YALDAH GIRL FUN!

Here's where YALDAH readers and all Jewish girls can get interesting reading, fun ideas, and more!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Dvar Torah for Parshat Bichukotai

Oy! I'm so sorry about not posting so often! If you've ever been on the schedule where you seriously can't figure out when to sleep because 24 hours is just not enough time to do everything you need to get done, then I'm sure you understand...
But as busy as I am I'm REALLY going to try to post every day next week!

Here's a story/dvar torah for Parshat Bichukotai:

Care to Win
By Mendy Loewenthal

"You must pass the ball to each other," Ms. Gibson said. "If you want your team to win, you all need to work together, if you just try to run down with the ball and play your own game then your team will lose."

Sarah's team was in the middle of the first game of the interschool competition and they had a new coach. They all stood huddled around him at halftime, listening to his words of wisdom and inspiration intended to keep them going through the second half and carry them through to a win.

"It doesn't sound as if she cares whether we win or lose," Sarah said to Miri as they jogged out to the field. "All she says is, 'if you do this you will win, if you do that you will lose.' It's all 'if you,' 'if you.'"

"Yeah," Miri said. "Instead of telling us that we will lose, it would be nice if she would encourage us to play well in a positive way."

"It's like this week's Torah reading," Sarah said. "The reading starts with the words 'If you follow My laws.' We had a long discussion in class about the word 'if.' Does it mean 'if,' or does it mean 'please'"?

"What's the difference?" Miri asked as they waited for the whistle to blow.

"Well, this little word," Sarah explained, "changes the whole meaning of the verse. It could make G‑d sound as if He doesn't really care whether we win or lose, and all He is saying is 'if you keep the mitzvot you will be blessed.' Or, it could be a passionate plea from G‑d that we should keep the mitzvot and learn Torah, and consequently we will be blessed."

"So," Miri said, "what did you decide, does G‑d care if we do the mitzvot?"

"The Talmud says," Sarah explained "that G‑d is pleading with us to do the mitzvot. G‑d wants us to live a life filled with positive things. He wants us to study Torah and do the mitzvot, such as being kind to each other and kind to our parents, to our brothers and sisters and being good to a lonely person, and like Shabbat and kosher and so on."

"Wow! Pleading with us! That's amazing," said Miri.

"Yeah," said Sarah. "But most importantly He wants us to win the game!"

"Remember to pass…!" Miri yelled as she ran for the ball...

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Puzzle of the Day

For this puzzle, find the number that fits in the blank. Then at the bottom, fill in the letter that goes with the number you filled in. When you are done, you will find a message.

Number of months in a year __ = H
Number of shoes you put on in the morning _ = O
Number of days of Hanukkah __ = S
Number of hours in a day __ = A
Number of days in a week __ = M
Number of months in summer __ = C
Number of letters in the word yaldah __ = O
Number of sides of a pentagon __ = W
Number of heads you have __ = I
Number that 24 X 2 makes __ N
Number of legs a dog has __ = H


___   ___   ___   ___   ___   ___   ___   ___             ___   ___   ___
  7       8      2      4      1       24    3      12               48     6      5