Great and Grand-Why Grandparents are Gold!

It takes a community to raise a Jewish child, and that community includes grandparents. Here in the Greater Palm Beaches, we are blessed with many Jewish grandparents. And whether the grandparents in your life live locally or far way, they bring a wealth of experience, knowledge, and love that cannot be duplicated or replicated. Jewish grandparents represent the greatest untapped resource for influencing the lives and values of their grandchildren. This, coupled with the data we have about the importance of reading to young children, creates the perfect opportunity for them to share your Jewish heritage and history with them.


Nearly half the grandchildren of Jewish grandparents today are not being raised Jewishly, signaling a major shift in the spiritual make-up of American Jewish families. Books, specifically Jewish books, are a wonderful way to start important conversations with youngsters, bringing them even closer together.

There are many ways to weave storytelling and book reading into the shared time between child and grandparent. Here are some suggestions: 

• Take your grandchildren (whether they are visiting or live locally) to a FREE Jewish Story time at our local Jewish Community Center (www.jcconline.com).
• Read Jewish books to them: you can have FREE high-quality, age appropriate books sent them locally (or in over 130 communities in the U.S.) through The PJ Library® program, a national program created by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and implemented locally by The Friedman Commission for Jewish Education, that mails high-quality Jewish books to local children ages 6 months-6 years old. The “PJ” is for pajamas as this program was developed with bedtime reading in mind. Register at http://www.pjlibrary.org/
• Podcasting — an Internet technology that allows users to record and distribute audio — has created a communication whirlwind for grandparents to broadcast their voices to grandkids, wherever they reside. Learn more: http://www.grandparents.com/gp/content/expert-advice/long-distance-grandparenting/article/podcastlongdistancebedtimestory.html#ixzz1ZobdoDvl
• Use a list of PJ Library books to pick the perfect book to buy at a bookstore or borrow at your local public library or synagogue library to share with your grandchildren http://www.pjlibrary.org/books-and-music.aspx

Reading together can be a special time for grandparents and grandchildren to spend together. Developmentally, it is important for young children need to hear stories read to them in different voices and in varied settings. As we get closer to National Jewish Book Month (November), grandparents should take some time whether in person, over the phone, via Skype or Podcast, to share a book!

 

For information about The PJ Library in the Greater Palm Beaches or The Grandparents Circle (free 5 session course for grandparnets with a grandchild being raised in an interfaith home), contact Amy Bergman, Director of Jewish Family Life at 561-209-2608, a.bergman@cjepb.org

 

What's Jewish About My Summer Vacation...and yours

Parasailing for the first time-
surprising enough, found myself
 saying a little prayer!

I just got back from my summer family vacation. It was filled with wonderful moments of new adventures, relaxation, and togetherness. And while I still haven't put away the luggage, the suntan lotion, or my emergency travel medicine, I got to thinking how so much of my family's week away was "Jewish". I am sure this thought occurred to me because of who I am and what I do as a Jewish professional, but I know if you thought about it too, you would see some "Jewishness" in YOUR vacation (or staycation) as well.

Did you know that just taking a vacation is a Jewish thing to do? This is told to us in the Jewish value of Shmirat Haguf, taking care of your body. Our body is a holy thing and we need to take care of, to refresh it, becuase our bodies house our soul. This sounds great to me, because, personally, I love a good vacation. But, more than giving my body some needed rest, what else was Jewish about my vacation? Here are some other things I thought of:

First, before we even left on vacation, plans had to be made: who will collect the mail and newspaper in our absence? Who will feed the fish? Who will "lizard-sit" (yes, we have a pet lizard, that's another story for later)? Who will cover for me at the office? So, a neighbor pitches in, a friend takes the lizard (with its 10 gallon habitat and live crickets for food), a co-worker answers your email and voice mail. You know the drill, everyone pitches in so you can go away for a week.  It dawned on me that these people are not just mensches, they are doing mitzvot (acts of goodness). 

