Posted in Family

Well, we generally do some school year round, but the girls are going to camp this year and so we are working on wrapping things up in the next couple of weeks.

Little Miss has already finished her "school" work - grammar, math, spelling and handwriting.  Sweetie Pie Girl still has a little bit of math and grammar left, but should be done with it within the week.

Besides that though there is a bunch of big projects we are working on that are keeping us busy right now.

1)  The girls both had their end of year show for their dance/gymnastics class this evening.  They both did beautifully - really the whole class did.  It was kind of sad having the class end.  It was just a great program.  I was just so proud of my girls.  Sometimes they are so beautiful they just take my breath away.  Tonight was definitely one of those times.

2)  Next Tuesday is the Homeschooler's Fair.  I am organizing this for area homeschoolers.  I did it a few years ago as well but then moved and haven't done it since.  I was ready to do it again this year.  A homeschooler's fair is similar to a science fair, but kids can do their displays on any subject they are interested in - not just science.  We are homeschooler's after all.  SPG is doing her display board on Leonardo Da Vinci.  This was actually an assignment from TOG to do a display board a few month ago, but she had no where to show it.  Now she does.  I also got her a Leonardo DaVinci Treasure Chest.  She has been having a good time exploring that and has made a model of his flying machine for her project, and has also been reading a bio of daVinci.  She has been having a lot of fun.

LM is doing her project on the brain.  She decided a few weeks ago that she was really interested in studying anatomy.  I found her one evening, reading a human anatomy book (Usborne First Encyclopedia of the Human Body) and crying saying that she wanted to go to school!  We talked about it for a while and what it finally came down to was she really wanted to learn about the Human Body, and it wasn't in our curriculum for this year.  She thought if she were in school she would have been able to.  I explained to her that in school, they don't change the curriculum to meet what she wants, but in homeschooling you can!  That basically there was no reason we couldn't do some human body studies at home.  LOL.  She asked if she could do her "science fair" project on the body and I said sure but also suggested she narrow it down some if she wanted.  She chose to focus on the brain.  I gave her some of my college anatomy books, and she got some library books. She has made a model of the brain and is working on her display board now.  She has worked really hard and I am proud of her.  She also now realizes how cool homeschooling is. :)

So that is next Tuesday.  I will share pictures later.

3)  The very next day, we are going to Plimouth Plantation as our end of unit project on the pilgrims.  I was able to get a group rate (almost half off) if I could put together 15 people.  So I invited 30 other homeschoolers to go with me and we are going next week to Plimouth Plantation, the Wampanoag Village and Mayflower II.  It should be a phenomenal trip.  www.plimoth.org

I am just trying to figure out what possessed me to organize 2 homeschooling events in one week!  I have no one to blame but myself.  I chose the dates!

4)  We have next Thursday at home, but next Friday is their graduation/final Program from Zoo School.  We did this once a month all school year long at the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, RI.  It was a phenomenal program.  It was just homeschoolers, and every month they got to see a different part of the zoo, including parts visitors can't normally go (i.e one month they went to the zoo hospital).  Their last class they get to play "Zookeeper for the day" and everyone gives their family a tour of the zoo and then there is a graduation ceremony.  Everyone also has to do a project on an animal of their choosing.  SPG is doing hers on butterflies (there is a butterfly garden at the zoo) and LM is doing hers on Moonbears (Asiatic Brown Bears).  So again, that will be a busy but exciting day.

After that we should be all done with school!  The week after that the girls won free tickets to Six Flags New England through a reading program.  So we will do that to relax and have some fun.  And then just get ready for camp.

So all in all, we have an busy couple of weeks, but it should be a lot of fun!  I plan on blogging about some of these events as they are pretty cool. :)

Posted in Other Ramblings

There is absolutely nothing like spring time in New England.  Trees in bud, flowers coming out, little baby animals everywhere.  Plus some warm weather after the long cold winter!  My neighbors are all out and around.  Everyone is outside as much as they can and the world is reawakening.  It is time to get out and do some nature studies.

One of the things that appealed to me most about Charlotte Mason philosophy was the emphasis on nature studies.  This is also a tenet of Jewish teachings as well.  Our Sages taught that we should not spend all day behind a desk reading books - even studying Torah.  But we should also get out into the world and appreciates G-d's creations!  His animals, plants, rocks!  G-d created this beautiful world for us to live in, and I want my children to learn and know and appreciate all its wonders.

Realistically though, I am a city girl at heart.  There is this small secret part of my heart that wants to homestead a huge piece of land, have a garden, some chickens, maybe even a cow for fresh dairy plus wooded areas for us to hike in with a river and maybe a pond on our property.  But I know this will never happen.  Mainly because I need to live within walking distance of a good synagogue.  But also because I have a black thumb.

Now I can't really blame my mother for this.  She has a marvelous green thumb. Our house was overflowing with her plants and garden, and while she tried very hard to impress upon me this love of plants, it just didn't take.  Every single thing I have ever tried to grow has died.  Even plants that are supposed to be really hard to kill, have died rather quickly in my presence. A cactus a friend brought me was dead two weeks later (OK, Dante was 3 and dumped hand lotion on it, but still...)  I bought an Aloe Vera plant last year because an herbal teacher told me that they were very hard to kill.  Mine is basically dead now, but Little Miss has adopted it and is trying to save it.  I am not holding out much hope. 

So herein lies the problem.  I want my girls to have an appreciation of nature, but it is quite obvious they need to get it from other sources!

While we may do some nature studies during the rest of the year, Spring really is when we do the most.  There are programs everywhere this time of year, both for homeschoolers, as well as all kids, and even some for adults that my kids can go to and enjoy and really learn from.  Most of the programs we go to are sponsored by the Massachusetts Audubon Society.  We love the Audubon and our family membership is well worth the price - and would be at double the cost.  They have 2 nature preserves within 30 minutes of us, and both run a TON of kids programs as well as a bunch of programs for homeschoolers.  We also have free admission to the 33 other Audubon sanctuaries in the state and we have taken full advantage of that as well!

So some things we have done recently:

Little Miss and I went out to Western MA to the Acadia Sanctuary and did a Medicinal Herb Walk.  This was billed as an "adult" event, but I played the homeschooling card and she was allowed to come with me.  We had a great time!  I am studying to be an Herbalist so this was great for me, because as you may have figured out, and area of weakness is being able to identify herbs growing wild.  Little Miss has also shown an interest in herbalism, and I love the idea of passing herbal wisdom down to her, so have been fostering that desire.  She was great on the walk.

We went birdwatching with Broad Meadow Brook (our local sanctuary) and saw the "Dance of the Woodcock"  a mating dance that the male woodcock does in this area at sunset every night for only 2 weeks a year.

SPG did a homeschoolers class on butterfly lifecycles which included a 2 mile hike around the sanctuary looking for butterflies.

We went out to Drumlin Farm, which the Audubon Society runs out in Concord and spent the day playing on their farm.  No organized program but a lot of fun.  We worked in their gardens, we saw their animals and all around had a lot of fun.

One thing we did that wasn't at the Audubon Society was an all day homeschooling program at Capen Hill Sanctuary in Charlton www.capenhill.org.  I had never actually heard of this place before I saw the class announcement, but it was FANTASTIC!  We will definitely be going there again.  It is a beautiful sanctuary with some really nice trails.  The staff was also really excellent.  The teachers were very knowledgeable and were obviously very passionate about this place.  They made it a lot of fun.  In the morning we went to the pond and learned about pond life and got to play with some pond life.  Then we had a picnic lunch and then spent the afternoon going on a nature hike with another teacher.  It was a great experience and I can't wait to go back.

So those are some of the formal things we have done - although some more formal than others.  WE have also done a bunch of more spontaneous casual things as well.  For example, Little Miss and I went out and picked dandelions a few weeks ago (free! right in our own backyard! LOL) and put up our first herbal tincture.  We also stopped in at a nursery one day to look at all the plants and learn some of their names. 

