lkhu Vayelech Parshat 3-4 youth Professiona s Grades Network Weekly Parsha Programming

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1 Parshat Vayelech lkhu Grades 3-4

2 Slot 1...TEFILLAH (20 mins) Slot 2...PARSHA SUMMARY (10 mins) Slot 3...QUESTIONS ON PARSHA (20 mins) Slot 4...GAMES (20 mins) Slot 5...STORY TIME (10 mins) Slot 6...SNACK TIME (10 mins)

3 Slot One: Approximately 20 minutes TEFILLAH The Tefillot chosen have been recommended for the age(s) of the children that in your group. If you find that they know more Tefillot feel free to add. Be aware of their cues. If it s too little or easy for them, it is necessary for you to add on more Tefillot. If it s too much for some of the children, I recommend that you stay with it and teach them more each week. With the young children, you should sing the Tefillot. This will make it easier for them to catch on and join in with the group. In preparing the children for Tefillah you should have them sitting quietly and try to make sure there are no distractions. Make sure everyone has the Tefillot in front of him or her. These Tefillot should ALL be read or sung out loud. You should be leading each Tefillah and singing along with the children. Please consult your shul s Rabbi or Youth Director to make sure the tunes you use are consistent with those used in the main sanctuary. Please take a moment before Shabbat to identify the page numbers in your shul s siddur so you can readily help the children find the pages.

4 Tefillot PAGE NUMBERS yna hdvm Modeh Ani yrsa Ashrei tyxyx Bracha on Tzizit (for boys) ubtsy Yishtabach vbvj hm/mlvi Nvda Mah Tovu/Adon Olam ims Shema and its Brachot tvcrb Brachot yrsi hnvms Sh mona Esrei rys rvmzm Beginning of Pesukei D Zimra - Mizmor Shir vnkvlac Nya Ain K-Elokaynu rmas Cvrb Baruch She amar vnyli Aleinu vdvh Hodu

5 SLOT TWO: Approximately 10 minutes PARSHA This summary should be read and understood before Shabbat so that you will be prepared to teach it to the children. This should not be read mechanically to the children. You should be familiar enough with the information that you could tell it in your own words. If you find that just telling them the story is not working to their benefit then you should quiz them on what they learned about in school about the parsha. You might want to get pictures or visual aids to help hold the kids attention during your recitation, as well. The Torah Thought at the end of the summary is something which also may be discussed. SUMMARY OF PARSHAT VAYELECH In this parsha, the shortest parsha in the Torah, we see Moshe at one hundred and twenty years old. He once again an nounces that he will die and his leadership is now ending. He reintroduces Yehoshua to Bnei Yisrael as the leader who will take over his position. Moshe emphasizes that Yehosua had been chosen, by Hashem, as their new leader. He will be the one who will take them into the Promised Land. Moshe then speaks to Yehoshua in front of the kehal. He tells him to be strong and to always trust Hashem and not to fear what lies ahead as Hashem will always be with him. Moshe had been writing a book of Hashem s laws and mitzvot. Moshe explains a new mitzvah to Bnei Yisrael. He says that at a time when there is a king ruling over Bnei Yisrael there will be a mitzvah called Hakhel. This takes place once in seven years on the Chol Hamoed Sukkot following the Shemittah year. The King was to read the laws of Hashem to a gathering at the Beit Hamikdash. Every man, woman and child must go to the Beit Hamikdash for Hakhel. This was done so that everyone would be constantly reminded of their obligation to follow Hashem s laws. The book that Moshe wrote of the laws of Hashem was to be kept by the Leviim next to the Aron Kodesh as a constant reminder to keep the laws of Hashem. The Parsha ends with Hashem commanding Moshe to once again call Bnei Yisrael together so that he could relay the passages of Ha azinu to them. These were passages reminding Bnei Yisrael what would happen if they turn against Hashem.

