Wear Your Jewish Pride with “Jewbilation”
Did you know that Jews account for 23 percent of all Nobel prizes awarded even though they comprise less then one quarter of one percent of the world population?
Or that Jews invented instant messaging and cell phone technology?
These and other facts that inspire Jewish pride will be taught to children of all ages through Jewbilation, a new free program of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, which sponsors programs that are helping to keep our children Jewish.
To encourage Jewish pride, all children will be given a free gift of a necklace from Israel, featuring a choice of a magen David (star of David), chai or mezuzah. They will choose the design they wish and order it from a selection of 37 styles at the time of the Jewish pride presentation.
“The most important thing to remember about being Jewish is that we are part of a big family all over the world, a family of 13 million Jews who are responsible for each other,” said Deborah Coltin, executive director of the Lappin Foundation. “We hope children will wear these necklaces with a lot of Jewish pride and they will serve a reminder for them to continue the links in the chain of Jewish tradition.”
To plan the program, the Foundation is visiting every Jewish school with the necklaces. Schools can deliver the Jewish pride program themselves or a Jewish educator from the Lappin Foundation can do it. Children will also receive a pamphlet about the Jewish family all over the world, containing a few key facts about the important contributions Jews have made to the world and detailing the Jewish population in every country with Jews.
Jewbilation is open to Jewish children of all ages, from Jewish and interfaith families who live or affiliate with a Jewish institution in the Lappin Foundation service area. Children not enrolled in a Jewish school can make an appointment to be part of Jewbilation by calling Deborah Coltin, 978-740-4428 or emailing dcoltin@rilcf.org.
Israel Floor Map
Bring Israel to Life in Your School
Why are more than 20 Jewish educators sitting on a giant map of Israel? They are learning how to use the 30-by-15-foot map to bring Israel into their classrooms, or at least a big room near their classrooms.
The giant map, owned by the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, is available to borrow at no charge to Jewish schools in the Foundation service area. To promote the map, the Foundation held two trainings recently, one geared toward preschool teachers led by Debbie Reiselman and one for Hebrew school teachers led by Andrea Katz.
The map also comes with a number of resources, including 3D pictures of Israel and 3D glasses; games and puzzles. It can be used to teach all aspects of Israel, including geography, history and religion.
Andrea Katz, who ran the training for the Hebrew school teachers, said they laughed and giggled through a game of “Twister” that can also be played by students.
“It’s not easy to have your right foot in Masada and your left hand in the desert or a body of water without falling,” said Katz.
“Teaching about Israel using the Israel Land Map is a multi-sensory experience for kids of all ages and encourages play with a purpose, “ said Deborah Coltin, executive director of the Foundation. “Kids have a great time on the floor map learning about Israel through touch, play, stories, games, puzzles and much more. It’s fun and engaging. Providing these kinds of teaching tools for our Jewish educators and their students makes teaching and learning exciting.”
Leslie Sack and Debbie Leibowitz, director and assistant director of Congregation Shirat Hayam preschool attended the training and have reserved the map for a week in May to use as a resource during a weeklong Israeli Independence Day celebration.
“It’s a great teaching tool – so big and fun – and a fabulous visual,” said Sack. “It was one of the most worthwhile workshops we’ve been to in terms of the hands-on learning experience and we all really enjoyed it,” added Sack.
Leibowitz said she learned so much from the brainstorming part of the workshop where teachers shared strategies with each other. “The children will put those glasses on and it will bring Israel alive to them.”
The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation offers programs and resources that are helping to keep our children Jewish. For more information or to borrow the Israel map, please contact Andrea Katz, program manager, 978-740-4404 or email akatz@rilcf.org or click here.
Subsidized Trips to Holocaust Museum
“I’m very glad I went and got the experience.
Some of the exhibits were unspeakably amazing. You went in and were awestruck
for a moment. I had to stop for a moment think that in my life I might
worry about getting a Gameboy for Hanukkah. They didn’t have anything
during the Holocaust.”
- David Steinberg, Danvers, Mass.
Young teens and their parents culminate study of the Holocaust with a subsidized trip, up to $150 per person, to the U.S. Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. or the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. This opportunity is available to every Jewish school on the North Shore. Experiences like these create memories for our children and facilitate Jewish conversations between parents and children.
For more information on applying for a grant for a subsidized trip to the Holocaust Museum, call Deborah Coltin at 978-740-4428 or email dcoltin@rilcf.org.
Tefillin for Teens
“I felt connected to a tradition and it made me think that it
is important to carry on the traditions of the Jews.”
- Daniel Katz, 13, of Wenham
Tefillin are described as the “ties that bind” and learning
to use them is part of the curriculum in many of the seventh grade Hebrew
school classes on the North Shore. Seventh grade is the year when most
children celebrate becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah and learn many of the traditions
that tie them to their great and unique Jewish family, both in the past
and the future.
That is why the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation offers the “Tefillin
for Teens,” program to every Jewish school, offering students a
free, and a beautiful tefillin bag, valued at $150 per child. The students
who wear them say they feel more connected to prayers such as the Sh’ma
and it makes them feel that they are continuing a Jewish tradition started
thousands of years ago. For more information, call Phyllis Osher, Foundation
program manager, 978-740-4410 or email posher@rilcf.org.
Babaganewz
“Our philosophy is to be Jewish seven days a week and the Babaganewz
and all the news in there helps us to do that, to realize that there is
a world outside of Hebrew school and they are part of it and can change
the world a little bit at a time.”
- Rachel Schwartz
We provide Jewish schools with free subscriptions,
valued at $5 each, to this lively, informative and relevant current
events magazine for students in grades five to seven. For
more information, call Phyllis Osher, Foundation program manager, 978-740-4410
or email posher@rilcf.org.
Tiku Shofar
The shofar calls us to action. Young teens learn the mitzvah of the shofar
and receive their own free shofar from Israel and supplemental educational
materials, valued at $40. Students are invited to participate in the
shofar service at local temples and are encouraged to visit nursing homes
and hospitals to sound the shofar for others during the High Holy Days.For
more information, call Phyllis Osher, Foundation program manager, 978-740-4410
or email posher@rilcf.org
B’nai Tzedek
“I thought it would be a good program for giving me responsibility
to give money and where to give. My family felt good about me donating
my money.”
- Hillary Levine, Peabody
Make a difference with B’nai Tzedek, a hands-on Jewish philanthropy program for teens. A $500 philanthropic fund is established in the teen's name with a donation of $200 from the teen's Bar/Bat mitzvah gifts and a $300 donation from the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation. For the next 20 years, the teens make annual contributions to local Jewish charities of their choice. A beautiful membership certificate is presented at the teen's Bar/Bat Mitzvah service. Click on links below for a B'nai Tzedek Registration form and a Fund Agreement.
For more information, please contact Andrea Katz, program manager, 978-740-4404 or email akatz@rilcf.org.
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