Crypto Jews & Yom Kippur

An article recently appeared in the Israeli newspaper “Ha’aretz” about the offspring of Portugal’s Crypto Jews and their burning desire to re-embrace Judaism. Since my late father was Austrian by birth but could trace our family’s roots back to the Spanish Inquisition and Expulsion, the subject of Jews publicly claiming they are Christians but clandestinely practicing Judaism has always fascinated me. After reading the article I was prompted to find out if Crypto Jews have an unusual Yom Kippur custom. After all, they secretly light Sabbath candles in their bedroom. Instead of going to Church on Sunday they take their children out to parks and fields where they recount stories from the Bible. Maybe they have a different twist for Yom Kippur as well? Sure enough, they do. The women of Marrano families living in northern Portugal gather together and braid oil wicks while reciting 73 blessings. Mind you, this is not an original tradition. It is mentioned in the Shulhan Aruch, correlating to the fact that G-d has 73 different names. But do any of us practice it? Not at all. We use store-bought memorial candles and simply light them right before Yom Kippur sets in. Leave it to the Crypto Jews to continue this ancient custom.
Why am I bringing all of this up and what does it have to do with your classroom? The answer is simple: It’s detective time again. Your students don’t have to cross the Atlantic to find Crypto Jews. There are Crypto Jews in Texas and New Mexico, and perhaps other states. The rediscovery of their Jewish roots has been an exciting and eventful journey. Wouldn’t it be great to have your class find and contact kids their age who are the descendants of Crypto Jews? How can you do this? For starters, contact the B’nai Israel Synagogue in Albuquerque and ask them if they can help you out. I spent a Shabbat there and I’m pretty sure they will oblige. You might also want to try the Jewish Federation of New Mexico . Once you get some good leads point out to your students that the meaning of the Yom Kippur prayer “Kol Nidre” is “declaring a vow”. Suggest that now is the time for a new vow -- a promise made to Crypto Jewish children that they can trust you and share their secret practices with you.

May this Yom Kippur be a day of productive soul searching.
G’mar Khatima Tova…Tami

Egyptian Jews Use Wheat to Watch the New Year Sprout

We all know these Rosh Hashanah food customs: a round challah to symbolize the cycle of life; apples dipped in honey for a sweet year; eating the pomegranate as a new fruit because its 613 seeds represent Judaism’s 613 commandments; preparing carrot tzimmis because the Yiddish word for carrots is “merren”, connoting “more” – more children, more wealth, more good deeds, etc. But watching wheat sprout? It’s an ancient custom practiced by many Egyptian Jews that can easily be turned into a Rosh Hashanah classroom science experiment. Anywhere between a week to ten days before Rosh Hashanah, the family would scatter grains of wheat on a piece of damp cotton wool placed on a small plate or in a shallow bowl. Alternatively, they would use either barley or lentils. Sure enough, by the time Rosh Hashanah rolled around, the wheat would sprout, signaling the beginning of a New Year and all that it will yield. How can you adapt this to the classroom? Try comparing how quickly lentil seeds take to sprout if they are placed on or inside damp cotton (make sure to keep it damp), as opposed to being planted in fresh soil inside a yogurt container, making sure the soil is always damp and not overwatered.

May this budding experiment mark the beginning of a year full of growth.

Shana Tova…Tami

A Roman Holiday Custom for the Month of Elul

I hope you’ve all had a relaxing summer. We have returned to Israel and I’m back on track with new Jewish holiday customs that you can adapt to your school curriculum.

It’s the month of Elul and school is about to begin. Elul is a time for “Kheshbon Nefesh” -- a spiritual inventory of all that went right and wrong over the past year. It’s pretty heavy stuff to lay on kids, but the right trick can get them thinking. A custom practiced by the Jews of Rome may be just the thing. Vacationing at the Italian seaside resort of S. Marinella, Roman Jews mark the month of Elul by gathering together on the last morning of their vacation to hear the blowing of the shofar, eat a meal of thanks (and we know how yummy Italian food can be), and then distribute charity to the needy.

