Bas Mitzvah project

amother

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 9:39 am

Chai kids Bat Mitzvah project:
Helping animals in Eretz Isroel:

http://www.chai-online.org/en/.....h.htm

amother

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 9:46 am

Here's a personalized Bas Mitzvah party planner with ideas:

http://www.babaganewz.com/kids.....nner/

Tamiri

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 10:55 am

How about getting in touch with an organization such as Chai Lifeline. Have the girls spend the day helping children who need the socialization, then share the party with them. Everyone will come away feeling great.

shalhevet

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 11:04 am

Mommy F. wrote:

go to:
http://israelchildren.org/index2.html

This is what their site says?

"Mitzvah Projects
We can help you create the perfect Bar/Bat Mitzvah project to suit your needs. Whether it’s a tennis tournament designed to raise funds or awareness, or a dance-a-thon at your party, we will help you experience the true meaning of tikkun olam: a commandment to help heal the world. The Israel Children's Centers can facilitate communication with Israelis at selected centers. Contact ICC for more information."

They can have a dance-a-thon. Just put on some Jewish music and they dance to raise money. It's to help children in Israel get physical activity.

I think I'm feeling a little ill.

This is what their Hebrew site says:

Quote:

אולימפיאדת מיני טניס במרכז לטניס ביקנעם
( 04/11/2009, יום רביעי)

צוות המרכז לטניס בישראל-יקנעם מזמין את כל הילדים בכתות א-ו לקחת חלק באירוע המיוחד שכל כולו הנאה אחת גדולה.

האירוע יערך ביום שישי, 13 לנומבמבר, בין השעות 15:00 ל-18:00.

משחקים קבוצתיים, מרוצי שליחים, טניס, משחקי כדור, עבודת צוות ועוד הרבה הרבה הפתעות לכל הילדים שייטלו חלק באירוע.

הרשמה מראש עד יום רביעי (11\11) במשרד הקבלה. עלות השתתפות לילד: 10 ש"ח. התכנסות בשעה 15:00 במגרש מס' 1 . במידה וירד גשם תידחה האולימפיאדה בשבוע (ל- 20/11/2009

).

(Candle lighting in nearby Haifa that Friday was 4.09pm.)

Quote:

ספורט מהווה כלי חשוב לעידוד סובלנות, ליצירת יחסים חוצי-תרבויות ולקידומו של דו קיום בישראל. המרכז לטניס בישראל מפעיל, בשיתוף עם קרן מרסי לין ברנשטיין, תכנית ייחודית בשם "זוגות דו קיום", ובה ילדים ערבים ויהודים משחקים יחדיו "טניס זוגות" על מגרשי הטניס של המרכז לטניס בישראל ברחבי הארץ. מטרת התכנית הינה לחנך לערכים של סובלנות ושיתוף פעולה בין ערבים ויהודים דרך הטניס ובאמצעות אימוני כושר. התכנית שמה דגש מיוחד על מעגלי השפעה רחבים – החל מהילדים עצמם ועד להוריהם ומחנכיהם. קירוב הלבבות, אשר מתחיל בילדים על מגרש הטניס, מתרחב בטבעיות ונוגע בהורי הילדים, שמברכים על יוזמות התכנית וקושרים דיאלוג אחד עם השני במהלך צפייה באימוני ילדיהם. המטרה העליונה של תכנית "זוגות דו קיום" הנה חינוך לסובלנות וקבלת האחר, כאשר הטניס משמש כאמצעי יעיל ומהנה וכשפה חוצת גבולות דת ותרבות.

Quick translation (my own):
Sport is an important tool for encouraging tolerance, for creating inter-cultural relationships, and for promoting coexistence in Israel. The Israeli Tennis Center operates, in conjunction with the Marcy Lynne Bernstein Foundation a unique program called "pairs for co-existence", in which Arab and Jewish children play "tennis doubles" together on the tennis courts of the Israel Tennis Center throughout Israel. The purpose of the program is to educate towards values of tolerance, and cooperation between Arabs and Jews through tennis and training. The program puts particular emphasis on wide circles of influence - from the children themselves, and up to their parents and teachers. Becoming closer, which begins with children on the tennis court, naturally widens to include the children's parents, who are grateful for the program's initiative and make dialogue one with the other while watching their children training. The overall goal of the program is education for tolerance and accepting the Other, with tennis serving as an effective an pleasurable means, and as a language crossing religion and culture.

shalhevet

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 11:06 am

amother wrote:

Chai kids Bat Mitzvah project:
Helping animals in Eretz Isroel:

http://www.chai-online.org/en/.....h.htm

This one is a joke, right? shock

There are hungry Jewish children in Yerushalayim you know. Crying

Besiyata Dishmaya

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 11:07 am

Barbara wrote:

Besiyata Dishmaya wrote:

Merrymom wrote:

Barbara wrote:

Does the cause need to be specifically Jewish?

