Getting Ready to Get Back to School

Back to school can be a stressful time of year for kids and adults alike, but luckily the stress is matched by the excitement of seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and anticipating the many adventures of the coming year.

There are lots of skills kids need to succeed in school, and stories are an engaging way to teach students these skills starting on day one. That's why we're offering 20% off all books in our Back-to-School category through the end of August! Books in this category address one or more of

What to Expect
For the youngest students heading off to their very first day of school, books are a great way to introduce them to what to expect, from where they'll go to who they'll meet to what sorts of activities they might take part in. Back-to-school reads help make the unknown a little more familiar.

Sammy Spider's First Day of School

Rules
Rules. Every classroom has them, and showing students why we need these rules helps them feel more engaged and invested in keeping their classroom a safe and fun place.

No Rules for Michael

Kindness & Cooperation
It's never too soon to start teaching students the value of being kind to one another and to the world around them. These great reads may even inspire students to start good deed projects of their own!

Joey and the Giant Box
One Good Deed
My Name is Aviva
Speak Up, Tommy!

Making New Friends
Making new friends is an important - but sometimes scary! - part of any new school year.

Sammy Spider's New Friend

Songs, Lessons, and More!
Introductions to the alphabet, first Hebrew words, prayers for new beginnings, songs for Shabbat, and more are all gentle and fun lessons for that busy first week back to school.

I Say Shehechiyanu
Shabbat Shalom, Hey!
Alef is for Abba
My First Hebrew Word Book
My First Yiddish Word Book

Celebrating and Sharing this Sukkot

By Rebecca Goldsteen

Find Shanghai Sukkah and more great Sukkot titles at the Kar-Ben website.

The Jewish people are unique in many ways, including the ways in which we celebrate our holidays. Instead of just remembering the past, our customs remind us to look to the future and many of our holiday rituals lend themselves to being reinterpreted for the age in which we live. On Sukkot, for example, we build a sukkah in which we eat and, weather permitting (I’m from Minnesota!), sleep. Not only does this remind us of the huts in which the Jews lived as they wandered in the desert for 40 years, but it also reminds us to appreciate the natural world – the weather, the harvest, the outdoors.

Growing up, I knew that the end of Yom Kippur meant that Sukkot was coming. My brothers and I helped my dad build the sukkah, which usually involved my dad doing all the real building, with my brothers helping hold things up, and me trying to figure out how to tie fruit onto strings without it falling off the sukkah roof, still a struggle for me after 20 years. We brought home sukkah decorations we made in day school and did our best to make our sukkah as beautiful as possible. With the arrival of Sukkot, we took turns saying the blessings and shaking the lulav and etrog. We ate delicious dinners of fruits and vegetables, kugel, and kreplach. If it wasn’t too cold outside, we would put on our warmest pajamas, take our sleeping bags and pillows, and camp out in our sukkah telling stories into the night.

Like Marcus in the book “Shanghai Sukkah,”who wonders how he will celebrate Sukkot in his new home in Shanghai,  I wondered how I would celebrate Sukkot  when I started school at the University of Illinois three years ago. Fortunately, my school has a wonderful Chabad, Hillel, and JET (Jewish Education Team), each with its own sukkah. In fact, Chabad even sets up a sukkah outside my freshman dorm (many Jewish freshmen tend to live in this dorm) and brings a portable sukkah along with a lulav and etrog to the quad. Each of these organizations welcomes students and other visitors to eat dinner and socialize in their sukkot.

Understanding the importance of celebrating Jewish holidays begins at a young age. I have many friends who identify strongly as Jews, but don’t know the first thing about the holiday of Sukkot. They’re familiar with Hanukkah and Passover and Shabbat, but if their family didn’t celebrate Sukkot, they didn’t have the chance to learn about this very wonderful holiday. It’s important to understand our traditions and I feel lucky that I grew up in a home infused with Jewish celebration.  One friend of mine at college, once told me that she wants to know more about Judaism but is afraid to go to any of the Jewish organizations on campus because she doesn’t feel that she is “Jewish enough.” I told her that it’s never too late to learn new things about Jewish life, and that all these campus organizations are eager to welcome students just like her. The first step to embracing Judaism is to overcome the fear of thinking that you don’t know enough. None of us know everything so we’re all somewhere on the knowledge continuum!

In “Shanghai Sukkah,” when Marcus’ family flees the Holocaust, moving to Shanghai from Berlin, he befriends a Chinese boy named Liang. These two share their respective Sukkot and Moon Festival customs with each other, and Liang surprises Marcus by decorating Marcus’ sukkah with Chinese lanterns. And Marcus attends Liang’s Moon Festival celebration.

Like Marcus, I try my best to share with my peers --both Jewish and non-Jewish—my love of  Judaism.  I have convinced many of my Jewish friends to come celebrate the Jewish holidays with me on campus when they would likely have been more comfortable not participating. They always say they’re glad they came and that the celebrations make them appreciate being Jewish.

Education is never a bad thing. As we see in “Shanghai Sukkah,” the better we understand – and share -- our own customs and traditions, the more meaningful they become.  Chag sameach!