It doesn't have to be formal, but giving your children a love of nature is one of the best ways I know to take care of the planet.

Posted in Family

Wow, I can't believe I haven't blogged since February!!  I have got to do better.  All I can say is, I'm going to try...

So, let's see we have been crazy busy around here, so grab a cup of tea and let's get caught up :)

Dante is doing great.  He is 18 now and I am left in shock.  He will be out of school in a couple of weeks and then immediately leaves for a trip with one of his teachers to Greece and Turkey.  They will be studying Greek Mythology.  So he won't be home until June sometime.

Little Miss is great.  She is just all over the place with interests right now.  She is studying herbalism with me (we are supposed to go out on an herb walk this morning, so hopefully this rain will clear out).  We are also making our first quilt together - I can't promise it will be beautiful, but it will be done, and we will have learned a lot.  And Friday she spent most of the afternoon at the piano writing music.  So, she's an eclectic.

Sweetie Pie just turned 7 last month but she is still my little baby girl.  She is absolutely obsessed with horses right now.  And spends all her free moments, reading about, talking about, and playing with horses.  Oh, and I almost forgot - pretending to be a horse. Both girls have started to take some riding lessons, VERY casually, because I just couldn't take it anymore! LOL  No really, they have both been passionate about horses for months now, with no end in sight.  So I figured I had to find a way to let them follow their passions.  They are both a natural on the horse, so we will see how far they go with it.

My little Boo Bear is now 14 months and is absolutely adorable.  He is walking everywhere, making lots of mischief.  His favorite word is "No" and he says it constantly.  Actually it is generally more of an "uh-uh" with a shaking of the head.  Absolutely adorable.  He has admirers where ever we go and is generally just a really sweet good natured little guy.

School wise we finished up our Renaissance Unit a while ago.  We ended it with a trip to the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and just had a great time.  We went and saw the Renaissance art, of course, but also art from a variety of time periods all over the world.  I was amazed at the level of art knowledge coming out of my children's mouths!  It was just incredible.  When they compared art pieces to each other and discussed what made the impressionist art different from the Renaissance.  I was amazingly impressed.  Even one of the guards (there was a guard in every room) commented that he had never heard such young children with such a high level of art understanding.  So I was really impressed.

So now we are doing the PIlgrims and having a lot of fun with that.  In addition to our readings we are making a salt dough map of the 13 colonies.  And we are also doing the Evan Moor History Pockets on Life at Plymouth Plantation (my girls said that they love the History Pockets and hate lapbooks.  Go figure...)  We will finish up this unit with a trip to Plymouth Plantation.

This summer the girls are going to a Girl Scout Day Camp for 5 weeks.  Is it wrong for me to say that I can't wait??  They get along great for the most part, but have been getting on each other's nerves lately.  I think they could really use some time apart.  They will be in different groups at camp so that will be good for them.  I love homschooling them, but am looking forward to having a break from them too. And I am looking forward to some time alone with the baby.

So for the most part that gets everyone caught up in our life.  I WILL blog again soon!

Posted in Family

Argh!  Now you know why I made my blog public!  I have this tendency to let life get away from me.  I felt sure that if I knew people were reading I couldn't drop it for long.  Well, I did, but enough people told me to get back on there and get my butt in gear so here I am. :)

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted.

So here are a few things that have been happening:

We are now on Week 17 and enjoying the Renaissance.  Almost done with it actually.  But we have been having a lot of fun.

A few weeks ago we celebrated Dante's 18th birthday, and Baby Boo's first birthday in one weekend.  Yes, my baby was born the day after my oldest son's 17th birthday.  I am crazy.  The weekend was emotional, but good.

A couple of other Jewish family and I are starting a Jewish studies co-op, and I am hopeful that will be good.

Both Little Miss and Sweetie Pie Girl have started blogs on HSB as well.  Mainly just for fun and mischief.  But it gives them their own websites.  Little Miss is writing under the name SimchaK and SPG is writing under the name Avinka.  You can find them on my friend's list.

Little Miss went to a Jewish Girl's Retreat last weekend in Saratoga NY.  She was the youngest one there and I was really nervous about letting her go, but she did great.  It was also her first time away from home.  But everyone loved her there.

We also did some photos of the younger kids a few weeks ago.  Dante was away at school so unfortunately he isn't in them, and it seems strange saying "pics of my kids" without one of kids!  But it is what it is.  Enjoy!

Posted in Other Ramblings

So, I had to go to the mall last night and saw that Children's Place was having a huge clearance sale, so I bought a few things.  When I got home and told DH the prices, he said you should have bought more (LOL, I can never win).  So I stopped at another mall today and got a ton more stuff and saved a bundle.  CP is one of the few places I can get clothes that meet our modesty standards, so this is a HUGE big deal for me!

I got a whole BUNCH of long sleeve cotton shirts - almost all solids, but a couple of stripes, for $3 (originally $12)!  I got some sweaters for $5, the microfiber tights are only $1 (usually $4.50), and the thick cotton ones are $2 ($from $6.00)!  There was only one style of tznius skirt on sale and that was $8 - so I bought one of those for each girl as well.  All together I got almost $400 worth of clothes for about $100.

I didn't check out the boys clothes at all, but there was a bunch there too.  There were also girl's pants and pajamas, etc...

I have no clue when it ends...

Thought this might help someone!

Posted in Family

OK, so I am not really channeling Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady... Well, maybe just a little bit.

Little Miss and I had a discussion today.  It went like this:

LM:  Does the President live in the capital and run the state from there?
Me:  Not exactly.  The president lives in the country's capital and runs the whole country from there.  Do you remember where the capital of America is?
LM:  Washington, DC
Me:  Right!  The governor runs the state from the state capital.
LM: Oh, OK, I get it.  So is the President in charge of all the governors?
Me:  Not exactly.  The Governors all run their states government. And the president runs all the national government stuff and works with other countries.
LM:  Oh, so it is like the Feudal system!  The President is like the King.  And then the Governors are the Lords, and then the kids are all the peasants.
Me:  The kids are the peasants?
LM:  Absolutely!  We have to follow the rules our parents give us an do what they say.
Me:  But you don't work for me.
LM:  But we do chores.

This went on for a while and i won't bother you with the rest.  Let's just say that my little lawyer of a daughter was actually able to come up with some good reasons how we still live in a Feudal society today with kids as the peasants.  Oy vey.

But at least I know she has a good understanding of a Feudal Society from our Middle Ages unit :)

Posted in Curriculum

I am going to try to do a weekly update from now on. After all, that was one of the reasons I created this blog!  I was hoping to do it on Sunday but I am a little late this week.  We have been going from sickness to sickness to sickness lately.  Right now it is stomach flu...  DH got it last Wednesday night and was down for the count at the end of the week.  I kept hoping it was food poisoning, but it wasn't.  Not two minutes after I lit Shabbos candles on Friday night, the baby started throwing up.  Sunday afternoon, both girls started within 30 minutes of each other.  Now today, Dante started.  I am the only one left standing...  But I am holding strong and praying fervently that I don't get it.  Isn't there a rule some place that mom's can't get sick??

Then when you top it off with the foot of snow we got today, well let's just say it hasn't been the easiest of weeks.

For the most part last week was pretty good.  We began our Renaissance Unit and all in all it was a nice quiet week.