What about having the kids write letters to US soldiers serving in the Middle East, through an organization such as anysoldier. I believe that they could also back and send them to soldiers stationed abroad through anysoldier.

That was one thing I thought about. But you know there are websites like JewishGI.com ( I think that's the name). Then I started getting overwhelmed with the thought because I was thinking about care packages but a letter sounds nice.

Very against this idea. At her bas mitzvah she should learn to do mitzvos and maasim tovim to Jews first. When she become bas mitzvah she is mechuyev in mitzvos min haTorah. Until now it was only on a chinuch basis. This bas mitzvah affair is the introduction to a grown up Jewish girl al pi Torah. That’s when she begins to fast min haTorah on Yom Kippur, etc.
(Besides, communicating with soldiers is not the greatest idea in reference to yiddishkeit. Having pen-pals soldiers could ch”v ruin your daughter. Definitely not a good beginning and not good for later either. We have to adhere to the rule of ‘kol kvudo bas melech penimah’.)

Therefore, a good idea perhaps would be to do a project with her friends towards the mitzvah of ‘kibud av ve’em’. She and her friends should concentrate on this mitzvah by first realizing how special their parents are and all the good things they did and do for them. The friends should come up on their own with UNIQUE ideas how to respect the parents. You can give them the idea in general but you shouldn’t be involved. This idea combines chessed and mitzvah together.

Maybe a game or something where everyone works on improving a certain midah.

And for a chesed, maybe hand them out little Tehillims they should each say a kapitel or two for a sick classmate or person they all know.

A 12 year old girl sending a letter to a soldier saying *Dear AnySolider: I am really grateful that you're protecting our country. I baked you cookies* is going to ruin her life? We must live in different universes.

If it's only one letter with no return address and no continuing correspondence, fine, but even then why shouldn't a girl do her first mitzvos and chessed with Jews? Tamiri's idea of Chai Lifeline would make more sense. A Jewish girl has to know that her priority and chessed are to Hashem and the Jews.

Atali

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 11:10 am

How many girls are you expecting to attend?

marina

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 12:13 pm

Quote:

Maybe b/c her parents don't particularly want her growing up to be a bigot.

Merrymom

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 12:47 pm

Besiyata Dishmaya wrote:

Merrymom wrote:

Barbara wrote:

I think you missed the part where I wrote JewishGI, I thought some letters and chocolates for Chanukah might be nice.

Besiyata Dishmaya

Sun, Nov 15 2009, 1:50 pm

marina wrote:

Quote:

Maybe b/c her parents don't particularly want her growing up to be a bigot.

So how about something really unique which I'm sure none of the classmates thought of, send some money to those poor in Darfur or Somalia? Even you would like that...

HindaRochel

Fri, Nov 27 2009, 5:21 am

May I suggest the charity I work for? It helps impoverished children in Israel. What better activity can their be then to raise the awareness in young children that they have peers much less fortunate then they are?

Yad Ezra v'Shulamit provides food, clothing, school supplies and educational assistance to children, job training and counseling to those approaching adulthood and adults.

Yad Ezra v'Shulamit

Isramom8

Sat, Nov 28 2009, 12:21 pm

The mother wants project that will be a fun activity for the girls at the bas mitzvah party, not a name of an organization to which money can be sent!

What fun project that can be done at a party for 12 year old girls can benefit any of the tzedakos posters have mentioned?

shalhevet

Sat, Nov 28 2009, 12:35 pm

I don't know about others, but I got the impression that OP wanted to inject some worthwhile content and support a tzedaka/ do chessed, and was also looking for ideas in that direction.

Merrymom wrote:

Everything done already is for sick children or Israeli soldiers.

Tova

Sat, Nov 28 2009, 10:11 pm

Honestly, I think a worthwhile meaningful chessed project is hard to do on a group level at a party.

Here in our city (at least 15+ years ago when my class was turning bas mitzva) we do an arts-and-crafts project to take home. It was always a lot of fun.

It may work better to do a group project or activity and focus on a nice appropriate party and milestone and then do the chessed project within your family.