G'mar chatima tova

The ultimate Tikum Olam blessings for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

TZOM KAL - HAVE A MEANINGFUL FAST

Tashlich craft for kids

Tashlich comes from the Hebrew word meaning "to cast," referring to the intent to cast away our sins via this meaningful and ancient Jewish custom common to both Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities.
Tashlich is usually performed on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. If the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, Tashlich is done on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. It may be performed up until Hoshanah Rabba (the last day of Sukkot).
Special verses are recited next to a body of water, such as a sea, river, stream, lake or pond, preferably one that has fish.
Though Tashlich is not mentioned in the Talmud, its earliest reference appears to be in the book of the Prophet Nehemiah (8:1) which states, "All the Jews gathered as one in the street that is in front of the gate of water." This gathering is known to have taken place on Rosh Hashanah.
Tashlich at the mediterranean sea.

 

Felt fishes in a box craft for kids

Shanà' Tova' 5777

Shanà Tovà!

Rosh HaShanà honey gifts

Rosh Hashanah ,the Jewish New Year 5777 begins the evening of Sunday, October 2nd, 2016 and ends the evening of Tuesday, October 4th.  It is a long-held Jewish practice to send Shana Tova greetings to friends and family, wishing them a sweet and successful year.
A Little Round Honey Jar ike this would bei perfect for any jewish new year gift, or to enhance your Rosh Hashanah table. 

Felt apples decorations for Rosh haShanà

The custom of the eating of the apple dipped into the honey on the night of Rosh Hashana does have a special traditional significance over and above the ready availability of the fruit at this season of the year. And it is this special significance of memory that enhances the beauty and even the sweetness of the custom.

Fruit of Affection

One of the fruits to which the Jewish people are compared to in Solomon's Song of Songs is the apple. "As the apple is rare and unique among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved ,Israel,amongst the maidens (nations) of the world."

Felt beehive for wood bees

Rosh HaShanah (ראש השנה) is the Jewish New Year. Over the centuries it has become associated with many food customs, for instance, eating sweet food to symbolize our hopes for a "Sweet New Year."
Biblical texts often mention "honey" as the sweetener of choice though some historians believe that the honey referenced in the Bible was actually a sort of fruit paste. Real honey was, of course, available but much more difficult to acquire! Honey represented good living and wealth. The Land of Israel is often called the land of "milk and honey" in the Bible.

Rosh haShanà felt decoration for a sweet new year

Honey Cake

A tad bit fishy for Rosh ha shanà

The Jewish New Year should be about spirituality, about Jews’ aspirations to be better people than they were the year before, about their hopes to find and stick to the righteous path. But like most other Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah is really about a little bit of theology and a whole lot of food. On this holiday there’s a custom to serve up a dish that sounds more than a tad bit fishy: fish heads.
The practice comes from a combination of a pun and the desire for a good omen, pointing to a passage in Deuteronomy that reads, “G.d shall place you as a head and not as a tail.”
Since ‘Rosh Hashanah’ translates literally as ‘Head of the Year,’ eating a fish head on the holiday became a little joke about the verse. You should start out your year as the head ,or leader,and not the tail or follower.” The head’s presence on the table serves as both a reminder to be in the lead and a sign that the ensuing 365 days will be filled with good fortune.
While the very idea of a good luck charm might leave some less than superstitious Jews with bad tastes in their mouths ,even before they’ve bitten into the fish head, that is that being a head and not a tail is simply a maxim that Jews “should strive to internalize in order to shape the rest of the year.
Additional rationales for dishing up fish heads include the fact that fish are symbols of fertility and that the New Year is a great time to remind Jews to be fruitful and multiply. And since fish never close their eyes, their stalwart eyelid-lacking presences can ward off the evil eye.

HANDMADE CLAY FISH PLATES FOR ROSH HASHANA' TABLE

 WHISHING WELL FELT FISHES 

Bee medallion decoration for Rosh haShanà

Another favorite food staple in the Jewish home during the High Holy Day season is honey. Traditionally, from Rosh Hashana until after Sukkot, honey is served with every major meal. It is smeared on the bread over which we recite the "Hamotzi" blessing, the sweet apple is dipped into honey on the night of Rosh Hashana, sweet baked goods are baked with honey, and honey is used in the preparation of foods such as glazed carrots and sweet desserts.
Aside from the caloric disaster that this custom entails, one is really hard pressed to find a negative thing to say about honey.
The custom of honey on the Jewish table during the High Holiday period is an ancient and universal Jewish custom. It is already recorded in the works of the Babylonian Geonim in the 7th century, and probably dates back to even much earlier times. It is no exaggeration to say that Jews always seemed to possess a sweet tooth.
                                     HANDMADE CLAY BEE MEDALLION

Homegrown tomatoes

High Holidays cards - Sukkot

 

The High Holiday period begins on the first day of the Jewish month of Elul, during this month of soul searching, the shofar, or ram’s horn, is blown each morning except on the Sabbath, to call upon listeners to begin the difficult process of repentance. Also in Elul special haftarot–prophetic portions–focusing on consolation acknowledge the vulnerability of an individual grappling with personal change. During the week before Rosh Hashanah, intensity increases as traditional Jews begin reciting selichot, prayers that involve confessing sins and requesting God’s forgiveness and help. On the Sabbath before Rosh Hashanah, the selichot are chanted at midnight, rather than their usual early morning hour.

Rosh ha shanà greeting card

Rosh Hashana / ראש השנה

Rosh Hashanah , (literally "head of the year"), is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim ("Days of Awe"), celebrated ten days before Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is observed on the first two days of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It is described in the Torah as יום תרועה (Yom Teru'ah, a day of sounding [the Shofar]).

Rosh Hashana begins at sundown on Sun, 02 October 2016.

Sand art

The Navajo Natives still paint with sand.They make fine designs, they do it by hand.
As well as an art piece, the sand is a way, to keep all the old evil spirits at bay.
Using sand from the beach and some paint and some spoons, you can make sand art as bright as the moon. 

You'll need: empty jars or plastic yogurt containers. Powdered tempera paints in a variety of colors. Sand (from the beach or playground)
Paper, pencils, glue and popsicle sticks. Plastic spoons and a plastic or styrofoam tray
raw out a picture on your paper and remember to keep it simple...

Tu B'Av little heart

Tu B’Av, the 15th Day of Av, is both an ancient and modern holiday. Originally a post-biblical day of joy, it served as a matchmaking day for unmarried women in the second Temple period (before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.). Tu B’Av was almost unnoticed in the Jewish calendar for many centuries but it has been rejuvenated in recent decades, especially in the modern state of Israel. In its modern incarnation it is gradually becoming a Hebrew-Jewish Day of Love.
There is no way to know exactly how early Tu B’Av began. The first mention of this date is in the Mishnah (compiled and edited in the end of the second century), where Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel is quoted saying, “There were no better (i.e. happier) days for the people of Israel than the Fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur, since on these days the daughters of Israel/Jerusalem go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards. What were they saying: Young man, consider whom you choose (to be your wife)?”(Ta’anit, Chapter 4).

A felt heart completely handmade by my daughter with her first homemade sewing kit as a gift for the family at Tu B'Av

Summer in a corner

Summer fields flowers