Hands on Holiday Style 

The following ideas are adapted from piece in Natural Jewish Parenting Magazine Extra!, a supplement to Natural Jewish Magazine meant to help families prepare for and get the most out of Jewish holidays. For information on subscribing to the magazine go to www.naturaljewishparenting. com.

1. Because Rosh Hashanah is a great time to renew relationships, this year try making New Year’s greeting cards with children. Send them to friends and relatives, especially elderly people who live on their own — everyone loves getting mail — and to that end, surprise the kids in your life by mailing your own New Year’s messages to them. It’s a wonderful way to start off the year on the right foot.

2. During the Aseret Yemey Teshuva (Ten Days of Penitence between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), secretly write down all the mitzvoth you "catch" your children doing during the week, then read them out loud at the Shabbat or Holiday. Not only are you elevating their good deeds to a new level, you give them the chance to see the power they have to do good in the world — you might even inspire them to keep a running total for the year to help quantify the impact they can have as an individual.

3. The High Holy days and the period between are a great time to involve kids in tzedekah projects. For the very young this can mean just taking them along as you deliver goods to a food shelf or old clothes to a shelter. As they get older they can both understand and help more. For example, fall is a great time to have them try on their winter jackets from the previous year. If they have outgrown them, bring the kids and the coats to a local shelter long before the first snowflakes fall.

With older kids, you have the opportunity to be a sounding board for their own tzedekah project ideas. Help them find things they like to do and are good at — then take those things and create a tzedekah project out of them.

4. Now do something to make the holidays easier for yourself: Doesn’t it seem like kids are even hungrier and thirstier than usual when you’re fasting? Try helping yourself by leaving plenty of pre-prepared snacks around for non-fasters — especially finger foods, and don’t forget to prepare paper plates and cups for self-service.

Happy Holidays!

During the past two years Americans have come to depend greatly on the skill and patriotism of our armed forces. While it is difficult to imagine the courage it takes to put your life on the line and leave your home and family behind, it is also difficult to comprehend being in harm’s way and away from home during holidays of all kinds — including, for Jewish serviceman, Shabbat and the High Holy days.

Here is an opportunity for you to help. The U.S. Navy is in need of Jewish religious items — they can be new or gently used and what is needed runs the gamut from Kiddush cups to Shabbat candlesticks, Challah covers to Likrat Shabbat Siddurim, and Machzorim. If you, your family,your school or your synagogue would like to help with this project, please mail your items to:

Office of the Chaplain 
MCAS Miramar 
San Diego,CA 92145

On ships in the Gulf and across the seas there are Jewish servicemen in need of a little taste of home during the holidays and on Shabbat. Your donation of an item will go a long way in letting them know they are not forgotten at this joyous time of year.

This piece was submitted by Steve Baumwald,who is a pilot and Navy Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves. He served active duty as a naval pilot in the first Gulf War and led services weekly for himself and the other Jewish servicemen aboard the USS Carl Vincent. The photo included here is of him and Lt. Robert Krigelman, the Jewish lay-leader aboard the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier, which is home-ported in San Diego, California.

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