The main characters in this book are a hedgehog, rabbit and mouse. But other animals also appear in the illustrations –
Can you find them?
How many animals have you found?
“Did you find me in the illustrations?”
What do we do when we can’t decide which step to take? Who do you like getting advice from? Whose advice do you find difficult to follow, and why? Sometimes good advice comes unexpectedly: you may want to discuss that with your child, be reminded of times when you chose to listen to a piece of advice you’d been given, and share the things you’ve learned from others, young as well as old.
Are you traveling on a long, perhaps boring road? You could pass the time by playing games: counting the road signs along the way, recognizing familiar letters, discovering the changes to your surroundings brought on by the different seasons, singing your favorite songs and also… looking at the road and enjoying the existence of things you have not noticed until now.
What could children teach adults? And what could adults teach children? You may want to share your knowledge with one another, and try it out together: You could teach each other a game, song, or dance, share sports knowledge, information on a certain animal or anything else that comes to mind. Did you teach? Have you learned? Now swap roles.
How do you get from one place to another by listening? Stand in the doorway with your eyes closed, and ask your family members to lead you safely to another room in the house by giving you instructions. You could follow up by playing a board game inspired by this book which we have created for you.
“It’s important to be considerate toward our environment” – What does being considerate mean? How can we be more considerate of one another at home, within our own family? And how can we care for our environment? You could discuss these questions with your child, and come up with suggestions on how to be more considerate of other people as well as the environment.
You’re most invited to embark on an observation on a piece of nature in your immediate surroundings: A park near your home, or field, or yard, or even a planter on your balcony. What would you discover if you sat down quietly and watched? You may want to bring a magnifying glass along with you.
What can adults learn from children? Lots of things! How to play their favorite game, engage in arts & crafts, find out more about a subject they learned about in preschool, or just share an interesting thought. And what can children learn from adults? To find out what we can learn from one another, all we have to do is sit together, and pay attention.
The sky is blue, the earth is brown, and vegetation is green. You may enjoy going outdoors and “catching colors”: Take turns to say a color, while the other players quickly find an item around them that is the same color, and point to it.
Like Nuri, we could also discuss the idiom “cast your bread…”, and the times in which we have been kind to others. Perhaps you could ask: are we being kind in order to be rewarded? Can the kind deed we did in itself be the reward that we receive?
What else can we cast upon the waters that would be helpful to others? It is not always objects or tangible things that we offer others, sometimes it is our actions and words. Your family may want to sit in a circle, and go round it offering kind words to one another. You could also create a “sheet of kindness” for each of you, where the others write or draw kind, empowering words.
Following this book, you may enjoy creating some artwork together: paste images of different kinds of fish on a sheet of paper – a school of small fish, a whale, etc. – and then attach speech bubbles to them, containing what they say about Nuri’s actions, or their friends, the other sea creatures.
Do fish eat bread? And what do birds eat? Which animals are we allowed to feed? You could look for answers to these questions, try your hand at feeding, or experience the satisfying feeling of giving to others. You may want to place a bird feeder out on your balcony or on a tree, and hope that word of the bird feeder will travel on birdwings.
הימים האלו עכשיו הם ימים לא רגילים, ובימים כאלה סיפורים יכולים לשמח, לרגש, אפילו להצחיק. אנו מזמינים אתכם/ן להאזין להקלטה הקסומה של הספר “החוצה”, מאת: רינת פרימו | איורים: איתי רייכרט | ידיעות ספרים.
האם יצליח אבא ללמד את איתמר שגם המסדרון, חדר המדרגות ואפילו הרחוב הם שלו? האזינו לסיפור וגלו!
יוצרים ומגישים: ירדן בר כוכבא – הלפרין ודידי שחר מוזיקה ונגינה: טל בלכרוביץ’ פתיח ההסכת ולחן השיר בסיפור “החוצה”: דידי שחר
You may want to lead through this book, and look at the illustrations together. You could ask your child to tell you the story in their own words based on the sequence of illustrations.
Perhaps you could ask your child for their opinion as to why Itamar’s father tells him that the corridor, stairwell, and street belong to him too.
