Celebrating Jewish holidays...
and bringing Torah & mitzvot into everyday family life

The Jewish holidays bestow structure, rhythm, and excitement upon the cycle of the seasons. In the same way, daily Jewish practices imbue every morning, afternoon, and evening in a child's life with a sense that he or she is part of something larger -- something meaningful, something holy.

The hows and whys of what makes a family Jewish every day, and all year long, are really the essence of Jewish parenting.

When Jewish life is just life itself -- seamlessly woven into the very fabric of the family -- then children live Jewishly as naturally as they breathe. And then a child (or, for that matter, parents) come to see Jewish holidays, customs, and mitzvot as a privilege, each mitzvah a spark of beauty and holiness that fills their lives with light.

And when children feel illuminated on the inside, they radiate that light outward. They can give of themselves to others, and they can engage themselves fully in expressing their unique purpose in the world.



Each Jewish holiday has its own energy, its own message, its own music, its own tastes and smells and sensations. Celebrating Jewish holidays is a multisensory experience for anyone, and especially for a child.

Pesach (Passover) transports children to the past (and back) with the crunch and snap of matza, the heady smells of wine and horseradish, and the swirl of songs and stories that fill the hours.

Chanukah surrounds children with the crackle and glow of candlelight, the smell of olive oil, the sizzle of latkes, the taste of rich food, and the warm feeling of singing and playing together as a family.

Purim keeps kids happily hopping -- planning costumes, packing and delivering mishloach manot, noshing hamantashen, making a racket with graggers, and parading and dancing into the night.

And don't forget -- in no particular order -- Shavuot (pleasant combination of joyous services and creamy cheesecake), Lag B'Omer (bonfires, picnics, music, and relay races), Sukkot (Jewish camping, learning to make knots out of palm fronds, and the once-a-year chance to smell an etrog), Simchat Torah (dancing with flags and Torahs), Yom Kippur (wearing sneakers to shul), and Tu B'Shevat (happy birthday to the trees)!

With the gamut of Jewish holidays, children are always looking forward to a special day with anticipation. And in between Yomim Tovim, the ordinary days of Jewish life are not so ordinary; overflowing with moments of appreciation and awareness, the Jewish day is an ongoing exercise in conscious living, for parents and children alike.



The links below will take you to articles about holidays and mitzvot from the pages of Natural Jewish Parenting magazine. Some articles are reprinted in full; others are excerpts. (If an article title is plain text and does not link to another page, then it is currently available only in print copies of NJP. Back issues are available at the NJP Shop. Click here to order back issues. NJP Shop will open in a new window.)

Over time, I will be making more articles available online. New articles will be added here after each new issue is published, and exclusive web-only content will also be added.

Articles are coming soon!