So here’s what I’m thinking: how about marking the beginning of your school year with a pizza lunch that starts with a blowing of the shofar. Tell your students about the Jews of Rome – how old the community is, how it can trace its origins back to the time of the First Temple, and how they follow age-old traditions. Then turn the pizza into food for thought. It’s fun to munch and think about Rosh Hashana resolutions dealing with how to help the needy. Let each student come up with his or her own idea, then transform the resolution into a year-long project that includes a chart and an individual student report given once a year to the entire class. Don’t be shy about tooting your own shofar. Share your students’ ideas with fellow teachers and turn a Jewish-Roman holiday tradition into an annual classroom custom.

I’ll be back soon with another Rosh Hashana custom.
Until then,
Le’Hitraot…Tami

Visiting Israel Has Become an Annual Summer Custom

Even before the economic downturn, visiting Israel as a family became more economically viable than sending the kids to summer camp. Over the past decade we Israelis witnessed an influx of American families touring our wonderful terrain and making travel to Israel a summer practice. What a wonderful way to celebrate the summer!

Not feasible this year? Here’s the next best thing to bringing your kids over. Watch this trailer for my new book shown above, Zvuvi’s Israel. This playful 32 page book, gorgeously illustrated by Ksenia Topaz, is a “fly’s eye” view of the entire country. The name Zvuvi comes from the Hebrew word Zvuv, which means fly. That means you and your family can see Israel on the fly, whenever you want. Join Zvuvi as he flits from place to place, playing hide-‘n-seek with the reader while he gives you the latest buzz about each site.

You are planning to fly over? Then Zvuvi is the perfect travel companion for your kids and/or grandchildren, ages 3-8. It’s the best way to help kids get excited about touring Israel.

Not bringing the children with you? Give them Zvuvi’s Israel as a gift when you return, showing them all the places you’ve seen. And of course, there's also your school library or classroom, plus other educational institutions that could use fun and informative material on Israel for the younger set.

Come August, Zvuvi’s Israel will be available in Judaica shops and book stores. Right now, you can purchase it online by visiting Kar-Ben’s on-line bookstore.When you do, don’t forget to take advantage of Kar-Ben’s exclusive offer to TAMI LEHMAN-WILZIG KIDS BOOKS readers: 10% off your next order! Use coupon code TAMI when checking out. Offer expires August 10, 2009. One use per customer. Offer not valid with any other discounts.

Enjoy Zvuvi and enjoy Israel!

Turn the Summer Vacation Into A Jewish Genealogy Celebration

Meet Gavi Kaplan. Better yet, let me explain to you how I just met Gavi Kaplan.
He’s the grandson of a long lost relative of mine. Gavi participated in my June 1st author appearance at Yeshiva Central Queens (YCQ). Ironically, this time my presentation revolved around my Jewish Heirloom Stories series, which is designed to connect the generations. Staying at other cousins the night before my appearance, I received a phone call from Gavi’s mother, explaining that the minute she saw my name on the school flyer promoting the event, she knew she had to track me down and clarify the blood connection. And yes, I remembered her grandmother. She was part of my childhood, but somehow the family contact got lost through the passing of generations over the decades.

This got me thinking. Since I’ve done some minor genealogy hunting of my own, I know that an annual international Jewish genealogy conference is held every summer in a different venue (BTW – this August it will be held in Philadelphia). I also know that other than Tisha B’Av, there are no Jewish holidays during the sultry summer months to write customs about. So I started to jell an idea that I want to throw out to you. Why not make the summer months a Jewish Genealogy celebration? Give your students something fun and interesting to work on over the summer – an opportunity to be family detectives and trace their roots. Give them some help by providing a reading list:
• Climbing Your Family Tree: Online and Off-line
Genealogy for Kids by Ira Wolfman
• The Kid’s Family Tree Book by Caroline Leavitt
• Roots for Kids: A Genealogy Guide for Young People by Susan Provost Beller
• The Great Ancestor Hunt: The Fun of Finding Out Who You Are by Lila Perl Yerkow

