אֶפְשָׁרֻיּוֹת רוּחָנִיּוֹת בַּדֶּגֶל הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִי / פָּרָשַׁת אֱמֹר
יוֹסֵף יִשְׂרָאֵל אַבְּרַמוֹבִיץ’
קִבּוּץ קְטוּרָה
דְּרָשָׁה זוֹ נִכְתְּבָה לִכְבוֹד יוֹם הֻלַּדְתָּהּ הָאַרְבָּעִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה שֶׁל אִשְׁתִּי, סוּזָן. עִם זֹאת, כָּל הַיּוּמְרוֹת הָרוּחָנִיּוֹת שֶׁל הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁאֲנִי עוֹמֵד לוֹמַר הֵן שֶׁלִּי בִּלְבַד, וְאֵין לְהַאֲשִׁים אוֹתָהּ בָּהֶן כְּלָל!
לְכָבוֹד הוּא לִי לָשֵׂאת אֶת הַדְּרָשָׁה בְּעִקְבוֹת טֶקֶס הַבַּר-מִצְוָה רַב-הַהַשְׁרָאָה
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YOM HAATZMAUT CELEBRATIONS WERE CANCELLED THIS EVENING IN THE ARAVA DUE TO WIND AND…RAIN. AMAZING.
Spiritual Possibilities in the Israeli Flag/ Parashat Emor
Yosef
Israel Abramowitz
Kibbutz Ketura
This drasha is written in honor of my wife Susan’s 45th birthday today. All the spiritual pretensions of what I am going to say, however, are my folly alone and cannot be blamed on her.
It’s an honor to follow Itai’s inspirational bar mitzvah and
Israel’s 60 th celebrations.
What is the spiritual logic in having Yom haatzmut fall between Passover and Shavuot?
We usually count the Omer without connecting Yom Haatzmaut to the spiritual journey from
Egypt to Sinai.
Coming out of the celebrations of Yom haatzmaut, especially in the footpath of the Exodus, I can’t help but seek out the connections.
And I think the flag of
Israel holds many of the secrets of the connection between the Exodus and the mission of a
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The 2008 Jewish Major Leaguers Baseball Cards!
This is an all-new 50-card set, packaged for display: all current players, and many Jewish baseball history cards, including an 11-card subset commemorating the career and life of Hank Greenberg, by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (and Greenberg biographer) Ira Berkow.
Perfect for Fathers Day, grandchildren, birthdays, Bar Mitzvah gifts, friends, and for yourself just for the fun of it!
$28, including shipping. Two sets for $50. Checks payable to JML, and mailed to me at our “international headquarters” (my basement) at 104 Greenlawn Avenue Newton, MA 02459.
More info and sample card photos at www.jewishmajorleaguers.org
Martin Abramowitz
P.S. Please feel free to pass this on to friends, colleagues, family. We are a low-budget not-for-profit organization that does almost no advertising. Thanks!
This is always a good idea in a multi-ethnic society to mainstream and teach and focus and some of us were helpful in making sure this happened in April, rather than in January, when it was originally proposed. Maybe should be globalized, except for the part at the end of the Declaration where this Jewish month is marked in the ”year of our Lord.” Hey, Jewish liason guys at the White House, you missed that one:-)
THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release April 29, 2008
JEWISH AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, 2008
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Jewish American Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the history, culture, and faith of Jewish Americans and their contributions to our Nation.
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Shavuot Preview
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In 2008, Shavuot begins on the evening of Sunday, June 8. Resources for teaching this holiday can be found here.
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Link to Us
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Link your school website to BabagaNewz.com. Let kids connect directly to the engaging educational games, music, crafts, videos, and more from your home page. Click here for more information!
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| April 30 2008 / 25 Nisan 5768 |
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Greetings!
This year we celebrate Israel’s 60th Independence Day. In the month of Iyar/May, we commemorate the losses and rejoice in the triumphs of building Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). I hope these materials will help you accomplish this with your classes.
