A Tu B'Shvat Hebrew Lesson

עצים or אילנות?  

Shalom Boys & Girls, Moms & Dads & Teachers. I have a question for you:

Why is Tu B'Shvat called חג האילנות -- the holiday of trees -- when the commonly used Hebrew word for tree is עץ? Even the biblical word for tree is עץ, so why use the plural of the word אילן  to name this holiday?

Don't you think that's good question? I searched and searched until I found the answer. Here it is: Long before Eliezer Ben-Yehudah revived the Hebrew language, Biblical Hebrew was followed by another linguistic stage -- Talmudic Hebrew -- which incorporated Aramaic into the daily conversation. Have a look at the pages of the Talmud and even portions of the Passover Hagaddah and you will find a Hebrew dialect that sounds like it comes from a different planet. 

Connect the dots and you'll find out why Tu B'Shvat is called חג האילנות. To begin with, it is not a biblically-based holiday. It is first mentioned in the Mishnah in Tractate Rosh Hashanah as one of the four New Years on the Jewish calendar. So there we are, smack in the Aramaic period when the word עץ referred to wood. Therefore, since עץ was a material good, the members comprising Chazal -- the Jewish sages of the time -- were not going to use such a "common" word to name a holiday commemorating trees. Instead, they creatively combined two Aramaic words (one for tree and the other for wood) and created a new term for fruit trees -- אילן. Pluralize that and you get חג האילנות. Pretty cool!!!

Is the word אילן commonly used today in Israel? Only as the name for a boy. For girls, there's the name אילנה.

The word עץ is the big winner in Israel and here are some awesome Hebrew connections. We all know that trees symbolize strength. The Hebrew root for the word עץ is עצה. From that root we get the words עצה (advice), יעץ (to advise, give counsel) and לעצב (to give form or shape). As the New Year of Trees, Tu B'Shvat sure shapes the Jewish mindset because it's our way of celebrating the environment. 

חג שמח!

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I'm Reaching Out Because We're Both Asking the Same Question About Each Other's Country

Ever since the terrible news from Newtown I've been thinking about how I can reach out to you. Yesterday it hit me. After listening to people in Israel talk on the radio about what happened in Connecticut, I realized that we're asking the same question about each other's country: Is it safe?

For years I've been listening to this question about Israel. It always makes me laugh (and cry) when I hear tourists visiting Israel for the first time say: "Wow! It's so safe here! I thought I'd see a bomb go off at every street corner."

That's right. Living in Israel is safe and normal. Children are happy, happy, happy, totally safe walking the streets and playing in the parks on their own. It's true that every few years missiles start hitting our cities, targeting school children in schools as they did a month ago. I'm not trying to sugarcoat the dangers we face. Not at all. Children and parents get scared. Everyone does. But the whole country reaches out and helps the people who have been hurt. Our mental health specialists help get us through the rough times and we all hope our leaders find a way to stop the danger so that we can return to our normal, day-to-day routine. Because life must go on!

The point is, I saw the same thing last week. What happened in Newtown was frightening and it should never, ever happen again, anywhere! But it did -- and unfortunately has happened many times in the States -- but everyone in America reached out, the mental health specialists stepped in and now your leaders are looking for effective ways to control the purchase and use of guns.

Is it safe in America? Of course -- when guns are not in the picture and lawmakers put the right laws in place.

Is it safe in Israel? Of course -- when missiles are not shot and both sides truly talk about peace instead of paying lip service.

So let's get rid of all the loaded questions in both countries and pave the path to a safe, peaceful existence.

Wishing you (and us) only Shalom.

Zvuvi

From Hurricane Sandy to עמוד ענן

שלום ילדים

I've been debating with myself about how to talk to you about what's going on right now in Israel.

I know that many of you are still getting your chin above water after Hurricane Sandy.  Lots of you have houses that have been damaged or destroyed and I know that right now things are tough for you. I also know that many of you are helping out strangers that were hit by the hurricane, and I think that's great! כל הכבוד

Yup, you have a lot on your mind, but let me tell you: things aren't so great over here either. As opposed to a natural disaster, we have a man-made one -- rockets being shot by terrorists in Gaza to cities in Israel's southern and central regions. 

Of course we're fighting back and we're doing our best to beat the terrorists. 

What I want you to focus on is the name of the military campaign we are now waging. 

It's called עמוד ענן ("Amud Anan"), and many times our attacks and counter-attacks do look like this.