So here is a general overview of our week for Little Miss (3rd Grade - age 8) and Sweetie Pie (2nd Grade - age 6):

History -Done all together:
Quigley Pages 4-11, Intro to Renaissance
Story of the World Book 2 -Chapter 35 (Book on CD) Renaissance
Jewish History - 1 page with a general overview of how despite persecutions Jews got involved in Business, Science and art then also

I also had planned 4 activities for their lapbooks this week, but I was really pushing them to work on it.  So we sat down and had a little talk.  I told them that I had planned the lapbooks because I thought that they would like it.  I reminded them that last year when we were doing the Ancients we had done the Evan Moor History Pockets and they had really enjoyed them -and they agreed that they had.  Since there weren't History Pockets for the Middle Ages/Renaissance I had thought that lapbooks would be a good substitute and that I got them because I thought they would really enjoy them.  They both told me that they did not like doing the lapbooks,and that they weren't the same as the History Pockets.  Since I had gotten the lapbooks for fun, I decided not to force them to do them.  We will pick up other craft activities from TOG instead to do occassionally.  I need to go look it up, but I believe there are History Pockets on Colonial America and they said they would like to do that, so i will look into adding that next Unit.

Math: 
LM - Adding 4 digit numbers with carrying, place value to 100,000, writing numbers in Standard and Expanded Form
SP - Counting by 4's and 5's, Estimating, Greater than and less than

Spelling/Grammar/Handwriting
We are doing the easy way out with Spelling this year, since we are doing so many other very parent intensive curriculum.  I needed something easy, so we are just using the Spectrum Spelling Workbooks.  At the suggestion of TOG we are using Easy Grammar for Grammar and absolutely love that!  Grammar has quickly become LM's favorite subject.  For Handwriting we are using Zaner Bloser which is recommended in The Well Trained Mind, after trying a few other programs I wasn't happy with.  LM had done some cursive last year, but I wasn't happy with it and decided she wasn't ready.  So I brought her back to a practice handbook and decided to keep them together this year.  This week both girls started cursive (SP for the first time)

LM - Spelling Level 3 - Lesson 9, short u words (like Month, Monday, etc..)  Not sure how we got two lessons behind but that's fine.  Grammar Grade 3 covered mostly contractions all week.  Began cursive writing, letters a-d.

SP - Spelling Level 2 - Lesson 10, words with mp, ng and sk.  Grammar grade 2 is a mixed bag every day generally combining capitalization, punctuation, alphabetizing, parts of speech and making more complex sentences.  SP took to cursive like a fish to water.  She sat down last Monday and did letters a-g and all intermediate pages, before I made her stop.  She loved it.

Literature
LM - I, Juan de Parrera chapters 1-4 as well as a worksheet on re-naming the 1st 4 chapters.  She will be reading this book for 2 more weeks.  For unassigned reading this week she chose from the library Black Beauty which she seems to be enjoying.  She also started the Chronicles of Narnia, reading books 1 and 2 this week and starting book 3.
SP - Leonardo's Horse, we also went through the book and found adjectives and the nouns they were describing.  For reading on her own this week, she has been working through Beverly Cleary books, this week reading Henry Huggins and the Paper Route and Ralph S. Mouse

Art/Music/Misc
Artistic Pursuits Book 2 - Cimabue and Giotto, read a little about their lives and artwork, examined some of their paintings and then made water color paintings.
Music - Story of the Orchestra - Studied the makeup of the orchestra, development of string instruments and then violins.  We also listened to violin music.
Both girls also worked on their typing skills.
Wednesday morning, we made an impulse trip to go ice skating.  Also, after a 3 week vacation, the girls dance and gymnastics class resumed.

Hebrew Studies:
Studied Parsha Bo (Exodus 10.1 - 13.16)  Read the story and did the kids pages on Chabad.org

Modern Hebrew - We are studying how all nouns in Hebrew have a gender.  Since this is not the case in English, it is something they struggle with, so i am going slow. Did a bunch of vocab and worked on matching adjectives to nouns. 

Prayer - Working on memorizing the V'ehavta prayer (Deuteronomy 6.5-9) when we learned the part about writing these words on the doorposts of your house, we learned out Mezuzahs and where they do and do not go.  Counted all the mezuzahs in the house for fun (17!)

Chumash -Continued with Parsha Lech Lecha (Genesis 12.1 - 17.7)  Reading slowly in Hebrew dissecting it into Modern Hebrew and translating into English as we go.  Also studying the shoresh (root letters) and some of the Rashi commentary.

Tzivos HaShem - Learned about the Jewish Leap Year when we add a second month of Adar and where things fall when it is a leap year.

Wow, writing it all out, it seems like we did a lot!  I am so glad I am doing this.  In reality, I don't think we ever did school for more than 3 hours a day.

Posted in Curriculum

The Renaissance Unit - what can I say?  I really don't see how anyone would love it as written.  But I am sure some people do.  For those who haven't seen it, it is a 9 week long unit on the Renaissance.  4 of those weeks are spent studying just the Reformation.  Most of the rest of it is on Explorers.  One week is on Art.  Seriously - that is the curriculum for the Grammar Stage (K-5 approx)  I was just dumbfounded that anyone would want their 2nd and 3rd graders spending a month on the Reformation.  I am not saying that it isn't important, but C'MON!

Anyway, I decided that we were going to put a lot more emphasis on the re-awakening of Europe.  And once I decided how I was going to do that it was actually pretty easy to re-write the curriculum.  First I decided that we would use The Renaissance by Mary Quigley as our spine instead.  This was one of the Upper Grammar Alternate books.  I took the book and divided it by 7 weeks (I wanted the last two weeks to study the Aztecs and the Explorers).  This came to about 8 pages a week and it actually was a fairly nice split of topics.  And that gave us a theme for every week.  I then added in the HOAC Lapbook on the Renaissance (instead of the TOG Unit 2 Lapbook which would all be on the Reformation).  I assigned activities from that lapbook which would go with each weeks theme.  Since I already had Story of the WorId (SOTW) pulled out some chapters from that and added them in as well.  Along with some pages from our Jewish History Spine.  As I said, the last couple of weeks will be more on explorers which will segue nicely into our Colonial America unit I think.

I then went through the Literature selections that TOG had and discarded any that we didn't want and re-arranged what was left to fit more with the new schedule.  I then filled in some blank weeks with some books from the Sonlight reading list, after remembering that my biggest complaint with The Well Trained Mind is that if you only read literature selections to match your history, you are losing out on some really good books!  So not everything they will be reading is history related, but that is just fine.  I also added in some Jim Weiss CDs since he has some good ones for this time period.

Finally I decided to put more emphasis on Art and Music with this unit.  I already had Artistic Pursuits Book 2 (for K-3) so we are using that covering an artist every week.  I am also using Story of the Orchestra covering the different instruments during this unit (many of which were developed during this time period).  We will do the book backwards, and will move into the composers in the next unit.

We will stick with Writing Aids in the order it is, but just change the topics.  This is easy enough.  Little Miss (level 3) will spend the first 4 weeks doing a photo essay. She has chosen to do it on Michelangelo. After that she will spend the last 5 weeks writing a realistic story.  Sweetie Pie Girl (level 2) will learn about writing a paragraph for the first 2 weeks, and then will spend the next 7 weeks making a display board (topic TBA).

We will end the whole unit off with a Field trip to the Museum of Fine Art in Boston.

