Israel Just Broke the Record for Largest Shabbat Dinner!

Shalom Girls and Boys:

My head is still buzzing from meeting all the people attending the largest ever Shabbat dinner. Can you believe? Two thousand, two hundred and twenty six guests? Make that twenty seven. I didn't officially sign up.

Where did this happen? In Tel Aviv, of course! The same city Lonely Planet ranks among the top 12 action packed metropolises! The same place ranked as the 9th best beach city in the world by National Geographic! And now, the same city that is home to the Guinness World Record for the largest Shabbat dinner!  Kol HaKavod Tel Aviv!

How do I know that this was the largest ? A Guinness World Record adjudicator -- that means someone who judges an event -- monitored the meal, making sure that all Shabbat laws were kept. And he made sure there was a headcount. Poor me. He kept on trying to swat my head off. I was only trying to help. He just didn't get it.

What can I say? It was unforgettable! Jews from all over came. I'll let you read all about it.
And I want to thank White Shabbat for organizing it. You guys are so terrific that I've decided from now on, every Thursday I'm going to sing I'm Dreaming of a White Shabbat. 
But today is Sunday, so for now I'm going to wish all of you a Shavua Tov -- a good week!

Celebrate Shavuot by Pretending You're on a Kibbutz

Shalom Yeladim:

Getting ready for Shavuot? Learning about it in school? Then I'm sure you know that one of the names this holiday has is חג הביכורים -- holiday of the first fruits.

When the State of Israel came into being, Shavuot quickly became the favorite kibbutz holiday. Back then, kibbutzim -- collective agricultural communities -- were the source of Israel's luscious fruits and vegetables. Even though times have changed, Shavuot is still a special agricultural celebration on the kibbutz. Girls continue the tradition of wearing crowns made out of flowers (floral garlands). Here's an example. Look at it carefully and see if you can make one just like it.

Special decorations are created to remind everyone of farming life. And there's dancing...kibbutz style!

The celebration starts with a parade. What do I mean? Watch this. Every possible farming job on the kibbutz is represented. Am I giving you ideas on how make this year's Shavuot celebration a little bit different? Hope so.

I'll leave you with a YouTube clip of the Givatron -- my favorite kibbutz choir. They sing several songs, so get ready and have a חג שמח.

Fruits Photo Credit
Garland Photo Credit
Kibbutz dance photo credit

I Have an Idea for Your Yom Hashoah Commemoration

שלום ילדים, הורים ומורים

It's me, Zvuvi.

I'm buzzing by because I just thought of a great program idea for your Yom Hashoa commemoration. It sorta hit me when I saw the picture of President Obama at Yad Vashem. There's an Eternal Flame shining behind him. Then today, I started thinking about the torch lighting ceremony that is held every Yom Hashoah at Yad Vashem. Six memorial torches are lit by six Holocaust survivors or their relatives, in honor of the six million Jews who were cruelly murdered during the Holocaust. Each one has a story, and I bet that each of you has a relative (close or distant) with a Holocaust story.

So here's my idea: between now and next Monday research everything about your relative with a Holocaust history. Write it up.  Better yet, print it out, frame it or put it on a stand -- you decide. Then, at your Yom Hashoa commemoration stand it up on a display table and light a Holocaust memorial candle.

If there's nothing special going on in your school, then do it at home. It's a sad but golden opportunity to connect with your past. We take it very seriously in Israel and I hope you will too.

Zvuvi











Photo credit

Guess Who's the Artist Behind the New Masorti Movement Simhat Torah Flag?

Shalom Yeladim:

I'm so excited! Take a look at the new Masorti Movement Simhat Torah flag.

 I love it! Not only because it puts girls and boys, men and women on an equal footing -- and there's a lot of footwork on Simhat Torah -- but also because of something else. And that else is the artist who made the flag -- Ksenia Topaz. I am the cutest, shovavi fly around thanks to Ksenia. Tami created me and the whole idea of my book -- and Ksenia? She gave me my look.  Yup! Ksenia, the same artist who created this flag, illustrated my book Zvuvi's Israel. 

I can't wait for the Hakafot. I'm going to spread the buzz.

חג שמח

P.S. Can you name the historical figures on the right side of the flag? What else makes this flag unique? Write and tell me.

To Bee or Not to Bee this Rosh Hashanah

Shalom Yeladim:
I know that I'm a fly but I'm as busy as a bee this pre-Rosh Hashanah season. I've decided that I want to find out where the honey is in this Land of Milk & Honey.