Rebecca Goldsteen , a student at the University of Illinois, was Kar-Ben’s summer intern.

Fond Memories of Jewish Summer Camp

By Rebecca Goldsteen

To celebrate summer, we're offering 20% off all Kar-Ben summer camp books. Discount taken at check-out.

Jewish summer camp was unlike any other experience in my lifetime. Some parents choose to send their children to secular summer camps, but I think these camps lack some important factors that Jewish summer camps provide and that stick with Jewish kids through adulthood. Many of the activities at Jewish summer camps connect to Judaism or Israel, allowing campers to learn about their Jewish history and culture in fun, active, and engaging ways. Additionally, because most if not all of the campers are Jewish, they share a special bond that is hard to find anyplace else in the outside world. Spending 24 hours a day for 1 to 8 weeks with the same group of people creates bonds that cannot be found going to school, synagogue, or on playdates.

I’ve made some of my best friends through my Jewish summer camp experiences. During my second summer at Camp Chi, an overnight camp near Chicago, the other pre-5^th graders and I were preparing to take our beginning-of-the-summer swim test. I hopped in the water, which reached to my chest and squealed, not wanting to get all the way into the cold swimming pool. I noticed a tall girl standing next to me. She was so tall that the water only reached to her waist. I turned to her and commented on how lucky she was to be so tall so that she didn’t have to get into the chilly water as quickly. She laughed and agreed, saying that this was one of the few things she liked about being taller than everyone else. We immediately became best friends and were bunkmates for the next six summers. Now, ten years later, she is still one of my closest friends.

I think it’s great that Kar-Ben is publishing stories about Jewish summer camps to encourage young children to want to go to camp. Picnic at Camp Shalom shows an important side of camp friendships; bonding, sensitivity, patience, and forgiveness. When kids, especially young campers, spend this much time together, there are bound to be some small problems that need to be worked out. When Carly and Sara arrive to Camp Shalom, they click immediately. One day, Carly laughs at Sara’s last name (Frankfurter), and Sara gets upset with her. Sara ignores Carly’s attempts to apologize, but when she finally has the opportunity to reveal that her own last name is Hamburger, all is forgiven and the girls laugh together.

One of the most exciting parts about Jewish summer camp is having a blast getting dirty during daily activities. Of course the campers take quick showers after painting themselves for Color Wars and before nighttime song sessions, keeping in mind the fun-filled, messy activities that will take place the following day. Because the weeks are spent this way, getting ready for Shabbat at camp is very special. No Baths at Camp illustrates this excitement felt by all young campers. Regardless of whether or not campers celebrate Shabbat at home, it is everyone’s favorite time of the week at camp. Getting ready with all your friends, taking pictures (and lots of them, since everyone only looks this nice once a week!), sitting with your cabin during services with your arms around each other during prayers, having a nice Shabbat dinner, and banging on the tables during Birkat Hamazon. The night ends with a Shabbat song session that brings many of the older campers to tears as they are reminded of their love for camp. 

As important as it is to not segregate ourselves as Jews from the rest of society, it is just as important to embrace our culture among ourselves. Regardless of whether or not children attends public school or a Jewish school, they will learn more about themselves and the joy of being part of the  Jewish community by  attending  Jewish camp than anyplace else. Because Judaism is as much an identity as a religion, it is important for kids to recognize and embrace their Judaism, regardless of the their level of observance, from a young age.

Even through my last summer of camp as a pre-11^th grader, I continued to grow and be engaged with finding myself Jewishly. Now, at age 20, preparing for my senior year of university, I have learned the importance of always keeping Judaism in my life, not only religiously, but also culturally and socially.

Rebecca Goldsteen , a Jewish summer camp enthusiast and student at the University of Illinois, is Kar-Ben’s summer intern.

Summertime Fun with Picnic at Camp Shalom!

In today's guest blog post, author Jacqueline Jules tells us a little bit about her book Picnic at Camp Shalom.

 

Summer camp is an opportunity to make new friends in a busy environment of swimming, boating, and creative activities. It’s also a place where Jewish children can leave behind the isolation they sometimes feel at home. Many Jewish children go to schools where they are a distinct minority. Summer camp can be a place of community and acceptance they do not experience elsewhere.

In Picnic at Camp Shalom, Carly meets Sara—a girl who shares her love of music and her fashion taste. On the first day of camp, they are surprised to see that they are both wearing the same blue bathing suit with white stars. “Twins!” They giggle. At night in their cabin, they talk by flashlight way past “lights out.” But trouble brews when Carly learns that they are far more alike than Sara realizes. They both have endured teasing at home for a last name that appears strange to children with short, plain names like “Jones” or “Walker.” Sara misunderstands Carly’s delight over finding out her new camp friend’s last name is “Frankfurter! Like the hotdog.” When Carly finally reveals her own last name, they discover that they are the perfect pair for Camp Shalom’s Sunday picnic.

 

Click below for a sneak preview of this story of summer camp friendship.

Buy the book here, and visit www.jacquelinejules.com to learn more about the author.