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2nd Year B’nei Mitzvah: Passing Along Tradition

Listening to Jewish music about L’dor V’dor, and writing music reviews to explore the meaning, style, lyrics, and how it relates to keeping our tradition alive.
Creating a representation of Jewish symbols, and learning the meaning behind the symbols.
Meditating and doing yoga to demonstrate the act of using our minds, bodies, and strength to pray to G-d
Associating the Hebrew prayers to their English translations so that we can make connections between the prayers and our everyday lives

Brainstorming about our personal identities as a group.
Playing “Take A Stand” to define our opinions about various topics.
Exploring our talents.
Considering social issues that we’re interested in..
Learning about the history and meaning of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah as a Jewish ritual

What were some talents and interests that you wrote down?
What are some topics that you are thinking about for your Personal Interest Project?

Going on an experiential “tour” of Israel, and saw a video of places in Israel.
“Visiting” many Israeli cities/landmarks and seeing a guided video tour of the Old City in Jerusalem (while learning about Jerusalem), soaking our hands in water mixed with authentic Dead Sea Salt (while learning about the Dead Sea), doing a STEM well project (while learning about Abraham’s Well in the Negev), and more!
Comparing and contrasting American lifestyle and cultural practices, as compared to Israeli ones.

Thinking about what it means to be a family and playing group games that require cooperation and teamwork.
Discussing times that we have had Shalom Bayit, or peace in the home, and what allowed that to happen. Then, decorating hamsas (Jewish symbols of protection) with the Shalom Bayit prayer for our own homes.
Acting out skits demonstrating the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” for creating a Shalom Bayit.

What does “Shalom Bayit” mean? How can we work to create a Shalom Bayit in our home?
What does working as a team have to do with Shalom Bayit?

Playing a fun Balderdash-style game to learn the definition of the word “Diaspora” and learning the two Hebrew words for the Diaspora.
Discussing what it means to be a scattered people and the history of the Diaspora, and creating a “Map of Our Heritage”.
Creating personal drawing of the Jewish traditions in our families, and learning about the traditions of different kinds of Jews (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrachi, and Ethiopian).

What is the Jewish homeland?
What’s something you learned about different kinds of Jewish people around the world?

What happened in the story of Moses in the bulrushes?
Can you think of a time when you, or someone you know, helped someone in need or stood up for what is right? Was it easy? Hard?

Discussing what it means to respect our families, and how, by doing that, together we can make Shalom Bayit (Peace in the house).
Brainstorming strategies for calmly resolving conflict to help create a more peaceful home.
Creating our own recipe for Shalom Bayit, and each acting out the ingredient we contribute.

Watching Mitzvah Impossible and discussing different types of kindness.
Learning the importance of “mitzvot,” good deeds, and the positive impact that they have on others.
Drawing pictures of our family traditions and considering different ways that we can be kind to others, especially our family members.

What is kindness? What is a “mitzvah”?
Why is it important to be kind to others?
What are different ways that we can be kind to each other? How can we bring more kindness into our home?

Jewish Kids GroupsMarch 14, 2021Comment