So this is basically how it breaks down:

Week 1

Quigley 4-11  Introduction to Renaissance
LapBook – Activities 1-4
SOTW Chapter 35
Jewish History – Page 161
I, Juan De Perrara - LM
Leonardo’s Horse – SPG
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– Cimabue/Giotto (watercolors with Gold Leaf)
Story of the Orchestra – Strings

Week 2

Quigley 12-19  Government Church and Reformation
Lapbook – Activities 12, 13, 19, 21
SOTW 36
Jewish History – Page 166
I, Juan De Perrara – LM
Good Queen Bess – SPG
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– Limbourg (Paper Mache)
Story of the Orchestra – Strings

 Week 3

Quigley 20-27 – Family Life, Clothing, School, Farming
Lapbook Activities 5-8
I, Juan De Perrara – LM
Tippy Lemay – SPG
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– Van Eyck (Layering Oil Pastels)
Story of the Orchestra – Woodwinds

 Week 4

Quigley 28-35 – Cities, Homes, Food and Sports
Lapbook Activities  9, 14, 15, 18
Jewish History – Page 164-165
The Secret Garden – Sima
Paint Brush Kid – Abigail
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– DaVinci (textured watercolors)
Story of the Orchestra – Woodwinds

Week 5

Quigley 36-43 – Crafts, Middle Class, Printing, Literature
Lapbook Activities 10 11
SOTW 39
Shakespeare for children – jim weiss CD
Bard of Avon Shakespeare Bio -Sima
The Secret Garden – LM
Midsummer’s night Dream by Corville - SPG
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– Michelangelo (apple carvings)
Story of the Orchestra – Brass 

Week 6

Quigley 44-51 – Science and Art
Lapbook Activities 16, 17, 20
SOTW – 37, 39
Galileo and the stargazers – Jim Weiss CD
The Secret Garden – LM
Hana in the Time of the Tulips – SPG
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– Raphael (tempera painting)
Story of the Orchestra – Brass

 Week 7

Quigley 52 – 59 – Exploration/Trade
Lapbook Activities 22-24
SOTW 31, 32
Morning Girl (Columbus) – LM
Pedro’s Journal – SPG
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– Anguissola (tempera over oil)
Story of the Orchestra – Percussion

Week 8

Aztecs
SOTW – 28, 33, 40
Around the world in 100 years – LM
Broken Shields (Aztecs) –SPG
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– Durer (block printing)
Story of the Orchestra – Percussion

 Week 9

 Africa/India
SOTW – 29, 30, 41-42
Jewish History – Page 167-175
Around the world in 100 years – LM
Encounter (Columbus) – SPG
Artistic Pursuits Book 2– Bruegel (painting with vegetables)
Story of the Orchestra – Keyboards/Conductor

 End of Unit Celebration –Field Trip to Boston Museum of Fine Art

I am also going to make an honest attempt to post a weekly update report on my blog every week.  I know lots of people do that and it seems like it would be helpful.

So, what do you think?  Thoughts suggestions and ideas are always welcome!

Posted in Holidays

I have always thought of New Year's Day as a pretty innocuous holiday.  I remember as a kid trying to stay up until midnight to watch the world change - and then being a bit disappointed when I finally made it and nothing happened. LOL

When I was in Israel it was a big celebration as well, basically the same as the rest of the world.  The only real difference was that they called it "Sylvester's Day"  For some reason, it never even occurred to me to ask "why?"

And then just last year a friend asked me if I knew why they called it Sylvester's Day and since I didn't I decided to do a bit of research.  What I found was a bit appalling and I now strongly believe that my family can not celebrate January 1st.

Before I go into that history, I just want to say that this is my personal belief and that there is no Jewish law against celebrating January 1st that I am aware of.  I know many members of my community went to "First Night" and one person in particular seemed to think it strange that I wouldn't go.  I certainly am not telling anyone else what to do.  But I decide what is best for my family - and we won't be celebrating.

So for those who don't know let me give a brief history of New Year's.

Julius Ceasar first set New Year's Day as a Pagan holiday on January 1st.  He set this day because he had named the month after the Roman god Janus, the god of doors and gates.  Janus had 2 faces - one looking forward and one looking back, and Ceasar felt that was appropriate for the start of the year.  He celebrated that first New Year by ordering an attack of Jewish "leaders" in the Galilee.  The carnage was absolutely immense, with blood flowing in the streets. 

When the Roman Empire became Chr-stian under Constantine, New Year's Day was moved to March 25.  This is Annunciation Day - the day Mary was told she would have a baby.  William the Conquerer tried to move it back to January 1st to coincide with his coronation in 1066, but it never took hold.

It wasn't until the 1582 that Pope Gregory decided to move the date to January 1st - to coincide with what would have been J-sus's circumcision (if in fact he had been born on Dec 25, which most scholars agree that he wasn't).  Gregory made this change as a part of a bunch of other changes he made to the calendar (now called the Gregorian Calendar) - establishing leap years, etc..

To celebrate that first New Year's, Pope Gregory decreed that all Jews had to attend church that day to listen to a conversion sermon.  Those not attending would be punished with death.

The next year Gregory enacted a new law imposing a tax on all Jews to support a "House of Conversion" whose main goal was to convert Jews.

The next New Year's Day he ordered all sacred texts be confiscated from all Jews living in the Roman Empire.  Many Jews of course were slaughtered in this confiscation.

You can begin to see a pattern.  For the next few centuries, New Year's Day was always a day of anti-Jewish activities.  The reason being  that J-sus's circumcision supposedly signified the birth of Ch-stianity and the end of Judaism.

So where does, Sylvester fit in to all this?  Sylvester was Pope during the Council of Nicea under Emperor Constantine.  He is now a Catholic saint, and like all Saints he has his own day -I believe it is his birthday.  So, under the Catholic Church, December 31 is St. Sylvester's Day.

Sylvester is known for encouraging Constantine to pass a whole host of anti-semitic laws- including the expulsion of all Jews from Jerusalem.  Constantine, as you may know, was the first Ch-stian Roman Emperor.

So for the Jews living in Israel today they have decided to take Sylvester Day and show that they are still in Israel, despite him.  So for them it is a gala celebration of Jews once again living in the Holy Land.

For me, living in America, I feel no desire to celebrate today.

Posted in Curriculum

Well we finished up TOG Year 2 Unit 1 a bit ago and then took a break for a bit and will be starting Unit 2 today.  Before we move on I wanted to blog a bit with some final thoughts on the Middle Ages and things we added to it.

First of all, I need to say that we had a TON of fun with this unit!  We had some great field trips and learned a lot.  Our lap books are great (we used the TOG ones for this unit).  We actually did not have a big end of unit celebration.  We had considered it, but we had already been to a medieval feast at Castle Anam Cara.  We had also been to a Renaissance Faire.  And had even been to the Higgins Armory Museum.  There wasn't really anything we could do to top it.  And since it was Chanukah when we were ending, we celebrated that instead.  I do already have End of Unit Trips planned for the next 2 Units, so that will make up for it I think.

People area always asking me what I supplement with, so I thought I would talk about that instead.

First I have an all around Jewish History Spine that I am using.  I pull pages from there whenever it is appropriate.  The spine I am using is a 2 book set called "Understanding Jewish History" by Sol Scharfstein,  A lot of this set is available at Google books

I have linked to the first book, which goes up through the Middle Ages.  Book 2 starts with the Renaissance and is here to.  This is just a matter of fact account of Jewish History.  I would put it at an upper Elementary level, and I often just pull out important points instead of reading it word for word.

Probably the foremost Jewish historian is Rabbi Berel Wein.  Doing a search for his name on Amazon will get you pages of his books.  His website (click on his name to link to it) it also a veritable treasure chest of information.  I use it a lot for myself.  His books called "Sand and Stars" are an excellent Jewish Children's History series, but a bit old for my girls.  I fully intend to use them through the middle school/dialectic stage years.

Also, on Aish.com Ken Spiro, another excellent Jewish Historian has written a Crash Course in Jewish History.  It is all listed in time line form and is an easy way to find material to supplement with. 

For anyone really wanting to understand Jewish History, I would skip the Josephus, and check out these resources.

A few other books we supplemented with specifically for this unit:

The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela: Through Three Continents in the Twelfth Century by Uri Shulevitz.  This is a picture book based on the journals of Benjamin of Tudela.  A real Jewish traveler who explored most of the known world during the Crusades.  The journals have been edited and written for children, but the reading level is really for upper elementary ages. But it is a picture book and the pictures really add to the story.  An interesting fact about Benjamin of Tudela - while he never went to China, he was the first person to ever mention it's existence in his journals - more than 100 years before Marco Polo went there.  This book is the very definition of a "living book".  It really helped bring this period alive for my daughters.

