A teacher once shared with me this story which I felt was perfect to include.

She was teaching her grade 4 class about the midah (attribute) of ‘chesed’ and how important it is to respond to all who are in need  even if it’s inconvenient or they won’t say thank you.

The teacher gave an example of walking home and seeing an animal in the road that had been killed by a car and was lying by the side of the road in a bloody heap.

The teacher hoped to get the response from the children that they would find a phone and call someone to pick up the animal since it was not respectful to have it on the road.  She called on one of the girls to answer what she would do and the girl honestly told her she thinks that she’d throw up.

This is how the Purim story was once told to me by a little girl:

‘Long, long ago in a land far, far away there was a king who lost his wife. He decided he needed a new wife so he sent announcements throughout his kingdom asking that all the fair young maidens come to his palace for a great ball where he would choose his next wife.

‘Long, long ago in a land far, far away there was a king who lost his wife. He decided he needed a new wife so he sent announcements throughout his kingdom asking that all the fair young maidens come to his palace for a great ball where he would choose his next wife.

In a small cottage near the edge of the kingdom lived a young Jewish girl named Esther. Esther was an orphan and she was living with her uncle, Mordecai. Esther spent all her days and most of the night cooking and cleaning and sewing and didn’t have any time to herself. She used to dream of being a princess one day and meeting her prince.

When Esther heard that the king was having a ball she was very sad because she couldn’t go. She had no dress to wear and no way to get to the ball but through a great miracle, Esther not only went to the ball in the most beautiful dress but was chosen by the king to be his new queen.’

And so I give you: Cinderesther

I came across some very sweet things that kids have said about love and I wanted to share them with you. Enjoy!

• “Love is like an avalanche where you have to run for your life.” — John, age 9
• “I think you’re supposed to get shot with an arrow or something, but the rest of it isn’t supposed to be so painful.” — Manuel, age 8
• “No one is sure why it happens, but I heard it has something to do with how you smell. That’s why perfume and deodorant are so popular.” — Mae, age 9
• “On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.” — Mike, 10
• “I’m in favor of love as long as it doesn’t happen when Dinosaurs is on television.” — Jill, age 6
• “My mother says to look for a man who is kind. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll find somebody who’s kinda tall and handsome.” — Carolyn, age 8
• “One of you should know how to write a check. Because, even if you have tons of love, there is still going to be a lot of bills.” — Ava, age 8
• “I’m not rushing into being in love. I’m finding fourth grade hard enough.” — Regina, age 10
• “Most men are brainless, so you might have to try more than once to find a live one.” — Angie, age 10
• “A man and a woman promise to go through sickness and illness and diseases together.” — Marlon, age 10
• “[Being] single is better . . . for the simple reason that I wouldn’t want to change no diapers. Of course, if I did get married, I’d figure something out. I’d just phone my mother and have her come over for some coffee and diaper-changing.” — Kirsten, age 10

(the last one is my personal favourite)

A few weeks ago I went shopping with my 10 year old daughter. We were walking through the store and she was pointing out all kinds of things she’d like to have. This was very unusual behaviour since our family has a pretty well understood shopping etiquette. We can admire things in the store without necessarily wishing to have them. If there is something special the kids would like to have then we negotiate chores and extra duties. That’s not what she was doing. She was pointing at things and saying she’d like to have them – pajamas, toys, candy, – all kinds of things.

It struck me that her behaviour was much more informed by the Christmas media than by our family values so I decided to play it out. “I have a great idea!” I said, “I’ll get you that for Christmas!” She immediately stopped walking, was quiet, then looked at me and said: “When is it ever going to be our Christmas?” I just smiled at which point she said, “That’s not funny.”

For the last few weeks, every time an extraordinary request is made within the family we all simply say, ‘I’ll get you that for Christmas’, or ‘sounds good for Christmas Eve.’

Within a Jewish household, it’s added a whole new meaning to Christmas.

Happy Holidays everyone!