BabagaNewz is eager to help you highlight Israel in your school in any way that we can. Call our special Iyar Israel Hot Line at 617-581-6814 any time with questions about our resources for teaching Israel in your school this month. If we are unavailable at the time of your call, we will return your call as soon as we can. Lisa Micley, Director of Education will answer your questions. Another option is to e-mail Lisa at lisa@babaganewz.com.
B’Shalom,
Sara Lindholm Marx
Web Editor
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Resources for Teaching Israel
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Israel@60 Supplements and Lessons
In the 5768/2007-8 school year, BabagaNewz published three supplements related to Israel’s 60th birthday. The supplements and accompanying teachers’ guides were sent with the magazines, but they can be downloaded here. Share one of these lessons with your class. Topics include immigration during Aliyah Bet and “Ilan Ramon: Israel’s First Astronaut.”
Yom Hazikaron
2 Iyar 5768 / May 7, 2008
The Song That Moves a Nation
This introduces students to an Israeli song, “Ballada Lahovesh,” that powerfully stirs the nation’s emotions every year on Yom Hazikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day, celebrated May 7, 2008). The lesson provides ways to memorialize Israel’s fallen soldiers in the classroom. Find the article here and the lesson plan here.
Yom Ha’atzmaut
3 Iyar 5768 / May 8, 2008
Mini-lessons for Yom Ha’atzmaut, Lag Ba’Omer, and Yom Yerushalayim
These twelve quick activities can be used together or alone and include having your students experience Israel with their five senses and make their own Israeli emblems.
Making Israel Out of Ice Cream
In this lesson, students will explore the geography of Israel and make their own model of Israel out of ice cream.
>>More Yom Ha’atzmaut lessons
Lag Ba’Omer
18 Iyar 5768 / May 23, 2008
Mini-lessons
These three mini-lessons for Lag Ba’Omer give suggestions that include organizing a bonfire and studying the teachings of Rabbi Akiva.
Yom Yerushalayim
28 Iyar 5768 / June 2, 2008
Gateways: A Ceremony for Yom Yerushalayim
This is a scripted ceremony where the gates to the Old City of Jerusalem, acting as eyewitnesses, speak movingly of events in Jerusalem’s history. This can serve as the basis for a Yom Yerushalayim celebration in your school. There is a Powerpoint slideshow available for download and a scavenger hunt to encourage attentive participation.
>>More Yom Yerushalayim lessons
Additional resources:
Complete holiday resources can be found here and complete Israel resources can be found here. Students can visit Israel Central on the kids’ site.
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New Game Teaches Israel’s History
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Sequence is a perfect way to get your students excited about Israel. By capturing visual learners through constructive and exciting game-play, this game helps students develop a stronger Jewish identity and learn about important events in Israel’s past. Find more games here.
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Imagine if there was documentary footage of the exodus from Egypt. Would you show it at Passover, at every Jewish institution?
Greater than the Exodus from Egypt, is the exodus from the USSR. In Egypt, 600,000 were freed, we obviously had God actively on our side, lots of Egyptians died. In the USSR, over a million were freed with no blood-shed. Click here to watch the movie trailer of Refusenik, the must-see movie of our generation. Refusenik is the cure to our collective amnesia of the power of Jewish Peoplehood. Locations and times are available on their website and please consider hosting a screening. chag sameyach, yossi
Jay Michaelson, writing in the Forward, says that there’s nothing to Peoplehood. Click here to read his well written yet inadequate exploration of Peoplehood.
My response to him will be appearing shortly in the latest edition of CONTACT, Michael Steinhardt’s newsletter, which is focusing the next issue on Peoplehood.
Jewish values are the building blocks of Jewish Peoplehood, Jay. And the grand unified purpose of the Jewish People–our essence, often hidden–is to be an on-going, distinctive catalyst for the advancement and evolution of morality in civilization. Lots of content here. Chag sameyach, yossi
from the New York Sun.
Israel Opens Door, and Shuts It
The last, last act in a drama that was never meant to last so long finally seems about to end. In early June, the Israeli government has announced, the curtain will come down on the saga of Ethiopian Jewish
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