The Fateful Mission by Meir Baram  (sorry I couldn't find a picture of it).  I assigned this book to Little Miss.  It is probably appropriate for ages 10-14 more though.  But she could handle it.  This story is historical fiction placed in France during the 13th Century (during the Crusades) and is based on actual events.  It is about a young man who is trying to save the Talmud before the Crusaders get there to destroy it.  I chose this book for Little Miss, because it was about saving books instead of people, so violence was less in this book.

2 other books which I also considered - and may have them read when they are older - were The Parnas also by Meir Baram and Fall of the Sun God by  Henye Meyer both of these books were about Jewish young people who were trying to escape from the crusades but they detail a lot more death and destruction than Little Miss is ready for.  They are both excellent books and would make nice additions to a middle school or older curriculum though.

So those are the major things we used.  I think for us a lot of it was more what we left out - which was a lot.  But I think my girls have a great handle on the Middle Ages.  We now move on to the Renaissance!

Posted in Other Ramblings

Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged!!  Time has been running away from me lately.  The big reason is that little baby boo has become exceedingly mobile.  I swear that baby has become part monkey.  I spend all day just running after him.  We weren't even able to do school for a couple of days.  Fortunately, we now have gates up and can confine him to an area a little easier.    We did finish up Unit 1 of Tapestry of Grace Year 2 and I do want to blog about that, and maybe will tomorrow.  As well as what we supplemented with.  And also since a few people have asked, what I have been using for our Jewish spine. 

But tonight, I wanted to share an article in the local Jewish paper about my work as a birth doula.  The reporter spelled my name wrong, and I am misquoted a little bit a few times but in general it is a nice article.

Local Women Offer Services to Area's Expectant Mothers

Since I am not sure how long the article is going to remain on-line and I want to keep a copy of it, I am going to put a copy of it here as well. 

Today is also my birthday - a big one ending in a 0.  So feel free to leave me a comment and wish me a happy birthday. :)

The article was in the December 14, 2007 Edition of the Jewish Advocate and was written by Molly Ritvo.

In accordance with Jewish law, many modern-day doulas – women who assist mothers during and after childbirth – are providing contemporary Jewish women in the Boston area with the same support that their ancestors received for millennia.

“There is something incredibly sacred surrounding the birth of a child,” said Yonit Kastan of Worcester, who is a doula. “At every birth I attend, I feel Hashem’s [God’s] presence.”

In addition to offering emotional guidance for the mother, father, and child, certain doulas, like Kastan and Miriam Reyder of Sharon, also offer religious support. Both women are Orthodox Jews and perform their doula services in accordance with halacha.

“My practice of being a doula is about using halacha to surround the laboring woman and the new baby with kedusha [holiness],” said Reyder.

Reyder explained that a doula is essentially a “woman’s partner” who provides massages, relaxation and birthing techniques, encouragement with breathing and movement during labor, and cares for both the mother and child after birth.

Because Reyder and Kastan follow traditional Jewish laws, certain rules, such as honoring Shabbat when Jews are commanded not to work, are respected, while exceptions are granted.
Reyder said she is able to work on Shabbat because, according to the Mishnah, a woman in labor is considered to be in “eminent danger.”

“Because this is a matter of health, certain exceptions are made,” she added.
When these exceptions, called “heders,” arise, Jewish doulas are not only allowed to work, but are in fact obligated to do anything possible to help a laboring woman, according to Kastan.

Jewish doulas must also make special requests of hospitals, Reyder said, because Jewish law requires that there be modesty and dignity during labor.

“I request that only female staff attend the birth and that there be no students, hospital house staff or other non-labor essential personnel in the room during labor and birth,” Reyder said.
Additionally, the husband is halachally prohibited from looking directly at his wife’s birth canal and, because a woman in childbirth attains a status similar to “niddah” (meaning unclean), physical contact between the couple is prohibited and the husband may not see his wife undressed, according to NISHMAT, The Jerusalem Center for Advanced Jewish Study for Women.

Because most professional doulas are not aware of the specifics of Jewish law, both Kastan and Reyder said they believe it is important for a birthing mother to have a Jewish doula by her side.

“My job is halachically commanded to offer support to the child-bearing mother in the best way possible,” Kastan said. “I support the mother in whatever kind of birth she wants and hope to make her experience the most holy one it can be.”

Added Reyder: “The Lubavitcher Rebbe said that ‘it is known that what a one-day-old baby sees and hears will have an influence on the child even many years later.’ For this reason, surrounding the child with kedusha will have a long lasting effect.”

ACK!  I think I missed a day of Chanukah.  My plan to blog everyday failed.  I am trying to find a way to say that since Jewish days start at sunset, I am really OK.  But I am not sure....  Yesterday was busy, but I also wasn't sure what else I really had to say about Chanukah.

I wracked my brain and came up with a topic -GELT!!  I have mentioned gelt a couple of times, so I should probably explain what it is.  Gelt means "money".  The traditional Chanukah gift is to give your children some coins every night.  Nowadays they also make chocolate coins, which is my favorite part of the holiday. LOL

The reason for the gelt is to help teach your children the value of charity (tzedekah in Hebrew).  Chanukah has the same root word as the Hebrew word chinuch which means "education" which is of course a crucial part of the Chanukah story.  As I mentioned a few days ago, many Jews had adopted Greek ways.  After the rebellion, they needed to be re-taught and brought back to Torah.

By giving the children gelt, we encourage them to increase in good deeds and charity.  Chanukah gelt celebrates our freedom and teaches us to use our material weath for spiritual means.

Posted in Holidays

As I mentioned yesterday it is customary to eat Dairy foods during Chanukah in honor of Yehudit.  Since her story isn't very well known I thought I would tell it.

First let me say that the story of Yehudit is quasi-legend (but don't let it get around that I said so!).  It was passed orally for centuries, but then some written copies were found of it as well.  These copies were in Hebrew and a Greek translation.  No one knows exactly when she lived, but it is believed that she was a daughter of Yochanon, the High Priest who Antiochus had removed, and that her story took place during Chanukah.  So we celebrate her now.

Yehudit was a young Jewish widow who lived in the town of Bethulia in northern Judea.    She was known for her kindness, good deeds and acts of charity - as well as her devoutness.

Then the Syrian-Greek Army invaded with Holofernes at it's helm.  He was a merciless invader, destroying all men, women and children in his path.  The Jews fought bravely but were no real match.  He closed off all access to food and water to the residents and they were in great despair.  Their faith was wavering and they wanted to surrender.  Uzzia was leader of the Jews and he convinced the townspeople to wait it out 5 more days.

Yehudit went to Uzzia and said that she had a plan, and asked if she could leave the town and go see Holfernes.  At first Uzzia refused, but eventually gave in, and let her go to what they believed would be her death.

The townspeople all prayed for Yehudit as she left the town, dressed in her finest clothes,  with a basket of cheese and wine.  She told the sentries that she had come to see Holfernes, and due to her beauty she was allowed in.

She told Holfernes that she wanted to help him capture the town, if he would be merciful with the survivors.  She said that since her husband had died, the town had become unbearable, so she had wanted to meet the general.

She told him that the people were desperate, but had unwavering faith and would never surrender.  But they were running out of food and would soon have to turn to non-kosher animals.  When they did that, G-d would be angry with them and the town would fall.  Yehudit promised to spy for Holfernes and tell him when they had started eating non-kosher animals so that he could storm the walls of the city.

Holfernes was captivated by Yehudit and gave orders that she not be harmed and that he would marry her when the battle had been won.  So she was now able to walk back and forth to the town without fear of being harmed.  Everyday she went up to the town gate and told the townspeople to be strong that she had won Holfernes' trust.  Holfernes, though, secure in his victory, spent his days getting drunk with his aids.

On the 3rd day, Holfernes called Yehudit and asked for news.  She told him that they had run out of kosher food that day and within 2 days they would resort to non-kosher food.  Thrilled by the news, Holfernes said he wanted to celebrate -alone with Yehudit, and she agreed.