6 MITZVAH OF THE WEEK SheHakohanim Yivarchu Et Yisrael - It is a positive commandment that the ko hanim are to bless the Jewish people. It says in Bamidbar, Ko Tivarchu Et Bnei Yisrael... Yivarechicha Hashem V yishmerecha, Ya er Hashem Panav Eilecha Viyichuneka, Yisa Hashem Panav Eilecha Viyasem Lecha Shalom. This means Thus you shall bless Yisrael...May Hashem bless you, may Hashem make His face shine upon you, May Hashem lift up His presence... This is exactly what a Kohein must say. If he adds to it, he will be going against this mitzvah. It says in Devarim Lo Tosef - do not add to Hashem s mitzvot. If a healthy Kohein did not go up before the people at the time of `Kohanim he would also be going against the mitzvah. Those Kohanim who keep this mitzvah of blessing the people will themselves be blessed by Hashem. SLOT THREE: Approximately 20 minutes QUESTIONS ON THE PARSHA You might want either to have prizes or treats to give the kids immediately upon answering a question correctly. This will help greatly with maintaining discipline and decorum. QUESTIONS: 1. What does Vayelech mean? 2. Why was Moshe not allowed to go into Eretz Yisrael? 3. How old was he at the beginning of the Parsha? 4. When does Bnei Yisrael get together for Hakhel? 5. What is Hakhel? 6. Who was expected to take part in Hakhel? 7. What did Moshe write? 8. What is the Mitzvah of the Week? 9. What is the blessing that the Kohanim say? 10. Can a Kohein add to this blessing?

7 ANSWERS: 1. Vayelech means `to go / went. 2. When Moshe sinned and hit the rock at Mei Meriva instead of talking to it Hashem swore that Moshe would not enter Eretz Yisrael. 3. Moshe was one hundred and twenty years old. 4. Bnei Yisrael is to gather once in seven years on the Chol Hamoed Sukkot following the Shemittah year. 5. Hakhel is when the king would read from the Torah the book of Hashem s laws written by Moshe in front of Bnei Yisrael. 6. Everyone, man, woman and child was to take part in Hakhel 7. Moshe wrote the Torah and gave it to the Leviim to watch over. 8. The Mitzvah of the Week is that Kohanim get up and bless Bnei Yisrael. 9. Yivarechicha Hashem Viyishmerecha, Y aer Hashem Panav Eilecha Viyichuneka, Yisa Hashem Panav Eilecha Viyasem Lecha Shalom. 10. No, one may not add to a mitzvah given by Hashem. SLOT FOUR: Approximately 20 minutes GAMES The games given below are simply suggestions of easy games to play with children. There is no need to feel like you must play every game. Use your discretion when choosing if you want to play them, and how many of them you want to play. The key to a successful game leader: 1. Have your goals set never begin a game if you are not fully prepared to see it through. 2. Prepare the equipment this includes putting chairs in a circle, etc. This must be done before explaining the game to the children. Have everything set up so there are no distractions. 3. Explain the game you must be clear! Do not begin unless everyone understands. 4. Always demonstrate if you show them how it is done there will be less confusion.

8 5. Cues once you start the game it is important to pay attention to the children s cues! If too many kids are sitting out, change the game. 6. Cut the game short!!! Try and stop the game while it still interests the kids, even if you must cut it short! Do not let a game that has become un-fun drag on. This way the kids will look forward to playing it the next time. GAME #1 Approximately 10 minutes. Appropriate for 7-30 kids IMITATING PEOPLE (These games can be found in Shabbat Games by Lenny Matanky.) The first player stands up to imitate one of the other players, until the other players guess who s/he is imitating. The first player to guess who it is gets one point. Then the second player gets a chance to imitate another player, and so on. The player with the most points wins. Be careful to tell the players that they will get disqualified for using an insulting imitation. A variation on this game is having the players imitate famous people instead of each other. GAME #2 Approximately 5 minutes Appropriate for 15-unlimited kids ALPHABETIZIN The players are divided into even groups. At the signal, the groups must line up alphabetically by their first names. The first group finished wins. To double check, have the players call out their names. This game has a lot of variations. The kids can be asked to line up alphabetically by their last names or numerically by their phone numbers or street address number. A, B, C 1, 2, 3

