Hashanah is the first day
of the new year, the first day of the
month of Tishrei. The rabbis of the
Talmud imagined Rosh Hashanah
as the anniversary of the world’s
creation. Rosh Hashanah is also the
day of judgment, the day when
God grants another year of life to
those (very few) who are totally
righteous. The others (most of us)
/
ISA
OF
THE
ROBERT
E.
LouP
JEWISH
-≠
are granted the next ten
days—the Ten Days of Repen
tance—to examine their deeds,
repent, and ask forgiveness.
Yom Kippur ends the Days of
Repentance. It is the holiest day of
the year, a day of fasting and
services. For most Jews, it is an
emotional time, a day when many
focus on their religion to the
exclusion of all else. On Yom
Kippur synagogues are usually
filled to capacity.
Four days after Yom Kippur is
the beginning of Sukkot, the
colorful harvest festival. With its
emphasis on the festive and the
joyful, Sukkot is the fitting end to a
season of redemption. The joy
comes from the knowledge that
God has judged us worthy.
WHAT’S INSID[
Bringing Home the Message of
Rosh Hashanàh page 2
Making New Year’s Cards page 3
A Children’s Story for Yom Kippur
page 5
Build Your Own Sukkah page 6
Resources for Families page 8
COMMUNITY
CENTER
Afip(e≤&hOH&~J
HELPING PARENTS
VOLUME
A
ONE,
NUMBER
CREATE A JEWISH HOME
ONE
Sweet and nourishing,
they usher in the Jewish
New Year at Rosh HaShanah with
the hope that the year ahead will
be pleasant and fulfilling. Among
Persian Jews, it is also the custom
to offer a plate of apples, a
symbol of easy labor and
delivery, to young couples.
We hope that Apples ~
Honey can guide you
through the joyous, but
often confusing, days of
early parenthood. As
parents concerned
about how to raise your
Jewish child, there are
traditions of our faith
and from our heritage to
learn about and incorpo
rate into your new life as
a family. There are
questions about how to
observe customs and
rituals: what they are, what they
mean, and how to make them
your own. Then, there is the most
important question of all—how to
raise a child who is connected to
our heritage and who will learn to
live a satisfying Jewish life full of
tradition and full of love. In Apples
~‘ Honey, we hope to provide some
information, some encouragement,
and some advice to help you
embark on what will be the most
exciting, nourishing, and sweet
time of your life.
PRENATAL
ISSUE
Welcoming Your Jewish Child
pples and Honey.
‘I,
A
PUBLICATION
OF
sudden realization of the enormous responsibility of
bringing
another
being
into the world.
As new
he birth of
a babyhuman
is a time
of celebration,
of awe,
of a
parent, you face new concerns: how to welcome your baby in
way that affirms your beliefs and heritage and yet
allows you to create your own family traditions
and celebrations. In that spirit, we offer this
checklist for you to think about while planning
to welcome your child into the world.
Consider this list a starting point for building
the traditions for your new baby’s
nfl
-~
f~7
world.
e/ How do we choose a name?
(page 2) Hebrew and English names:
options and possibilities for parents to
consider in naming a child.
v’ What blessings are appropriate for
the baby at birth? (page 3)
Celebrating the extraordinary moment of your child’s birth.
v’ What is a brit milah (ritual circumcision) and how do we
arrange for one? (page 4) Finding
and choosing a mohel (circum
A I. S 0 I N S I 0 [
Birth Rituals: Easing a Mother’s
Labor page 2
The Great Mitzvah of Birth page3
Midrash page 3
Making a Wimpel page 6
Interfaith Parents Forum page 7
Community Resources page 8
THE
ROBERT
E. Lou~
JEWISH
cisor), and planning the ceremony.
v’ Should we have a simchat
bat or brit bat (naming
ceremony) for our daughter,
and how should we do it?
(page 5) Possibilities for creating a
welcoming ceremony for a
daughter.
COMMUNITY
CENTER
App(e≤1ç1 (fl1&~/
—
VOLUME
ONE,
HELPING PARENTS~REATE A JEWISH HOME
NUMBER
AGES
EIGHT
2
TO
2
1/2
YEARS
~E1~’Ii~ ~ WitILizIz~
By Robert Coles
Dr. Robert Coles is a professor of psychi
atry at the Harvard Medical School and
the author of the acclaimed book The
Spiritual Life of Children. Coles
won a Pulitzer prize for his
Children of Crisis series. He lives in
Boston, and has three grown sons.
J
a ten-year-old boy I will call
David.
learned a lot about faith from
Gravely ill with leukemia,
David surprised his doctors and
nurses by asking if they ever
prayed for their patients—if they
ever prayed for him. He told them
that he was praying for them.
These earnest, hardworking men
and women were taken aback by
such pious words from a young
child.
