Happy New Year!

Today we celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Since we do not currently belong to a synagogue I spent part of the morning discussing Rosh Hashana with the kids. I explained the meaning of this holiday and the purpose of the ten holy days between now and Yom Kippur. I even managed to find some Shofar sounds on-line for them to listen to. Allison was quite interested in it all but Daniel was a bit young to understand most of it. He enjoyed coloring in the pictures of the Shofar and apples and honey. I also had each child write down a list of mitzvahs (good deeds) and averas (transgressions) that they exhibited in the past year. Here is the list that Allison came up with (hopefully you can decipher her handwriting):
I help Daniel with his list (both the writing and the thinking of things). Here is what we came up with for him:
I'll try and revist these lists next year to see what mitzvahs we can add and what averas the kids have improved upon. Looking forward to celebrating the holiday with family tonight at my aunts house. I hope all of my friends and family that celebrate have a wonderful and joyous new year!