Yehudit brought her wine and cheese to his tent that night and told him that she had been saving this for just the occassion.  She fed him chunk after chunk of the cheese, which was of course salty and made him thirsty.  She satisfied his thirst with her strong wine.  Until he was sprawled on the ground - dead drunk.

She prayed to G-d asking him for strength.  Then she took Holfernes' heavy sword and brought it down on his neck, decapitating him.

She wrapped up the head and hid it under her cloak and walked back to the town slowly, so as not to arouse suspicion.

She then brought the head to Uzzia, and told him that they needed to attack the enemy camp at once.  They would be surprised and not even know that Holfernes was dead yet.  When the enemy finds Holfernes' body they will all flee for their lives.

Which is exactly what happened - and was a key turning point in the revolt against the Greeks.

We celebrate the heroism of that brave woman, whose thoughts and actions were only for her people and for her G-d. That is the reason that cheese is eaten during Chanukah, to remember the heroism of that righteous woman, Yehudit.

As I said on Day 1, the title is the theme of most Jewish holidays.  Chanukah is definitely no exception!  I put on 5 lbs just thinking about the holiday. LOL

For Chanukah it is traditional to eat food fried in oil, in honor of the miracle of the oil.  It is also traditional to eat dairy in honor of Yehudit  -whose story I will share tomorrow.

The two most tradtional foods are latkes, which are potato pancakes and sufganiyot, which are jelly doughnuts.  No Chanukah celebration would be complete without these tasty treats!

I am going to share the recipes for both.  Enjoy!

Potato Latkes

Ingredients:

5 large potatoes, peeled
1 large onion
3 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. pepper
¾ cup oil for frying

Use: 10-inch skillet
Yields: 4 to 6 servings

Grate potatoes and onion on the fine side of a grater, or in a food processor; or put in a blender with a little water.

Strain grated potatoes and onion through a colander, pressing out excess water. Add eggs, flour, and seasoning. Mix well.
Heat ½ cup oil in skillet. Lower flame and place 1 large tablespoon batter at a time into hot sizzling oil and fry on one side for approximately 5 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and fry on other side 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from pan and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Continue with remaining batter until used up, adding more oil when necessary.

Serve with applesauce and sour cream on the side.

Also a shortcut for great latkes, is to buy already grated hash brown potatoes and then just mix in the other ingredients.  I have been known to do this when I don't have time to grate potatoes and really there isn't a huge difference.

Now there are easier Jelly Doughnut recipes out there and this one is a bit of a big deal to make, but they are absolutely delicious and after having them you may never want store bought doughnuts again.  This recipe comes from chabad.org

Sufganiyot

Ingredients

1 ounce fresh yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm nondairy creamer
1/2 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup margarine
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tbsps. sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm nondairy creamer
2 3/4 cups flour

Filling
Jam or Italian Pastry Cream
1 pound solid shortening
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Use: Double boiler
4-quart pot
Yields: 18 to 24 doughnuts

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm nondairy creamer. Pour 1/2 cup flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in dissolved yeast and a pinch of salt; mix well. Cover bowl with a towel and let stand in a warm place until sponge is double in bulk, about 1 hour.

While dough is rising, melt margarine in top of double boiler over boiling water. Remove from flame and pour margarine into a large bowl and allow to cool 15 to 20 minutes. When cool, add egg yolks one at a time and mix. Add sponge to egg yolk mixture and beat well for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add sugar and 1/2 cup of lukewarm nondairy creamer, stirring continuously. When completely mixed, add 2 1/2 cups of flour a little at a time, continuing to stir mixture. Once all the flour has been added, continue kneading until dough detaches from sides of the bowl. Cover bowl with a towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of flour over board and place dough on it. Gently roll out with a rolling pin to 1/4-inch thickness. With 2-inch cookie cutter cut out twenty-eight circles.

On fourteen circles, place 1 teaspoon of jam or pastry cream. Moisten edges with finger dipped in a glass of water. Cover pastry with remaining fourteen circles. Press edges together tightly. Cover doughnuts and let rise 1 hour.

In a 4-quart pot, melt 1 pound solid shortening. Deep-fry each doughnut 1/2 minute on each side. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Once cool sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

If however you prefer an easier version to make, there is always this recipe.  This is a great family project to make with your kids.  I used to teach Hebrew school and always made them with my class of 5th graders.

Sufganiyot (easier recipe)

2-1/2 cups self-rising flour
2 (8-ounce) cartons vanilla low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
2 eggs
6 cups canola oil
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup seedless strawberry jelly

1. In a large bowl, place flour, yogurt, vanilla sugar and eggs.
2. Knead until all ingredients are combined and a sticky, doughy batter is formed. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Heat 6 cups canola oil in a 6-quart stockpot, covered, over medium heat.
4. When dough is ready, uncover oil and raise heat to high.
5. Scoop out a tablespoonful of batter and drop in oil. Don't make the doughnuts too big, so they can cook through.
6. You should be able to fry about 7 doughnuts at a time. Using a slotted spoon, turn doughnuts when halfway browned, about 30 seconds to 1minute. Fry for another 2 to 3 minutes or until entire doughnut is deep golden brown and cooked through.
7. Remove doughnuts and let cool on paper towel-lined plates. Repeat previous two steps with remaining batter.
8. Fill a squeeze bottle with jelly and inject a little into each doughnut.
9. Roll each doughnut in confectioners' sugar. Or shake 3 doughnuts at a time in a paper bag filled with confectioners' sugar.

 

Enjoy and don't forget the chocolate coins for desert!

Chanukah Day 3!!  I thought we would do something a little lighter today!  First, I don't have much time since Shabbos starts in less than 2 hours.  But also because today - the 27th of Kislev - is my birthday.  My secular one isn't for a few more weeks, but we celebrate both.  This is also one of those big ones ending in a 0.  The one that my beautiful, sweet children have told me makes me "officially old'".  Don't you just love kids?

So, since I am celebrating i thought we could all play a game of dreidel!

A dreidel is a little spinning top.  It has four sides and on each side is a different Hebrew letter.  The letters are Nun, Gimel, Hay and Shin and they stand for Nes Gadol Haya Sham which is Hebrew for "A great miracle happened there."  In Israel the Shin is replaced by the letter Pei and the phrase is Nes Gadol Haya Po  "A great miracle happened here"

Like all Jewish holiday traditions, this game also has a reason.  As I mentioned yesterday, the Syrians outlawed all Jewish practices.  This of course, included teaching Torah.  That didn't really stop the Jews though.  They taught the children in caves, forests, basements where ever they could do it in hiding.  However they brought little spinning tops with them and if they were discovered by the soldiers, they would quickly pull out the tops and pretend they were just playing a game.

To Play Dreidel the following items are needed:

A Dreidel (at least one - for faster play give everyone their own)
At least 2 players, but the more the merrier
Things to 'ante' with - chocolate gelt is traditional (chocolate coins), but you can also use peanuts, raisins, pennies.  My kids often use the unit cubes from their math manipulatives.
A flat surface to spin the dreidel on

A platter of latkes (potato pancakes) or sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) to snack on would of course be optional!  (PS:  Tomorrow I will share some Chanukah recipes!)

How to play:

The ante is split evenly among all players.  Everyone puts one piece into the middle.The youngest player spins first and then clockwise from there.

What you do on your turn, depends on what letter your dreidel lands on.

If it lands on a Nun -well nothing happens.  You do nothing and it is the nest person's turn.  Better luck next time. :)

If it lands on a Gimel - you get everything!  The whole pot is yours.  Obviously everyone wants a gimel.  After someone gets a gimel, everyone (including the original spinner) has to but a piece back in the middle to start again.

If it lands on a Hay - you get half the pot.  Not as good as a gimel, but still pretty good!

If it lands on a Shin - This is the worst spin that everyone hates.  If it lands on a shin you need to put another one of your units into the pot.