As a psychiatrist, I was sure
David’s talk of prayers was simply a
plea for a different destiny, despite
what he knew in his heart of
hearts: that he would soon die.
I asked him what he said in the
prayers he offered for the hospital
staff—expecting, of course, that he
was praying that they might
somehow be able to pull him
through. But no, he said, “I ask
God to be nice to them, so they
don’t feel too bad if us kids here go
WHAT’S INSIO[
~ith~ Spiritual Development of Young Children page 3
Saturday: A Day of Holiness, Rest and Joy pages 4 and&~
Making Shabbat Special with Your Two Year Old page 6
Noah andthe Ark byShari Lewis pagel
Developmental Timeline page 7
A
PUBLICATION
OF
THE
ROBERT
E.
LouP
to meet Him.” A pause, then he
added, “When I meet God, I’ll put
in a good word for the people who
work in the hospital.”
I realized, as I listened to David,
how important his religious faith
was to him, how sincerely he had
tried to connect it to his life’s expe
riences, his grim, inescapable fate. I
still think of him when I spend
time with children who are con
tending with difficult situations
and who are trying to understand,
through religious or spiritual reflec
tion, what is happening to them.
David, in fact, taught me a lifelong
lesson: all children very much need
a sense of purpose and direction in
life, a set of values grounded in
moral introspection—a spiritual life
that is given sanction by their
parents and others in the adult
world.
In the years since I met David,
I’ve talked with children, here and
abroad, whose parents are Catholic,
Protestant, Jewish, and Islamic, as
well as with children whose parents
subscribe to no faith. In spite of this
range of religious expression—or
the lack thereof—these children
shared a deep concern about the
whys of this life, the oughts and
naughts, too. Again and again, I
have come to understand that even
(CONTINUED ON PAGE
JEWISH
COMMUNITY
2)
CENTER
-v
m
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-1
z
C,
3
z
C,,
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CD
(They
—
VOLUME
ONE,
HELPING PARENTS~REATE A JEWISH HOME
NUMBER
AGES
FOUR
SEVEN
TO
NINE
MONTHS
You Are Your Child’s First Jewish Teacher
teachers when they
hen
regularly give
your
tzedakah and involve
child
the
family in giving.
first focuses his
Teaching
tzedakah or
eyes, one of the
Shabbat by doing
first things he sees
them—even when
is you. That will be
children are too
true for years to
young to under
come. For a baby,
stand any of the
you are the world.
concepts— is what
You feed her, sing
EWHO
being
your child’s
her to sleep, protect
first Jewish teacher
GUIDES HIS
her from the world.
is all about.
One of the most
SONS AND
The Torah gives a
important roles you
D’UGHTERS
IN
particular
nod to
have is as your
this crucial task. It is
child’s first, and
THE RIGHT AY
a commandment, a
most important,
...TOHIM
mitzvah, to teach
teacher. It’s true as
one’s children. It is
you show your
DOES THE VERSE
no accident that the
child how to clap
A PY:~NDYOU
word for teacher in
her hands. It’s true
Hebrew is moreh and
as you teach your
S ALL KNOW
the word for parent
child about religion
THAT
THERE
IS
is horeh. Throughout
and being Jewish.
the history of the
This does not
PEACE IN OU
Jews, the role of the
mean sitting down
TENT.”
parent
and that of
to give your child
teacher have been
lectures about God,
(Babylonian Talmud,
woven together.
creation, prayer,
Yevamot 62b)
Learning about
and Israel. Didactic
Judaism
is, like
lessons often don’t
many parts of parenting, a
work; doing is more powerful than
continual process. It is also a
talking. For example, rather than
process
that can strengthen your
having a discussion about the
faith, and add a new dimension to
importance of tzedakah (helping the
your own life. Whoever talked
less fortunate), parents become
A
PUBLICATION
OF
THE
ROBERT
B.
LOUP
JEWISH
about seeing the world through a
child’s eyes knew: through our
children we think again about the
important questions. Who made
the world? What is God? Why do
we pray?
For parents whose religious
education ended with their bar or
bat mitzvah, the commandment to
teach one’s children about religion
may seem daunting. How can you
teach what you don’t know?
Luckily, much of the foundation of
living a Jewish life is about living
the kind of life you probably want
to model for your children anyway.
What you don’t know about
religion you can learn. Each issue
of Apples & Honey will provide tips
about how to create a Jewish home
and provide opportunities for
learning about Judaism.
WHAT’S 1W SI U [
Five Steps to Jewish Teaching
page 2
The Traits of a Healthy Family
page 3
Add to Your Sabbath
Blessings
Over the Children page 4
David Wolpe on Ritual and Judaism
page 6
Your Child from 7-9 months page 7
Resources page 8
. ..
COMMUNITY
CENTER