Amira's Posts

Flat Stanley is the beloved “flat” character from the 1964 children’s book of the same title, written by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Tomi Ungerer.  Every teacher and parent of young children know the story of Stanley Lambchop, who gets “flattened” in his sleep when a big bulletin board falls on him.  He survives and discovers the advantages of being “flat.”  For one, he can visit friends by being mailed in envelopes.

On a recent trip to Florida, I saw a man on the beach, dressed in a white button down shirt and khaki pants—with a camera in one hand and Flat Stanley in the other!  He had obviously promised his young son or daughter a photograph of Stanley at the Atlantic Ocean.  And on a trip to Israel, a day care director in our tour group must have snapped 100 pictures of Stan—from Zichron Yaakov to The Sea of Galilee.

It seems other “Stanleys” have also visited the Holy Land. A tour guide in Israel writes of the day a Flat Stanley arrived in the mail from Los Angeles.  He had recently guided the family on a bat mitzvah tour.  Now, the younger sister was writing with a special request—to take Stanley with him on his tours of Israel.   “At first I did not understand what I was supposed to do with this weird thing. It could easily be thought of as a joke, but after reading the “manual” I became quite enthusiastic… We fed him traditional Israeli salad, put him in a Succah we built in Kiryat Yovel neighborhood in Jerusalem.”  Flat Stanley was even photographed with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat!

Apparently, Flat Stanley had had similar adventures all around the world.  The Flat Stanley Project encompasses more than 6000 schools registered in 88 countries.

All of the Flat Stanley hype, coupled with a TV commercial a few years back for Travelocity–with a talking gnome-gave Rachel Kirschbaum, a Jewish Day school teacher in New York City, an idea—Chayim Yerushalayim!!  According to Kirschbaum, the chair of the Tanach department at the prestigious Ramaz School in Manhattan, “Chayim Yerushalayim” has followed her from teaching positions in several New York area Jewish day schools.  “He started with SAR 2nd graders, continued with Heschel 5th graders and after a brief hiatus, took up travel again with 8th graders (or their parents) at Ramaz.”  Kirschbaum currently teaches 6,7 and 8th grades at Ramaz.

Chayim has been to Jerusalem many times. He has been to the Dead Sea and, Kirschbaum reports, “His skin should be soft and supple by now”—thanks to all of the Dead Sea mud smeared all over his body.   He has been to the Tayelet in Tel Aviv, to Caesaria, and to  Masada.  “The kids love it.  They think it is the cutest thing.  I usually do it with younger students but even the 8th  graders were ecstatic to see the pictures and so excited…it works every time!”

Next time you are in Israel, keep your eyes open for Flat Stanley or Chayim Yerushalayim. Both are great travelers and can be useful in teaching all ages about Israel! [full disclosure: Chayim recently accompanied me and I group I led on a trip to Israel!  See photo below]

(Source: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com)

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Omri Casspi on meeting up with Gilad Shalit, what it’s like to wear number 36, and life as the only Israeli playing in the NBA

NEW YORK — Basketball player Omri Casspi achieved overnight rock star status in 2009 when he was drafted 23rd overall in the first round by the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. Casspi signed a three-year contract worth $3.5 million and became the first Israeli to play in the NBA.

Casspi averaged 10.8 and 8.6 points per game in his two seasons with the Kings, and in 2010, he was selected to play in both the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge and NBA All-Star Weekend H–O–R–S–E Competition. On June 30, 2011, Casspi and a 2012 first round draft pick were traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for forward/center J.J. Hickson.

Throughout Casspi’s NBA career, he has taken very seriously what he perceives as his role as ambassador of Israel and the Jewish People. Many United States communities have organized “Jewish Heritages Days” at their NBA stadiums, and Casspi has patiently posed for pictures and signed hundreds of autographs.


‘I feel happy being Israeli and Jewish every time I step on the court’

“I feel great pride being Jewish and Israeli, and a lot of responsibility. I feel happy being Israeli and Jewish every time I step on the court,” Casspi told The Times of Israel Wednesday.

Casspi was born into a sporting family. Father Shimon is an accomplished tennis player, mother Eliana was a competitive basketball player and sister Aviv played basketball for Elitzur Holon. Brother Eitan often travels in the States with Omri.

As a child in Israel, Omri Casspi played basketball for several local teams and at age 13, moved to the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team. By age 17, Casspi turned pro and played for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was drafted by the Kings at age 21, after he had completed his mandatory three-year service with the IDF.

Casspi signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv during the 2011 NBA lockout and intended to join the team if the lockout was not resolved.

The 161-day lockout, which began on July 1, 2011, ended on December 8, 2011, and a shortened season began on December 25th. Casspi is averaging 22.8 minutes per game with the Cleveland Cavaliers with 3.4 rebounds and 7.7 points.

Casspi spoke with The Times of Israel in the visitors’ locker room at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden prior to Wednesday night’s heartbreaking 120-103 loss to the New York Knicks; the Cavaliers led at the half 61 to 49.

Omri Casspi taking a shot at Wednesday’s game.

There is a picture of you and Gilad Shalit which appeared all over the Internet and Facebook yesterday. What is the story behind the picture and meeting?

Gilad Shalit came to Orlando for the NBA All Star Weekend last weekend. He wanted to keep it off the media. Nobody really knew he was there. He wanted to have quality time with his family and a few really good friends. We had dinner. It was very emotional for me.

How did he seem?

He seems fine. First of all, he is a big fan of basketball. I was honored to be around him and have dinner with him and talk.

How did you choose number 36?