If you want to see what the letters look like (so you know what you just spun!) you can take a look here
This is actually a link to the Chabad.org kids Chanukah page.  I love this site for kids and it is a lot of fun to explore.  Watch the Itchy and Kadoozy video - they are my kids favorite! LOL

Most of all the game is about having fun and being together!

Also, since dreidel really is a gambling game I thought I would include this article from Rabbi Wein - a real Jewish Historian on the topic of Gambling in Jewish law:

Finally, I really wanted to add some Chanukah music to my blog, but was unable to figure out how.  If anyone wants to share the secret, feel free to let me know. :)

Have fun!

Posted in Holidays

So, here we are at Chanukah Day 2 and I thought i would talk about the real story of Chanukah and what we can still learn from it today.  Because it does have a very powerful message for Jews in America.

But first, I need to show this picture because it is absolutely hilarious:


I didn't take the picture, it is one that is flying around the net, but it definitely gave me a good laugh.    And while it is good to laugh, this picture is even on topic.

What?  How can a picture of a Chanukah ham be about the story of Chanukah?

Well it is a little known fact that the story of Chanukah is really one about assimilation - something I feel very strongly about.

You see the Greeks/Syrians had ruled Israel for many years before the rebellion took place (please don't make me go and look up how many years).  They infused the area with Greek culture and civilization, and invited the Jews living there to take part.  And many Jews began to find it enticing.  They began to dress in the Greek style, wrestle in the gymnasium, and go to Greek plays.  It was all very subtle at first, but the Greek way was permeating the Jews.

The Greeks of course encouraged this.  It was how they built their empire.  They conquer an area, assimilate all the natives into their civilization and they have happy citizens.  It worked for the Syrians after all.  They thought they could do the same with the Jews.  The Jews would assimilate in, give up their old ways - and their old religion - and become fine upstanding Greek citizens.

So, for the Jews anyway it all started innocently enough.  What is wrong with fitting in and enjoying Greek culture?  These assimilated Jews were called the "Mityavnim" which translates as Hellenists. 

There were of course Jews who spoke out against this trend.  Most outspoken was Yochanan who was the High priest in the Temple.  Yochanan felt strongly that if we adopted Greek ways we would lose our Jewish identity.  For the most part he was ignored, as it was fun to be a Greek!  Then Antiochus IV became emperor of Syria.

Antiochus was a tyrant, plain and simple.  He decided it was time to start unifying all his subjects under one religion.  He removed Yochanon as the High Priest in the Temple and replaced him with a Mityavnim.  He began to pass laws that would prevent Jewish laws.  At first they were things the Jews could work around so they didn't fight it.  Most Jews were Mityavnim and they felt that giving up the "old ways" and joining the Greek way was a much better way to live.

But the laws kept getting worse.  Eventually Jewish worship was forbidden.  Torah scrolls were confiscated and burned.  Keeping the Sabbath, keeping kosher, circumcision were all made illegal and punishable by death.  Soldiers went from town to town forcing Jews to bow down and pray to pagan idols.

Sadly, most of the Mityavnim didn't fight the new laws.  They chose to save their lives and abandon HaShem's commandments.

There were of course a group of loyal Jews who refused -led by Mattiyahu.  When the soldiers came he refused to bow to the idols.  When a Mityavnim came forward to do so, Mattiyahu killed him before he could.  And with that act the rebellion began.

Mattiyahu died shortly thereafter.  Before he died he called his 5 sons to him and told them to continue the fight.  Judah took over the military leadership.  They called themselves the Maccabees - an acronym for Mi Kamocha Ba’eilim Hashem "Who is like you, O G-d?"

Antiochus sent 2 armies in to defeat the Jews.  The Jews were tremendously outnumbered but defeated both armies.  So Antiochus sent 40,000 troops in.  The Maccabees declared they would fight to the death.  After more fierce battles, the Jews emerged victorious.  They rode to Jerusalem to reclaim the temple and throw out the pagan idols that had been placed there.  The rest of the story I told yesterday.

I find this story fascinating for a number of reasons - mostly having to do with being an observant Jew living in America.  Assimilation is still a huge problem for Jews today.  Far and away most Jews in America are assimilated.  Intermarriage rates are at astronomical high levels and more and more Jews are losing their identity.  Assimilation is far more likely to do what Hitler never could - eradicate the Jewish people.

So, am I the only one or does everyone else see the irony in Chanukah being one of the most celebrated holidays amongs Jews in America?  Truly almost all of the people who celebrate Chanukah here would be Mitznayim, and they didn't fight against the Syrians.  Logically, you would think most American Jews would want to forget the holiday all together.  But it gets remembered because that same assimilation problem makes them want to compete with their American neighbors.  So they tend to ignore what we were fighting for.

Now, I am using 'they" for the assimilated American Jews, but I am truly not trying to be judgemental.  I often wonder if I have assimilated too much - would I have joined the Maccabees?  I like to think I would have.  I am certainly more observant than most Jews in the US, but I am far from perfect.  My kids have webkinz, go to girl scouts, I am on the internet, we go to museums and movies....  there are a myriad of ways I have become part of American culture.  And I am certainly proud of my American heritage as well

But I like to tell myself that at my core I am a Jew first and foremost.  I am a Jewish American, whereas most Jews are American Jews.  I raise my children that while we currently live in a Jewish friendly country, things could change and that their loyalties should always be with HaShem above country.  (Right now for instance, there is a bill before our state senate that would make circumcision - even for religious reasons - illegal.  Sound familiar?).

The more things change the more they stay the same.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some articles on Assimilation: Will Your Grandchildren Be Jewish

Fighting Assimilation

This is a link to a clip from the movie "Hebrew Hammer".  It is supposed to be funny - and it is, but remember the funniest things are based in fact.  Jewlarious

Editing to add one more article.  This appeared in my mailbox this afternoon and was excellent:
Hijacking Chanukah

Posted in Holidays

Wow, time flies!  It always seems to get away from me with my crazy life.  Sorry I haven't blogged in a bit.  We have had the rounds of sickness going through the house.  And as all of you well know, when you are the mom in a house of sick people there isn't much time for anything else...  Then when you add in Chanukah preparations, well blogging just gets forgotten.

But I had this idea that i wanted to blog every day during Chanukah.  So while I make no promises, I am going to try!  Today is the first day so here we go!

Chanukah, while changing every year on the Gregorian calendar, falls on the 25th of Kislev every year on the Hebrew Calendar.  All of the Hebrew months have a different feel to them that permeates the air throughout the month.  For Kislev the theme is light and miracles.  Not hard to understand why, when you think about Chanukkah!

Which brings me to the point of today's thought.  One of the reasons I love Chanukah so much is that we are celebrating the miracle of the oil - not the battle that preceded it.  For those that don't know I will give the very basics of the story now, but will talk much more about this tomorrow.

The Greek/Syrian Army invaded Israel and destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.  A small rebel army -  led by Judah Maccabee (translates to Judah the Hammer) - led a rebellion against the invaders and despite being greatly outnumbered, won and drove the invaders out of their land.  When they went back to rebuilt the temple they found that all the olive oil had been destroyed - except for one vial.  They needed to light the everlasting flame but it would take 8 days to get more oil made, and the one vial would only last for one day.  However HaShem made a miracle and that one little vial lasted for 8 days so the flame never went out.

Which brings us to a general theme in many Jewish holidays "They tried to kill us.  We won.  Let's eat."

While that is certainly true when it comes to Chanukah, the celebration is because of HaShem's miracle with the oil.  We don't light candles for eight days because the Maccabees won the fight, which can also be described as a miracle.  We light candles for 8 days, we eat foods fried in oil, because of the miracle of the oil.  To me, that says something about who we are as a people.  It permeates how I raise my children.

Kislev is a time for miracles.  Throughout history many miraculous events have happened in Kislev, and I have also felt them very strongly personally at this time of year.  I hope all of you will step back and feel the miracles the month brings.

