Em Habanim

GIRLS’ TEHILLIM BE’AL PEH PROJECT, ROUND FOUR

LEARN TEHILLIM BE’AL PEH !

CASH PRIZES FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS !

PRESENTATION CEREMONY AND PARTY TO CELEBRATE OUR ACHIEVEMENT !

GIRLS!   Just a few weeks ago in Parashat Pinchas we read about the daughters of Tzelafchad, who loved the land of Israel so much that they merited to have a halachah revealed in response to their request to receive the portion of their deceased father who had no sons.  Not only that, they presented very learned arguments:  After being told they could not inherit because they were women, they said, if we are not counted as inheritors,  let our mother enter into yibum and conceive an inheritor that way, to which Moshe Rabbeinu replied that once there are children yibum is no longer possible…  they then answered, if we are children then we should inherit!  Hashem told Moshe the daughters of Tzelafchad were correct, and Rashi says their eyes saw what Moshe’s eyes did not see!

Just like the daughters of Tzelafchad back then, today too Jewish women and girls have an important spiritual contribution to make to the well-being and overall level of holiness of the Jewish people.  Just like one little butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world affects the weather on other continents, every time a Jew says words of Torah he or she affects the spiritual atmosphere in the world by increasing kedushah.  Through the centuries reciting Tehillim has been a major way that Jewish women and girls do this – how much more so if we know some Tehillim by heart so we can say them whenever we have a free moment, no matter where we are!

Em Habanim is very happy to be facilitating girls up to the age of bat mitzvah to learn some Tehillim by heart – each girl learns however many verses she is able and receives a certificate of achievement along with a cash prize at the party we have for the girls and their mothers to celebrate our accomplishment.  For the current iteration each girl will be heard privately on Monday August 24th,  and our party will be the following Sunday, 15 Elul (August 30th), where in addition to the presentation and refreshments we will also have a talent show and a craft project relating to the month of Tishrei.  

Full details for the program are below.  To register or for any questions, please contact Ellen Kronick at ekronick@dslextreme.com or 818-754-0488.

Looking forward to your participation!   ☺

~

Details for the fourth iteration of the Girls’ Tehillim Be’al Peh project

1.         The fourth iteration of the project starts now and runs through the end of August.

2.         Eligible participants are girls under the age of Bat Mitzvah from our synagogue and the community at large.

3.         All participants who succeed in memorizing at least one verse “win”, this is not a competition!

4.         The prize money is 25¢ per verse, but a girl who memorizes fewer than four verses total still gets a dollar.  

5.         Participants can pick any chapters they wish. 

6.         Chapters selected do not have to be consecutive.

7.         Verses must be memorized in consecutive order starting at the beginning of each chapter selected, however each girl can get credit for one partial chapter, for example she can memorize five whole chapters and the first three verses of a sixth.  The youngest girls might not be able to memorize a whole chapter, but still “win” if they memorize even just the first verse of a single chapter.

8.         Girls who memorized partial chapters in previous iterations should now memorize the next verses in those partial chapters.

9.         Moms of the girls who have successfully completed previous iterations  have kindly volunteered to serve as mentors for any moms of new participants who are experiencing challenges.  To be paired up with a mentor, please contact Ellen Kronick at ekronick@dslextreme.com or 818-754-0488.

10.       On Monday August 24th between 4:00 and 6:30 pm, each participant will be heard privately to verify what she has memorized. 

11.       On Sunday August 30th at in the afternoon (exact time to be announced), we will have a party for all the participants and their mothers, with refreshments, a talent show and a craft project relating to the month of Tishrei.  Each participant will be called up individually to receive a certificate and her cash prize.  While each certificate will show exactly what was memorized, we will not announce the individual numbers of verses, only the total memorized by all the participants together. 

12.       Since our celebration this time around will be taking place shortly before the month of Tishrei, the talent show and craft project will be centered around that theme.  Participation in the talent show will be voluntary, any girl who wishes may bring a project relating to the month of Tishrei, to share – the project could be an artwork, poem, song, story, display, whatever the individual girl chooses.  There are a wealth of topics to choose from – how Hashem created the world (since Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the world) as well as all the holidays that fall out during the month.  The craft project will be compatible with the customs of all communities.

13.       After the conclusion of this iteration our Em Habanim newsletter will publish the names of all participants and the total number of verses memorized by the group.

14.       To join this iteration, please contact Ellen Kronick at ekronick@dslextreme.com or 818.754.0488.