Hanukkah for Parents and Children

Hanukkah: Background for parents, researched and written by Sylvia Rouss Hanukkah is celebrated in the winter. It lasts for eight days and is also known as the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah is based on a historical event and is a result of a conflict between the Jewish faith and Greek…

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Simchat Torah for Parents and Children

Background on Simchat Torah for Parents Researched and written by Sylvia Rouss   Simchat Torah immediately follows Sukkot.  Throughout the year the Torah scroll is unrolled and read in the synagogue. The reading begins with Genesis and the story of creation and continues with Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and finally, Deuteronomy.…

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Curriculum Opportunities

If you are a teacher, parent, librarian or someone just interested in expanding the experiences a child can have with one of my books,  you can visit my  Curriculum pages.   A sampling of activities: For Sammy Spider’s First Rosh HaShanah, you can use a picture of Sammy Spider and ask…

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Hanukkah Origins of Sammy Spider

One December morning over twenty years ago, several of the children in my preschool class were discussing the Christmas displays at the local mall and the beautiful lights adorning the homes of their non Jewish neighbors. There was such excitement in their voices and some even said they wished they…

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