Do you know that the term honey appears 55 times in the Bible? That's a lot of beeswax to mind, so I started my journey by making a bee-line to Dvorat Hatavor in the Lower Galilee.


There I met Yigal Ben-Zeev, a fearless bee farmer. Yigal took me to his apiary and showed me around.

He's been breeding bees and making honey products with fingertip ease since 1982. According to Yigal, honey is the best antibiotic, and of course, the world's first sweetener. I couldn't help lick my lips when I saw the honey from the bees up close. It made me make another Bee line -- straight to the supermarket to look at all the honey products and hope I don't get stuck in some type of a jam.

It was a jam all right -- a mental jam. There were so many honey products made from different kinds of fruit. Date honey was the biggie. So I said to myself, Zvuvi, time to go back to the Bible and find out what's going on. Sure enough, the honey from the land of Milk and Honey is primarily from dates and figs! Actual bee honey is only mentioned twice --  in a story about Samson in the Book of Judges and in another story about Jonathan in the Book of Samuel.

That was an eye opener!

Wait a minute, I said to myself. Didn't archaeologists discover an ancient apiary in Beit Sha'an a few years ago, proving that we Israelites were master beekeepers?

I flew to the ancient ruins to have a look.

I flew and flew, and flew until I finally found Tel Rehov, home to the earliest apiary found so far. I listened to the buzz of what the archaeologists were saying and you're not going to believe this!!! The bees that are native to Israel are Syrian bees but the bees the Israelites bred were imported Turkish bees. Why? Because the Syrian bees were too aggressive and they couldn't get them under control. Now, I don't want to start in with politics, but doesn't that sound just a bit like today's buzz from Syria?

I think I better stop here. Things are getting too sticky.
Have a sweet year!
Zvuvi





Beit Sha'an photo credit 

This Shavuot You Can Help Save Our 400 Endangered Flower Species

Shalom Girls & Boys:

I love this time of the year. The sweet smell of flowers is everywhere.


Look at this wild tulip.

Isn't is beautiful!!!! Close your eyes and imagine what it smells like.

This tulip is one of the 2,400 flower varieties growing in our teeny tiny country. Most of them are grown by professional flower growers.  Still, there are 400 different kinds of wild flowers growing in Israel  that are in trouble. They're called endangered species.  We HAVE to protect them because they're part of what makes Israel so beautiful.

So, I started thinking about the flower side of Israel. One thought led to another. First I started thinking about the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. Then I heard they have this cool idea of people and families adopting a flower species. Want to see the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens? Watch this  video.

Next thought -- Shavuot and how we use flowers and leaves to decorate our synagogues and homes.
So, I connected the dots and guess what I came up with?
A Zvuvi idea: How about you and me, and everybody collecting money from family, friends, schoolmates so that we can adopt an endangered Israeli flower species for Shavuot??!!

It's just a suggestion and it could be a great school project.  I even have a contact name at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens: Tal Setzmetzky. Or if you want, I found this site -- Friends of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens.


Think about it. While you do, have a look at some of our other wild flowers.

Power to the flower!

Tulip photo credit
Wild flowers Rosh Hanikra
Mt. Tabor Flowers Photo Credit

Yummy News: Europe Says We're the No. 1 Bread Baker!

Shalom Girls & Boys:

Yummy, yummy, yummy, I have great news for your tummy. Israel took first place in the European 2012 Bread Baking Cup in Rimini, Italy.

I can't believe that we beat the French. They're an unbelievable baking power! And what about Germany?  They're considered tops too, and we beat them. Yup, we won 2 out of 4 categories: Innovative bread with a health focus, and baked dessert.

To be honest, I do believe it. I've got a lot of frequent flyer miles between bakeries, outdoor markets, indoor supermarkets and restaurants around Israel, and I've got to tell you that just the aroma of our freshly baked breads knocks the wings off of me. We Israelis know how to bake and break bread. It's a tradition dating back to Biblical times, but I'm not going to get into that. Instead, I'm going to give you a mini bread tour of Israel. WARNING: YOUR MOUTH WILL WATER!
Presenting Pitot, Lafa, all types of baygelah, and of course, Challah.

This is a just a small taste of all the breads we bake. You have to come over here to really appreciate our bread baking skill. I just discovered that we even have  a special Purim prune and chocolate bread. Try that out for your Mishloach Manot. With an imagination like ours, no wonder we continue to count our blessings of Hamotzi Lehem Min Ha'aretz.








pita bread photo credit
laffa bread photo credit
baygeleh breads photo credit
Challah photo credit