I have done several interactive presentations revolving around my Heirloom Stories, asking kids to bring in family heirlooms and tell the tales behind them. What I’ve seen is an enthusiastic involvement on the part of both kids and parents. For instance, what did Gavi bring in? Photos of the needlepoint made by his great-great-grandmother showing the story of “The Judgment of Solomon”. He proudly explained the story and how this needlepoint has been handed down from generation to generation. Telling stories like this is another wonderful way to trace family roots. Visit my website to find out more about my Jewish Heirloom Stories: Mayer Aaron Levi and His Lemon Tree, and Lotty’s Lace Tablecloth. Each has a separate section at the end where the reader can write his/her own heirloom story.

“Holiday” is the British term for vacation. How appropriate. Now is the time to turn the upcoming summer vacation into a Jewish genealogy holiday.
May your students have an interesting and happy “holiday.”

A Shavuot Custom That’s a Cut Above the Rest

Many of us have seen a lot of papercuts in the form of a Mizrach or Ketubah hanging on walls in Jewish homes. Papercutting is not something new to Jewish life. It began in the Middle Ages when in 1345 Rabbi Shem-Tov ben Yitzhak ben Ardutiel’s ink froze while he was writing a manuscript. A resourceful fellow, he did the next best thing – cut the letters into the paper. Around the 17th century, papercutting became a popular form for small religious artifacts like mizrachs, and guess what – Shavuot decorations too! By the 18th century, Eastern European Cheder and Yeshiva students were creating intricate lace patterns of flowers that they called Shavuoslekh (little Shavuot) which they displayed in the windows of their homes.

If you’re looking for a creative Shavuot classroom activity, this is it! Of course, no one expects you to come up with an intricate Shavuot papercut like the one above that I found on Google Images.

Try adapting these snowflake papercut instructions by transforming the flakes into flowers. Don’t wrinkle your nose and tell me to cut it out – you can do it!

Speaking of cutting it out, I know I can be a nudge, but don't forget to take advantage of this exclusive offer for TAMI LEHMAN-WILZIG KIDS BOOKS readers. Kar-Ben Publishing is offering 10% off your next order at their online bookstore. Use coupon code TAMI when checking out. Offer expires August 10, 2009. One use per customer. Offer not valid with any other discounts.

That's all the cutting up for now.
Have a Chag Sameach...Tami

Shavuot & Jewish American Heritage Month

Let’s put customs aside this time and focus on history. An article appearing in today’s Jerusalem Post reports how President Obama praised Jewish American Heritage Month -- a May event for the past three years. Having recently visited the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, my curiosity was immediately piqued: could there be some type of historic event connected to Shavuot?

Surf, Google and ye shall find… sure enough, on May 28, 1773, Rabbi Raphael Chayyim Isaac Carregal of Hebron (pictured above along with the poster announcing his sermon) gave a Shavuot sermon at the Touro Synagogue that attracted the attention of Reverend Ezra Stiles, who was Minister of the Second Congregational Church of Newport, Rhode Island. Reverend Stiles eventually became President of Yale University. This was not the first time that Reverend Stiles went out of his way to hear the visiting Rabbi. In fact, the two became close friends.

Ask your students to become detectives. Find out what these two close friends talked about. What important words are found on Yale University’s seal? Is there a connection to Rabbi Carregal? Is there a connection between all of this and President Obama’s reflection that “Jewish American history demonstrates how America's diversity enriches and strengthens us all.”

Speaking of President Obama, in his proclamation he also notes that the Jewish American community has demonstrated that “Americans can choose to maintain cultural traditions while honoring the principles and beliefs that bind them together as Americans.” That brings me back to holiday customs. I’ll see you next week with one more quick and fun Shavuot custom you can do in the classroom.

Le’Hitraot…Tami