9 GAME #3 Approximately 10 minutes. Appropriate for 5-20 kids. REPEAT THE LIST Three separate lists of words should be prepared in advance. The leader reads a list of words three times. The players have to repeat the list as well as they can. The winner is the one who mentions all or most of the words in order. In case of a tie, the one who can repeat the list best a second time wins. Make sure that you make the list shorter and the words easier for younger players. SLOT FIVE: Approximately 15 minutes STORY TIME There are many tricks to successfully telling a story. You should help the children get used to having a story time by doing something different like sitting in a different corner of the room, or a different formation for story time. They should understand that story time is a quiet time and not an active one. You must make it clear to the children whether or not you allow questions to be asked during the story telling this is entirely up to you dependent on your style. Your goal is to tell this story as smoothly as possible while keeping the children s attention and interest. Give rewards for good listening. (This story can be found at Chabad.org by Shoshannah Brombacher)

10 THE MISER S SLIPPERS In a town lived a very rich miser. Every time the local rabbi came to his door to collect funds for the poor, the miser would invite the rabbi in, offer the rabbi a glass of tea and talk about his business. When the rabbi started talking about the plight of the poor people in winter, the miser would brush him off and tell him that poor people like to complain--it wasn t all as bad as the rabbi thought. In any case, he had no cash in the house at the moment, and couldn t give anything right now. Could the rabbi come back another time? The miser would then escort the rabbi to the door, go back to his warm and comfortable room and settle down in his favorite chair near the fireplace, very pleased with himself. But the rabbi was not pleased. The poor had no money for food or for wood for their stoves and they were cold and hungry. One evening, the rabbi knocked on the rich miser s door. It was a cold and miserable night, snow and sleet blew through the deserted streets. The miser asked the rabbi in, as usual. But the rabbi refused. No, he said, I won t be long. And then he inquired after the miser s health, and after the health of his family, and asked him about his business, and spoke about affairs of the community for a long time. The miser could not send the rabbi away, of course; he had opened the door for him himself. But he was getting quite uncomfortable. He had come to the door in his slippers and kippah, dressed in a thin shirt and his house pants. The rabbi, wearing a warm coat with a fur lining, his biggest shtreimel covering his ears and heavy winter boots encasing his feet and legs, talked on and on. No, he didn t want to come in. No, really, he was on his way. The miser s toes became ice and stone. Suddenly the miser understood. Oh, Rabbi! he cried. Those poor people with no warm clothes or firewood for winter... I never knew. I never imagined it could be like this. This is miserable. It is horrible. I never knew, honestly! Something must be done! He went into the house and returned with a purse full of gold coins. He wanted to go back to his fireplace as soon as he could. He needed hot tea. The rabbi thanked him and took the money. He, too, was cold after that long talk, but he didn t mind. The poor people would have a good winter this year. The miser changed his ways that night. He became a regular contributor to the rabbi s funds for the poor, for poor brides, for poor students, for Passover money and for many other causes. He had learned a good lesson that night. This is wonderful, thought the man, a big smile appearing on his face. Now I will be rich. The king handed the baskets to the man. The smile quickly faded from his face. The baskets were filled with the king s most valued possessions - the royal onions!

11 SLOT SIX: Approximately 10 minutes SNACK TIME If you are given the option of deciding what is for snack, or can bring in your own snack, then you should try to have one available which is pertinent to the parsha. This should be done along with the usual cookies or crackers and juice that you most probably will have on hand. Depending on the week you might bring in vegetables or fruits. On the vegetables you would make the bracha,...boray P ri Ha-adama On the fruits you would make the bracha,...boray P ri Ha-aytz Don t forget to say,...shehakol nihyeh Bidvaro on the juice and...boray Minay M zonot on the cracker or cookie. Remember when you are finished eating to say the Bracha Achrona, which can be found on the next page. The leader should read it aloud and encourage the children that are familiar with the bracha to say it along with you. The remaining children should answer Amen.

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