Posted in Other Ramblings

I have spread the word on TJ Wilson out to various people over the past few months and thought I would blog about him since there was a great article about him and his family in his local paper on Thanksgiving day.

"Family Gives Thanks for a Hearty Child"   in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Lori and Randy lived here until about 2 years ago.  I first met Lori when she was the manager of a local piano store.  Little Miss took piano lessons there and Lori and I would sit and chat while I waited.  She was pregnant with her first child and I answered a lot of her pregnancy questions.  Then I did a private childbirth ed class for her and Randy and became their doula.  I was with them with Lori gave birth to TJ in October 2005.

When Lori returned to work she brought TJ with her every day - a wonderful accomodation the store made for her.  So I got to see him  - and her  - regularly.  Until she told me she was moving home.

We e-mailed periodically and TJ was always happy and healthy.  Imagine my shock when I got a frantic e-mail last June asking for prayers for TJ, who had almost died but was then on a heart-lung machine, after what appeared to be a simple stomach flu.

TJ received a heart transplant in August and is doing well now.  But will have a lifetime of struggles ahead of him.  You can follow their updates  -and hear the full story on Lori's blog at http://www.cotafortjw.com/

Posted in Family

We have a tradition in our homeschool.  The first snow of the year is an official holiday!  As soon as we see the snow flying, we stop what we are doing and go outside and play!  Then we have hot cocoa :)

Well yesterday was the day!  The first snow of the year!  We went outside to play!  Well really, the girls just danced in it.  There wasn't enough to really play with.  No Snowmen - or even snowballs could be made.  And it is all basically gone now - which made it all the more special.  Just us out dancing and trying to catch the flakes in our hands and in our mouths!  Truly enjoying another of G-d's miracles.

Yesterday was all the more special because it was baby Boo's first snow!  Well, really not, since he was born in February.  But he was never able to play in it last year. But he did this year.  Well, when he wasn't trying to figure what the heck this stuff was.

Posted in Other Ramblings

Yesterday I was comforting a friend, and the story of Nachman Ish Gamzu came up.  This is actually one of my favorite stories from the Talmud and something I try to remind myself a lot.  Worth it enough that I wanted to share it with people that might not know it:

A story is told in the Talmud about the great Torah Sage Nachum Ish Gamzu who always said, “Gam zu letovah—This too is for the best.” One day, Nachum Ish Gamzu traveled to the Roman Emperor to give him a treasure chest full of precious metals and jewels as a gift on behalf of his community. That night he slept at an inn and stowed the jewel-laden chest in a secret hiding place. When Nachum Ish Gamzu was asleep, the innkeeper switched the chest with another.

The next morning,when Nachum Ish Gamzu was about to leave the inn, he opened the chest, and to his dismay there were no longer diamonds and rubies inside. Instead, the entire vessel was filled with sand. Nachum Ish Gamzu said, “Gam zu letovah—This too is for the best,” and continued on his way. He arrived at the palace and said, “Emperor, because of our great respect for you, my town is presenting this gift to you.” The Emperor opened the chest and saw the sand. He thought, well, there must be something else beneath it. He sifted through the sand. He dug his hand into one side of the chest, then the other. But all he found was sand. The Emperor said, “For mocking me, I will have you put to death.” Nachum Ish Gamzu’s reaction was, of course, “Gam zu letovah.” Immediately, in walked one of the sovereign’s advisers (the Talmud tells us it was Elijah the Prophet in the guise of a Roman senator). “What are you talk­ing about?” Elijah declared. “Do you think the Jews are so stupid? Do you think they are so foolish they’d give you simple sand?! This must be the same sand that Abraham (the Patriarch) used when he fought against the four kings.6 Abraham single-handedly conquered the most powerful kings of his time. Do you know how he did it? He possessed magic sand. He threw it into the air and the sand turned into knives and spears and arrows.”

“Really?” responded the Emperor. “Let’s try it out.”

At that time, the Emperor’s forces were in the midst of a war. They were trying to conquer a neighboring province, so the Emperor sent this chest to the front lines with his soldiers and they began to throw handfuls of sand toward the enemy. Lo and behold, the sand was transformed into these magic secret weapons! In a day or two, the Roman army was able to over­whelm the entire province. The Emperor thanked Nachum Ish Gamzu, saying, “Because you did this for me, I’m going to reward you with a chest of gold and silver. Take it back to your people and tell them that if they should ever need anything, they should come to me. I’ll be happy to oblige them.”

On his way back home, Nachum Ish Gamzu stopped at the same inn. The proprietor asked him, “What gift did you bring the Emperor that he showed you such honor?” He replied, “Well, you know, I had this chest full of sand. I brought it to the Emperor and this magical sand turned into arrows and spears when thrown at his enemies.” The innkeeper heard this and said to himself, “Wow! That’s the sand in my backyard!” So what did the man do? He filled up an entire wagon full of sand. The innkeeper brought it to the Emperor and said, “You know that sand Nachum Ish Gamzu brought you last week? This is the same stuff.” The Emperor was overjoyed and imme­diately sent the wagon of sand to the troops. When the “magic sand” turned out to be a sham, the infuriated Emperor ordered the execution of this deceitful innkeeper.

I copied that story from Chabad.org by the way, since they do a great job telling it. 

The story reminds us that even when we think bad things are happening, G-d knows the true purpose and would only do things that really are the best for us.

This story is often compared to a story about Rabbi Akiva.  Rabbi Akiva was a great sage in his own right, but also happened to be a student of Nachum Ish Gamzu.

Rabbi Akiva would say, “Kal d’avid Rachmana letav avid—What­ever G-d does, must be for the good.” He once traveled with a candle, a rooster, and a donkey: the candle so he could study Torah at night, the rooster—his alarm clock—to wake him up to study Torah, and finally the donkey to carry his possessions. Rabbi Akiva stopped at a city. He tried to get lodging at an inn but there was no room avail­able. Rabbi Akiva went from house to house but nobody would let him in. So what did he do? He walked into the neighboring woods and set up camp. All of a sudden, a strong wind kicked up and extinguished the candle. A few moments later, a fero­cious lion emerged from behind his tent and killed his donkey. What was left? The rooster. A ravenous cat appeared and devoured it. Rabbi Akiva was completely stuck. What did he say? “Whatever G-d does, must be for the good.”

The next morning, Rabbi Akiva discovered that a band of robbers had attacked the town during the night, mercilessly killing the people and stealing their money. The robbers escaped into the forest. If they had seen the candle, or heard the noise of the rooster and donkey, Rabbi Akiva would have met the same fate as the townspeople. G-d had saved his life by extinguishing his candle and taking his animals.

There is a big difference between  Nachum Ish Gamzu and Rabbi Akiva. Nachum Ish Gamzu said, “Gam zu letovah”: Even though something may appear negative, it is itself good. The chestful of sand itself was good, regardless of the loss of the precious jewels. And so it was. This was his philosophy (and one I try to emulate) Nachum Ish Gamzu’s approach was not that he would later see the value of the sand; its worth was immediate and intrinsic.

On the other hand, in the story of Rabbi Akiva, the actual loss of his donkey and rooster, according to him, was not good. But it was a smaller loss compared to a greater loss. Rabbi Akiva would eventually see the good the very next day. But the immediate sacrifice was viewed as negative.

All of us can learn a practical lesson from the above. When we’re taking a trip, for example, our tire might suddenly blow out. We think, “Oy vey! It’s going to kill our plans. We’ll have to spend hours changing the tire. Then we’ll have to stay at a motel instead of making the trip in one day.” Now, we could say, “Perhaps G-d is saving us from yet a worse situation that would have taken place had we continued our trip as planned.” But the emes—the truth—is that standing on the side of the road with a flat tire at that time is in itself good. Even events that are not readily perceived as being positive are totally good, since everything comes from G-d and G-d is all good.