Our synagogue, Congregation Bet Haverim, rents its office space in a home built of stone. We refer to this building as the Granite House.
Rachel prefers to call it the Granny House.
Category Archives: Jewish parenting
Easter from Rachel’s perspective
Today’s Easter and Rachel has little concept of what that means.
Last week, she asked if this was the holiday where “those people put that guy on the tree”. Religious sensitivity aside, I realized that she’s never had cause to learn what the holiday is about. It’s important she understand because my family is Christian. She should know why her Uncle Lehr, Aunt Nicole and Mom Mom observe this holiday.
I explained to her that Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus. She wanted to know why there’s a bunny and eggs associated with the holiday. “What do they have to do with Jesus?” she wanted to know. I was at a loss. Then I realized I could take it in the symbolism-for-rebirth direction. Turns out that doesn’t sit easily with an eight year old.
On a related note, Kroger was packed this afternoon. We always grocery shop on Sunday afternoons. Our Kroger is in a heavily Jewish section of town, so we have a nice selection of kosher meats available. But today, with half the grocery stores in town closed for Easter, the Kosher Kroger was quite crowded.
Rainout
Our last soccer game was called on account of rain. The team is holding an end-of-season party at a local pizza parlor, so we will see all the girls together one last time. That’s great because Rachel made some great friends this season.
My favorite bit about coaching the more religious girls in a Jewish soccer league? Rachel had built-in Hebrew tutors on Sunday afternoons. Two 6 year-olds helped her with Hebrew pronouns (“he” means “she”) one day!
The worst part? Competitiveness. Is there a U8 league left where the kids are out there just to have fun and develop skills?
But my favorite quote from the season comes from my mom after attending a game: “When you played at the Y, the teams were sponsored by Joe’s Garage or Bob’s Bike Shop. Here, the teams are sponsored by Trial Attorneys and Plastic Surgeons.”
Reading Hebrew
Rachel surprised me Saturday morning by reading two Hebrew words from the siddur (prayerbook). Her Hebrew reading is coming along — she recognizes all the letters and the sounds they make. Most vowels, too.
We decided this morning to try learning a new Hebrew word every week. This week, she wants to learn “monkey“. For those of you playing along at home, it’s “kof”.
Eggs on the seder plate
At our seder this past spring, Rachel commented “All the grownups ate spoiled eggs.”
With a little context, I realized she meant boiled eggs.
