Roar if you love being Jewish

My hope is writing is to share some interesting ideas for Jewish families to celebrate Jewish life with their children and grandchildren in the Greater Palm Beach community. Some recommendations will be about upcoming Jewish programs and others will be on putting a “Jewish spin” on family programs.

Here’s a suggestion about making a trip to the zoo a Jewish program for you and your children. The Palm Beach Zoo has only recently started exhibiting their newest addition—a baby jaguar named Maya. Judaism has a special blessing for the birth of our children and for special events —the Shehecheyanu blessing. This special blessing allows us to give our thanks for new and rare events in our lives. I’d recommend you go visit Maya and when you see her for the first time, take your children in your arms, and say:

English
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe,Who has kept us in life, sustained us,and brought us to this moment.

Hebrew
בָּרוּךְ אַתָה יְיָ אֶלוֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַעוֹלָם שֵהֵחְיָנוּ וְקִיְימָנוּ וְהִגִעָנוּ לַזְמַן הַזֶה

Transliteration
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'o'lam sheh'heh'cheh'ya'nu veh'ki'yeh'ma'nu veh'he'g'a'nu laz'man ha'zeh.

You can hear the blessing being said by clicking here: MP3 file

For more information on Maya and the Palm Beach Zoo, click here:
www.palmbeachzoo.org

Let me know if you’ve made it to see Maya and feel free to share your ideas for Jewish family program and events in the community.