A woman was waiting in a bank with her daughter, a preschool student at a Jewish school. The line-up was long and the woman was trying to watch her daughter while filling out the proper banking slips as they progressed through line. She glanced up from the bank slip and noticed her daughter was no longer standing at her side.

Immediately the woman began to scan the people around looking for her daughter and within seconds her eyes found the little girl. The young preschooler was standing at the bank counter next to an old Chassidic man being served by the teller. The old Chassid, dressed in long black coat and black hat with a long white beard was busy talking to the teller. He didn’t notice that the little girl was standing straight and tall right next to him and in her proudest voice was singing ‘Hatikvah’.

There are wonderful collections of children’s prayers written to God which give us lovely moments.  I’m always fascinated by the fact that children will begin their prayers with “Dear God” and end with “Yours truly” or “Sincerely” followed by their name.  As a teacher I always wonder if we really have a handle on the ‘all-knowing’ thing.

One of these prayer notes that I’ve seen struck me as particularly powerful.  It began “Dear God” and continued by thanking God for the new baby brother his parents brought home.  The final line of the letter reminded God that what he really asked for was a puppy.

We should never underestimate the value of an honest prayer.

A mother was looking forward to coming into town for Pesach with her husband and their 3 little children. She had spent weeks preparing her children for the special Seder they were going to attend with the whole family and the wonderful food they were going to eat and all the songs they were going to sing.

Since she herself had not been in town for years, she forgot that most of the family was now somewhat elderly and she was the only one at the Seder with small children. She told me she completely underestimated how long the Seder would take.

The evening started well enough with lots of smiles. Once everyone sat down, the mother sat with the adults while her children were seated at ‘the kid’s table’. As time went by, the mother was keenly aware of all the noise coming from the kid’s table and she was trying to quietly shush her children and encourage patience.

It was clear the kids were not going to be able to sit quietly for much longer. The mother went over to them and (she admits, regrettably, being somewhat frazzled) she scolded her children and told them she doesn’t want to hear another sound from them. This is Pesach, she reminded them, and children are only supposed to ask questions at the Seder, not make noise.

The children were feeling bad and sat quietly with their heads down. This lasted for about 5 minutes when one child raised her head and asked a question directed at the adults: “Are we out yet?” When the mother asked what she meant, the daughter replied: “From Egypt, are we out yet?” The mother answered that they hadn’t reached that part yet.

For the next 15 minutes the children asked the adults every few minutes: “Are we out yet?”

One of the elderly relatives turned to the kids and said “if you ask me that one more time, I’m turning this caravan around and heading right back to Egypt!”

The children were silent, the elderly man turned back to the table and broke into a huge smile.

Once when teaching a grade 2 class, I felt it was important that they begin to understand how hurtful ‘lashon harah’, speaking negatively about others, could be.  I gathered the children together on our carpet since I felt they should realize how personal this is and I wanted them to engage and invest themselves in this very important Jewish value.

I was so taken with how their eyes were glued on me and the silence in the room told me how seriously they were absorbing what I was teaching.  It was one of those moments when we see the connection building between us and the generation to come.  It was a very moving moment for me.

After class one little girl came up to me and said she really understood what I was trying to say and that we should never talk about others behind their backs.  To show me how much she had absorbed this valuable lesson she then said: ‘I never do that to anyone, but Lisa, she always does that.’

The other day I was talking to one of my daughters who just finished working in a Jewish day care for the summer.  She laughingly told me of a conversation she had with one of the 3 year olds.  The group had just finished watching a slide show on Israel and it included slides of the Western Wall in Jerusalem filled with people praying.  The 3 year old asked what the people were doing at the wall and the adults answered: they’re praying.

Wanting to give a mystery moment to the children, one of the adults continued and said that no matter where you are in the city of Jerusalem, you would always face the direction of the wall when you prayed.

The 3 year old sat quietly thinking and then her face lit up and she said: ‘Oh, I get it!  So in Jerusalem everyone prays to a wall and in the rest of the world we pray to God!’

Sometimes too much information isn’t a good thing…