So why do I think the name עמוד ענן  -- Pillar of Cloud will interest you? Because I know you study the Bible. If you've read or are reading the book of Exodus, then you're familiar with god's Pillar of Cloud.  

Here's a reminder:

Exodus 14:19-20:

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.

Exodus 14:24

During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.

True, this is a perfect tie-in with Passover -- but the holiday around the corner is Hanukkah. So think about this: just as the Maccabees had to fight for their independence, Israel today is once again fighting to keep its country safe and free. 

May we all have a quiet and peaceful month of Kislev.

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TALE OF A FOURTH GRADE SOMETHING: A Story of Cultural Diversity in Israel

Shalom Yeladim:

Have you read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume? It introduces you to one of my favorite characters -- Fudge. Now I have a Tale of a Fourth Grade Something to tell you. It stars a fourth grade girl in Rishon LeZion who recently told the city's mayor not to fudge the facts.

Yup! She taught the mayor and me a great lesson in cultural diversity, because Rishon LeZion is like the rest of Israel. It has Jews from all over the globe living there -- Americans, Ethiopians, British, Yemenites, Australians, Iraqis, Russians, Moroccans, and lots more.

Here's what happened. The Rishon LeZion municipality wanted to tell its residents about the activities in a community center located in the Neve Dekalim neighborhood, so they printed and distributed a booklet. The girl -- whose name I don't know since I guess she doesn't want it in the newspapers -- saw it and got upset because only fair-skinned children were in the photos. So, she sent the mayor a letter. Here's what she wrote:

The booklet for the Neve Dekalim Community Center has at least 25 children.  All the kids in the pictures are fair-skinned and that does not represent all the children in town. I think that dark-skinned kids reading this booklet might feel jealous. A dark-skinned child  might say: "I can't be part of this because I'm dark-skinned." Anyway, it's also obvious that many children in the Neve Dekalim neighborhood are not fair-skinned....I would be happy to see you change that in future booklets.

Wouldn't you know it? The mayor found out that the photos were taken from an image bank. Now he's going to put together a photo archive representing all the city's children. He told the newspapers:

"The girl is right. I am happy she took the initiative and acted on this. She gave us a new perspective. Thanks to her insightful remark we will now make changes. I urge her and others to keep drawing our attention to such issues."

You gotta admit. This is A Tale of a Fourth Grade Something!


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Extreme Weather in Israel. Duh!?! It Does Happen!

Shalom Yeladim:

I'm flying in to bring you some needed sunshine as you hunker down and get ready for the "perfect storm." Whew...sounds like it's going to be awesome, as in the original definition of the word.

Sorry, I can't bring you our warm sun rays, but I can bring you sunshines of smiles by giving you this Extreme Weather in Israel quiz. Ready?

1. How long did the recent drought in Israel last?

2. When did it end?

3. At the end of that period a man made disaster was made infinitely worse because of the extremely dry climate. What was that disaster?

4. Israel recently experienced extreme snowfall with the largest snowstorm in two decades. When was that?

5. What was the highest temperature ever recorded in Israel? When and where?

6. What was the lowest temperature ever recorded in Israel? When and where?

7. What was the highest wind gust ever recorded in Israel? When and where?

8. What kind of extreme weather do Israeli meteorologists predict over the next decade?


Scroll down for the answers. But first, I hope this Tel Aviv sunset will bring a smile to your face.

Keep safe, warm and dry. Sip on some hot chocolate while you read the answers.


1. Five years
2. December 2010
3. Carmel Forest fire
4. December 2010 (ironic, no?)
5, 129º F, June 1942, at Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi
6. 7º F, February 1950, in the Beit Netofah Valley
7. 99 mph, January 1974, in Jerusalem
8. Read all about it


Tel Aviv sunset photo credit

Holy Cow! Our Cattle Waste is Powering 6,000 Homes!

Shalom Yeladim:

The holidays are over and now it's back to business as usual. Business as usual???? In Israel, it's always business as unusual.

You know that we Israelis don't like being cowed into doing anything. So, going at our own pace we developed a way to gain the highest milk yield from our Holstein cows.

Now we've come up with another cow "technique" and all I can say is mooo over environmentalists. We've set up a new biogas conversion facility in a moshav  -- agricultural village -- located in our southern region. It's aim is to turn livestock waste -- and I bet those Holstein cows have a lot -- into electricity. At the end of the day its output is set to be 4 megawatts of electricity.  That's enough to power 6,000 homes!

You know what I have to say about that? Holy cow!





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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.