[Smiling] Double Chai! I wore 18 in Sacramento. I come to Cleveland and Anthony Parker wore that number. I was going to either cut it in half and take 9 or double it — double chai — so I took 36.

Were you disappointed that you didn’t get to play for Macabi Tel Aviv, or were you happy to just get on with the season after the lockout? Were you in Israel during the lockout? Are you in touch with NBA player Jordan Farmar (who also played for Maccabi Tel Aviv)?

I was in States working out. I never got a chance to go to Israel. I was happy and disappointed — both! I kind of wanted to play for Macabi Tel Aviv a little bit and see my family. I am happy I am playing basketball for Cleveland.

I am very friendly with Jordan. We are great friends. He is a great guy. He did a lot of great things for Maccabi Tel Aviv this year. [Farmar actually played for Maccabi during the lockout — he returned to the New Jersey Nets after the lockout ended]

What has the adjustment been like — to a new team and to a new Jewish community?

Because of the lockout, we had no training camp and no summer activities with my new team — we didn’t have time to bond with the guys. We are going to get close this summer.

The Jewish community — wherever we go, West or East — there are a lot of people with flags. They come to support me, invite me for chagim…

Has the Jewish community’s excitement for you died down over time?

I get a warm reception. It has always been great.

Is there a communication gap between the Jewish communities of the US and Israel?

In Israel, we are not seen as a Jewish community. We are a country. It is a little different. Here, in the United States, people really get together. I think the two do understand each other — absolutely. In Israel, we support the Jewish people of the US, and the Jewish people in the US have a lot of influence — political, etc. I have been here 2 or 3 years now — I don’t think we [Israel] would have a country without the people of the United States.

Any ideas what you will do after basketball?

[Laughing.] No, I am still thinking about my basketball career. Not yet!

Jeremy Lin? [The Knicks’ Chinese American Harvard grad sensation]

I played against him before — when he was with Golden State. It is a really nice story. What a big step forward he made. Really nice story.

How do you relate to the Jeremy Lin story?

Everybody can relate in a way. When I first got here, many believed I could not play in the NBA. Then, I got better. When you see a guy like Jeremy Lin, it is inspirational.

(Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com

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“What’s the frummest book you sell here?” the customer asks Adam, the gregarious bookseller.  “Do you sell Judaism for Dummies?  asks a man, not appreciating the irony–he was asking hovering over books, just under the sign indicating he was in the “Scholarly Works” section.  Welcome to YU Seforim Sale, currently in full swing on the campus of Yeshiva University in Upper Manhattan.

The Seforim Sale, which takes place from February 5-26, 2012, is, according to their website (http://www.theseforimsale.com/) “the largest Jewish book sale in North America…The sale provides discounted prices on the widest selection of rabbinic and academic literature, cookbooks, children’s books, music and lecture CDs and much more.”

Minutes after havdalah, we caught the M101 bus on Third Avenue for the 45 minute ride to “the sale.”  As first timers, we had no idea what to expect.  Perhaps yeshiva bochers searching through piles of Gemarahs and Tanachs?  Could it possibly be true that last year, the book sale drew more than 15,000 people from the tri-state area, featured more than 15,000 books, and grossed more than $1 million in sales?

We were amazed with what we experienced.  Armies of helpful Stern College women and YU men were already in their places—on the floor and at the cash registers—as the doors of Belfer Hall opened at 8 pm.  Colorful maps were distributed to help the crowd navigate the carefully organized room—in addition to sections of gemarahs, midrashim, mishnayos, rishonim and achronim, were sections for history/Holocaust, novel/biographies, English mussar/machshava, haggadahs, Israel, cookbooks and more.

I expected to find only books reflecting a certain perspective.  Next to such titles as The Laws and Concepts of Niddah, and  Hide and Seek:  Jewish Women and Hair Covering were Wendy Mogel’s  The Blessing Of A Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children, books by Conservative rabbi, Reuven Hammer (The Torah Revolution:  Fourteen Truths That Changed The World), and Solomon Schechter’s classic  Aspects of a Rabbinic Judaism— With a New Introduction by Neil Gillman, Including the Original Preface of 1909 & the Introduction by Louis Finkelstein.

And the book lovers also came from many walks of life.  While most were clearly traditional, and many seemed to know each other, there were women with skirts of various lengths and some in jeans, and men with and without head coverings.  All in all, a diverse crowd sharing a love of books.

We shlepped our  books to the check out counter–minutes before the Y-Studs, one of Yeshiva University’s acclaimed a cappella groups, began their performance.  As we left, plenty were just entering—likely to stay until the midnight closing.  We smiled all the way home, with our first hand knowledge of why Jews are known as “The People of the Book”—or is it books?!

(Source: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com)

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TIkvah Staff past and present from Ramah New England, Darom and Wisconsin joined New York area Tikvah parents last Saturday night at REELabilities, a unique abilities/disabilities film festival. The festival, which now takes place in several US cities, was started in 2007. The NY festival is the largest in the country dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different disabilities.

For the staff members from the various Ramah special needs programs, this marks another wonderful opportunity to get together in the offseason, share ideas and discuss important issues. The Hebrew language film, MABUL (“flood” or “storm”).

featured an Israeli young man with autism who returns home on short notice from his “institution.” The film shows the painful struggles of the family and community. We are most appreciative to Rabbi Mitch Cohen and the National Ramah Commission (and to our various funders) for making it possible for Tikvah staff and families to view the film free of charge. We enjoyed seeing a number of friends of Tikvah at the event, and we loved the 16 Handles ice cream we shared during our post film discussion!

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