I Can Celebrate the Jewish Holidays by Joel Lurie Grishaver Illustrated by David Bleicher
Torah Aura Productions
ISBN 10: 1-934527-33-5 ISBN 13: 978-1-934527-33-7 Copyright © 2010 Torah Aura Productions. All rights reserved. Illustraton © 2010 David Bleicher. Photo/Illustration: Noam Armonn, page 34; Leland Bobbé, page 20; Odelia Cohen, page 61; Chaim Danziger 33, 39; Caroline DeVita 25; Enrico Fianchini 34; Fotalia I 28; Bonnie Gordon-Lucas 32; David Grossman/Alamy, page 68; Vladislav Gurfinkel, page 63; GW Images, page 14; Ella Hanochi, page 89; Imagesource, page 19; Holly Jones, page 55; Sean Locke, page 50; Roni Markowitz, page 56; Carmen Martinez Banus, page 94; Moti Meiri, pages 13, 87; Mordechai Meiri, pages 41, 47, 85; Christine B. Miller, page 86; Monkey Business, page 34; Paul B. Moore, page 17; Mtrommer, page 83; Ethan Myerson, page 34; Nextrecord, page 71; Noam, page 54; Raigordski Pavel, page 40; Michaela Pschorr, page 21; Carlos Restrepo, page 57; Reuters/CORBIS, page 84; Abba Richman, page 27; Pavlina Richterova, page 48; John Said, page 90; Jose Ignacio Soto, page 38; Andrey Sukhachev, page 18; Johan Swanepoel, page 11; Tova Teitelbaum, pages 50, 51; Cristine Tripp, page 54; Nathan Winter, page 38; Lisa F. Young, page 38; Victor Zastol’skiy, page 79. Thank you to Seeka—Jewelry and Judaica (top) and Emily Rosenfeld (bottom) for use of the tzedakah boxes on page 37. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Torah Aura Productions • 4423 Fruitland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90058 (800) BE-Torah • (800) 238-6724 • (323) 585-7312 • fax (323) 585-0327 E-MAIL <misrad@torahaura.com> • Visit the Torah Aura website at www.torahaura.com manufactured in Malaysia
Table of Contents Rosh ha-Shanah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Yom Kippur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Sukkot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Simhat Torah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Shabbat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Hanukkah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Tu B'Shvat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Purim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Passover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Yom ha-Atzma'ut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Shavuot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 3
The Jewish Year The Jewish year is like a circle. Every holiday tells a story. Every year these stories become a part of our lives.
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The Jewish Year
Rosh ha-Shanah
Yom Kippur Shabbat
Sukkot
Simhat Torah Purim
Hanukkah Passover
Tu B'Shvat
Yom
a'ut
Shavuot
ha
zm -At
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אשׁ הַשּׁ נ ﬡ
Rosh ha-Shanah
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A New Year Think about the first day of school. The first day of school is both exciting and scary. It is a day when you worry about lots of questions. Will this be a good year? Will I make new friends? Will my teacher like me? Will I do well? The first day of school is also a day for making wishes. “I hope I have a good year.” “I hope everyone likes me.” “I hope I can be a good student.”
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Awe The feeling of being both excited and scared at the same times is called awe. People feel awe when they meet someone famous. They feel it when they see a beautiful sunset. Something that is very exciting can also be very scary. Rosh ha-Shanah means “Head of the Year.” It comes about the same time as the start of school. It is a day for asking questions and making wishes.
Rosh ha-Shanah Customs Rosh ha-Shanah is a time when we send cards to our friends and family. We send the wish L’Shanah Tovah—for a good year. Every Rosh ha-Shanah card is a hope for the best possible New Year. 9
Rosh ha-Shanah gives us a frest start. We leave last year behind and start again to be the best people we can become. Jews prepare for Rosh ha-Shanah in many different ways.
Practicing blowing the shofar
Giving Tzedakah
Studying the mahzor
Sending Rosh ha-Shanah cards
Saying “I’m sorry”
Remembering family history
One way I can get ready for Rosh ha-Shanah is_ _________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
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On Rosh ha-Shanah we eat apples and honey. We have a round hallah. We dip the hallah in honey. These are ways of wishing that the New Year will be sweet and good. Rosh ha-Shanah is called The Birthday of the Universe. It isn’t a day for parties. Rosh ha-Shanah is a time we set aside for thinking. We pray. We hope to be awakened by the call of the shofar.
Circle the things you do at a birthday party.
The items that are not circled are all part of Rosh ha-Shanah. 11
The Shofar
When we are asleep an alarm clock wakes us up. On Rosh ha-Shanah the shofar is our alarm clock. It asks our hearts to become fully awake. It calls on each of us to pay attention to start the New Year. 12
This is a shofar. It is a ram’s horn. It makes a loud sound. It is a sound that makes you pay attention. On Rosh ha-Shanah it is a mitzvah to hear to the shofar. The shofar teaches us how to begin the New Year. The shofar makes three different sounds. Try making these sounds with your voice. Teki’ah is one long loud blast. It sounds like a person shouting. Shevarim is three short blasts. It sounds like a person groaning. Teru’ah is nine quick blasts. It sounds like a person crying.
The cantor calls out the names of the shofar blasts. Teki’ah Shevarim Teru’ah Teki’ah Teki’ah Shevarim Teki’ah Teki’ah Teru’ah Teki’ah Gedolah.
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The Mahzor In the synagogue we use a special prayer book called a Mahzor on Rosh ha-Shanah.
Tashlih On the first day of Rosh ha-Shanah many Jews go to the edge of a lake, river or ocean and throw pieces of bread into the water. This is a ceremony called tashlih. The bread stands for our sins. On Rosh haShanah we are trying to throw our sins away. 14