Morning Rituals for Children Jewish Bedtime Rituals
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In God's Name Sandy Eisenberg Sasso |
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Old Turtle Douglas Wood |
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God's Paintbrush Sandy Eisenberg Sasso |
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God Around Us, The Vol. 1 - A Child's Garden of Prayer |
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Teaching Your Children About God: A Modern Jewish Approach David J. Wolpe |
Judaism's rich tradition of birthdays can be found online
by Mark Mietkiewicz 
The Ohr Somayach site -- http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php?id_number=222 -- mentions several sages who marked their birthdays as an auspicious day. "Rabbi Yisrael Lifshitz instructed his children that when one of them has a birthday the others should visit and bless him. Similarly, distinguished members of Jerusalem's Jewish community used to visit Rabbi Shmuel Salant on his birthday and offer him their blessings."
The Chabad site -- www.chabad.org/calendar/birthday.asp -- goes even further and suggests that a Jewish birthday can be considered in some ways "even a mini-Rosh Hashanah! The Talmud informs us that on our Jewish birthdays our mazel (good fortune) is dominant. The Jewish birthday is the perfect day for reflection about our lives as Jews and is an auspicious time to make new resolutions to perform good deeds and to deepen our commitment to Torah and the role it plays in our lives."
How can you help your child celebrate the day in a Jewish manner? In the "Birthdays, Jewishly" article mentioned above, the authors have several suggestions: Plan a Shabbat dinner dedicated to the person celebrating a birthday; have a tzedakah party where kids are given extra money to put in a tzedakah box; or start a Saturday slumber party with a Havdallah ceremony.
Have you lost track of your Jewish birthday? Don't worry, it's easy to figure out. Just go to the Jewish birthday calculator -- www.chabad.org/calendar/birthday.asp?AID=6228 -- and type in the English date and whether you were born in the morning or in the evening or night. Click the button to find out the Jewish date to find out when it next occurs. And if someone you know is about to celebrate a big day, you can e-mail them a free card with "Yom Huledet Samayach" greetings at www.yourpage.org/yom.html
One of the most famous blessings that Jews bestow on each other is "Bis hundert und tzvantzig -- Until 120!" The age of 120 is considered the ideal life span because Moses was 120 years old at the time he died (Deut. 34:7). www.jewfaq.org/ moshe.htm
In that vein, I'll leave the last word to Rabbi Lewis John Eron, director of Religious Services at Jewish Geriatric Home in Cherry Hill, N.J., found at www.jrf.org/recondt/vayelech_eron.html
One Shabbat morning the rabbi announced that a well-loved resident of the home was about to celebrate a milestone birthday and he wished that she live to the age of 120. At that moment, a friend of hers raised her voice and corrected him. The friend said firmly, "No, Rabbi, you should wish her 120 years and three months."
"Why the extra three months?" the rabbi asked.
"Rabbi," she declared, "Why should she spoil her last birthday? Don't you want her to enjoy her party?"
The writer is a Toronto-based television producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet.
Jewish Date Converter Study the Torah Portion
Celebrate Two Birthdays! From the Week You Were Born Send a Jewish E-Card
Prayer for the Death of a Beloved Pet
By Rabbi Barry H. Block
O Lord our God, we come before You this day in sadness. (Pet’s name), who brought us so much joy in life, has now died. (His/Her) happy times in our family’s embrace have come to an end. We miss (pet’s name) already. Help us, O God, to remember the good times with (pet’s name). Remind us to rejoice in the happy times (he/she) brought to our home. Let us be thankful for the good life we were blessed to give to (him/her). We are grateful to You, God, for creating (pet’s name), for entrusting (him/her) to our care, and for sustaining (him/her) in our love for a measure of time. We understand that all that lives must die. We knew that this day would come. And yet, O God, we would have wanted one more day of play, one more evening of love with (pet’s name). O God, as we have taken care of (pet’s name) in life, we ask that You watch over (him/her) in death. You entrusted (pet’s name) to our care; now, we give (him/her) back to You. May (pet’s name) find a happy new home in Your loving embrace.
As we remember (pet’s name), may we love each other more dearly. May we care for all Your creatures, for every living thing, as we protected the blessed life of (pet’s name). May (his/her) memory bless our lives with love and caring forever. Amen.
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