Another obvious Jewish thing about my week away was celebrating Shabbat wherever we were. For us, it was an easy thing to do as most cruise ships have a short Jewish Shabbat service in a chapel complete with delicious challah and wine (no candles though, it's a safety thing).  This sparked a wonderful conversation with my children. Was it still Shabbat if we didn't light the candles?

Even if you don't take a vacation, I think Shabbat is the closest thing that Jewish tradition has to vacation. In addition to being a time of cessation of work, Shabbat is a time of refreshment. It offers the opportunity for renewal that we associate with vacations.

Traveling to new and exciting places always lends itself to so many teachable moments for kids. We experienced different cultures, different foods, and enjoyed new music. But it was amazing to me that even with all the "new", we were still able to connect our vacation to our Judaism, the one thing that we take wherever we go.......

The Ultimate Dress-up Party!

Very soon we will find ourselves looking Purim in the face! Purim is the most festive of Jewish holidays, a time of prizes, noisemakers, costumes and treats. The Festival of Purim commemorates a major victory over oppression and is recounted in the Megillah, the scroll of the story of Esther. Purim begins at sundown on February 23rd. I love Purim. My kids LOVE Purim. It is the ultimate dress up party. It however, does require some creative thinking and resourcefulness at a time of year where you can’t find a Halloween clearance costume to save your life.

Luckily, most real little ones are happy to throw on a Disney princess dress or a terry cloth robe with a Burger King crown and call it a day. However, as the kids get older than 5 or 6, the stakes get higher. Did you know you don’t have to dress like a character from the Purim story? Actually, it’s much more about disguising who you are, no matter who or what you dress up like. One year, my daughter dressed like a Shalach Manot basket filled with goodies (it is customary at Purim time to send baskets of goodies to friends, neighbors and family). Here are some more things you may not know about this fun holiday:
Did you know that the expression "the whole megillah" comes from the holiday of Purim?
On Purim, the story of Esther is read from a scroll known as a megillah. The whole megillah must be read twice on Purim, once at night and once the following morning.
Did you know that there is even a Purim custom that calls for getting inebriated? (actually, most Jewish college kids know this little fact)
Indeed, Jewish law commands that Purim revelers get so intoxicated that they can't tell the difference between the names of the hero of the Purim story, Mordechai, and its villain, Haman.
Did you know that Purim is one of the only Jewish holidays not commanded in the Torah? The holiday can trace its roots to the Talmudic period. The earliest known celebration of Purim was in the 2nd century CE.

I think I may get off easy this year with one out of my two kids opting to wear a costume from her closet. But let me warn you, waiting to get a costume together until the last minute just before your child’s Preschool, Religious School or synagogue Purim celebration is a recipe for disaster.

And speaking of recipes, did you know that Publix will sell you their raw hamantaschen dough? They will. And you can take it home (or to your child's class), cut into circles with a drinking glass, fill with any preserves you have around the house, fold into triangles and bake yourself. This is a very cool and easy way to get your kids excited about Purim. Actually most kids are even fine with just filling the middle with chocolate chips (and WHO does have some of those?).

Some of the nicest traditions of Purim are the giving of gifts to the poor, and mishloach manot, the giving of gifts of food to friends and family. This does not have to be a basket of hamantaschen. Quite frankly, it is even more meaningful if it is personalized with a person’s favorite snacks, treats, or fruit. They can be themed baskets filled with items from a person’s favorite hobby, team, or color. What a great way for kids to learn the importance of giving and how our religion values that.

The fast approaching holiday of Purim may stress out parents a little bit but in the end, who doesn’t love the picture of the kid in the costume, twirling the grogger, and eating a hamantaschen all while you kick back, smile, and have a shot of vodka---what a holiday!

For a list of some great Purim books visit: www.pjlibrary.org
For a listing of Purim Celebrations in YOUR neighborhood visitthe Friedman CJE's website at:  www.cjepb.org, click on Parent Tab to get to the calendar.