30 Activities to do in 60 Minutes (More or Less)

 30 Activities to do in 60 Minutes (More or Less)
Over Vacation
Rabbi Ed Prince
Central Hebrew High

1. Read and discuss an article from an Israeli daily newspaper (in English)

Jerusalem Post – http://www.jpost.com/
Haaretz – http://haaretz.com/
Yidiot Achronot – http://www.ynetnews.com

2. Sign up for the daily Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) newsletter at www.JTA.org

3. Collect spare change and plant a tree in Israel – www.jnf.org

4. Tape (at 3 am Friday, December 21) and watch “The Eternal Road: An Enter with the Past” on PBS. THE ETERNAL ROAD: AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE PAST recounts the drama of an epic opera composed by Kurt Weill that symbolized the threatened condition of the Jews. The musical was a direct challenge to the rising tide of fascism in 1930s Nazi Germany and was designed to provide hope to Europe’s Jewish communities in the ominous days before the outbreak of World War II. The program chronicles the restaging of the play in the German town of Chemnitz, a community that was once home to nearly 3500 Jews, through archival footage, vintage photographs and interviews with academics, citizens, artists and musicians who lived through the atrocities of the era.

5. Check out Netflix www.netflix.com  and order a film of Jewish content (popcorn optional)

6. Sign up for an Israel program. March of the Living still has openings and there is scholarship available. More information can be found at http://www.motl.org/ .

7. Contact a local hospital and arrange to visit a sick child or volunteer to read or play with children who are hospitalized.

8. Collect food to donate to a food pantry. You can find a link to the Bobrow Interfaith Food Pantry at Congregation Oheb Shalom through the Mitzvot of MetroWest wbsite http://metrowest.wordpress.com/mitzvot-of-metrowest/

9. Study the Torah Portions (Dec. 22 Vaye-hee; Dec. 29 Shemot). A wide variety of interpretations are available from http://shamash.org/tanach/dvar.shtml although not all links work.

10. Practice reading Hebrew

11. Create your own family tree by logging on to Jewish Gen http://www.jewishgen.org/ and search out information about your family’s ancestors. Registration is required but not invasive.

12. Volunteer time at a soup kitchen. You can find a link to Bridges through the Mitzvot of MetroWest wbsite http://metrowest.wordpress.com/mitzvot-of-metrowest/

13. Help make a weekday minyan at a local synagogue.

14. Find out what happened on this date in Jewish history by searching at http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/bhyom/ and look up one of the events you find.

15. Attend a Shabbat service as a family.

16. Contact the Presidential candidates to get their views on Israel.
Bill Richardson: http://www.billrichardsonforpresident.com/  - 1-505-982-2291
Joe Biden: http://biden.senate.gov/contact/  - 1-202-224-5042
Hilary Clinton: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/help/contact/  - 1-202-263-0180
Chris Dodd: http://www.chrisdodd.com /contact – 1-860-561-8843
John Edwards: http://www.johnedwards.com/about/contact/form/  - 1-919-636-3131
Mike Gravel: http://www.gravel2008.us/contact  - 1-703-652-4698
Dennis Kucinich: http://kucinich.us/contact  – 1-887-413-3664
John McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/  - (703) 418-2008
Barack Obama: http://action.barackobama.com/page/s/contact  - 1-866-675-2008
Ron Paul: http://www.ronpaul.org 

17. Invite friends to share a Shabbat meal together.

18. Write a journal of your favorite Jewish experiences and memories.

19. Say the Shema twice a day when you get up and before you go to sleep.

20. Write a letter to the Editor of your local paper on a subject which reflects Jewish values

21. Learn the meaning of a Hebrew prayer.

22. Invite fellow CHHS student you don’t really know and do something together.

23. Study each in English and/or Hebrew a short Jewish text such as Pirkei Avot – Chapters of the Fathers. An excellent text and commentary is found at http://www.mentsh.com/avot1-1.html
24. Watch and discuss a movie with a Jewish theme. Check out Amazon for some suggestions. Parental discretion advised. http://www.amazon.com/Jewish-themed-films/lm/R1ZGNMKCXMGDQK

25. Interview family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) and ask what it was like being Jewish when they were growing up. Compare Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration, Hebrew Schools, camp experiences, etc.

26. Take an inventory of all the Jewish items (books, objects, etc.) in your home and write down when they were last used.

27. Replace the incandescent bulbs in your house with compact fluorescents. Calculate the energy and dollar savings http://www.ed.org/page.cfm?tagID=60   and contribute the value of the savings to an environmental group.

28. Contact COEJL, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life to learn how you can make a difference in your home, school and synangue. http://www.coejl.org/index.php

29. If you are going to New York City, visit:

The Jewish Museum http://www.jewishmuseum.org/  1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street
New York, New York 10128 Phone: 212.423.3200

The Museum of Jewish Heritage http://www.mjhnyc.org/index.htm  36 Battery Place Battery Park City New York, NY 10280 Phone: 646.437.4200

The Center for Jewish History http://www.cjh.org/  15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212.294.8330

The Tenement Museum http://www.tenement.org/  97 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002 Phone: 212. 982 8420

30. Write a letter to a Jewish soldier serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. This can be done either by emailing the chaplain in charge or by writing to the chaplain and enclosing a letter to the serviceman/woman. If you are writing, you need only use first class postage but you must include your return address on the outside of the envelope. The chaplains are listed below. The number of servicemen/women under their responsibility is in parenthesis.
LTC Amy Blumenthal (10)
ASG-Ku S4
APO AE 09366
Amy.blumenthal@us.army.mil

OS2 Aron Sandler (10)
USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199)
MILDET
FPO AP 96679-4040
Aron.n.sandler@msc.navy.mil

ISC (SW/AW) Louis M. Fellerman (10)
COMUSNAVCENT ONA
FPO AE 09501-6008
louis.fellerman@me.navy.mil

CHAPLAIN SHULMAN (10)
3rd AVIATION BRIGADE – 3rd ID
4/3 HHC CAB 43408
APO, AE 09322-3408
a.shulam@us.army.mil

CHAPLAIN SHULMAN (10)
3rd AVIATION BRIGADE – 3rd ID
4/3 HHC CAB 43408
APO, AE 09322-3408
a.shulam@us.army.mil

Seth D Phillips (25)
LCDR, CHC, USN
NSA Chapel
PSC 817 Box 43
FPO AE 09622
seth.phillips@eu.navy.mi

Jonathan Newman (4)
PSC 3 Box 8497
APO AP 96266
Jonathan.newman@osan.navy.mil

CH (MAJ) Shmuel Felzenberg (30)
HHC TF Pegasus
APO AE 09354
Shmuel.felzenberg@us.army.mil

Chaplain (LTC) Avi Weiss (30)
HHC 1st Signal Brigade
Unit 15271, Box 474
APO AP 96205-5271
avi.weiss@us.army.mil

LT Risa Simon, USN (25)
MNCI Chaplains Office
Attention: Jewish Lay Leader
Unit 42104
APO AE 09342
risa.simon@iraq.centcom.mil

LCDR Joshua Malkin (5)
FOB Blue Diamond
PRT Bld 134
APO AE 09346
joshua.malkin@navfacfe.navy.mil

CH (MAJ) Ira Ehrenpreis (10)
HSC 769th EN BN
APO AE 09344-3020
ira.ehrenpreis@us.army.mil

Jonathan Newman (4)
PSC 3 Box 8497
APO AP 96266
Jonathan.newman@osan.navy.mil

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