Perhaps you would enjoy taking a walk in the neighborhood, and discovering the buildings, roads, and landscape near your home. Does anything in the shared spaces need improving or cleaning? Perhaps you could initiate a local activity, such as tidying up and decorating the stairwell in your building, or setting up a community garden.
Your child can join Itamar by tidying up their room, and sorting through their toys. Perhaps you will find long-forgotten “treasures”! You may want to decide what to keep and what to throw out, or donate to others, together. You can also try to fix broken toys, or think of ways to recycle some items, and use them in a new way.
Do you also have some broken crayons you were thinking of throwing out? They can be recycled! Sort them into similar shades, peel off their paper labels, and place them into a paper or silicone baking tray. Bake at a low heat until the crayons melt, cool the mixture, take out of the baking tray, and enjoy your new, multi-colored crayons!
Look through the illustrations accompanying the story, and note the many things Akiva the shepherd knew before he learned to read and write. Then you can remind your children of the many things they know and can do.
Many Jewish leaders started out as shepherds. You can discuss with your children the tasks involved in shepherding and consider the attributes that characterize a good shepherd. You might ask your child what it is in the essence of the shepherd’s work that helped Rabbi Akiva become a wise teacher and great Jewish leader.
“One who is shy does not learn” (Avot 2,5): When Akiva saw the signs on the walls of the well and did not know how they were created, he went to the beit midrash (Jewish study hall) for answers. Where do you and your children seek answers to your questions? Are there things that your children know and you don’t? Don’t be shy – ask them!
You can prepare a clay or Play-Do model of the well with your children. Using a knife or toothpick, you can make signs in the sides of the well – just like in the story.
Many young children have heard of Rabbi Akiva and his wife Rachel from stories and songs. You can share other tales of Rabbi Akiva with each other and, if you know the tune, sing together “Rabbi Akiva said: Love your fellow as yourself”.
Rabbi Akiva, one of the most important sages in Jewish tradition, lived in the land of Israel between the years 17-137 CE. He played a role in editing the Mishna and in designing Halacha, and was the spiritual leader of the Bar-Kochva uprising against the Romans. Many stories and tales were written about Rabbi Akiva, and well-known sayings are attributed to him. One of his more famous sayings is “Rabbi Akiva said: ‘Love your fellow as yourself’: This is a great principle of the Torah” (Breishit Rabba 24,8). According to tradition, Rabbi Akiva was the son of converts and did not learn Torah until he was an adult. The story of his life, like that of other leaders and wise people in Jewish tradition, emphasizes that the Torah is accessible to everyone, even those who didn’t have the opportunity to study when they were young.
The source of the tale about Rabbi Akiva can be found in Avot D’Rabbi Natan 6,2.
The characters described in the stories are often referred to as Our Rabbis, or in Hebrew, Hazal, which is an acronym for Hakhameinu Zikhronam Livrakha – Our Sages of Blessed Memory. After you have read the stories together, you may want to talk about sages and wisdom with your child. How do we classify a person as a “sage”? Who do we define as sages these days? Are we aware of different kinds of wisdom?
A Treasury of Hebrew Legends for Children
שְׁמִירָה
Were you already familiar with some of the stories included in this book?
Were you already familiar with some of the stories included in this book? Perhaps you heard them as children, and would like to share with your child who told you these stories, and what you learned from them. Did you enjoy the stories?
Some stories have several versions. Are you familiar with any other version of the stories included in this book (found in Sefer HaAggadah, the Talmud or other sources)? You may want to look for these stories together, and compare them.
The legends of Our Rabbis and Midrashim have been passed down by Jewish communities from one generation to the next, whether in written form or orally. Do you have a story in your family that you heard from your grandfather or grandmother, one that has been passed down throughout the generations? You could continue this generation chain by telling it to your child.
A Treasury of Hebrew Legends for Children
שְׁמִירָה
You could ask your child which of the stories included in this book was their favorite
You could ask your child which of the stories included in this book was their favorite. You may want to think of its significance in this day and age together. Which character do you identify with? How would you have reacted in a similar situation?
A Treasury of Hebrew Legends for Children
שְׁמִירָה
You may want to choose one of the stories and act it out
You may want to choose one of the stories and act it out. You could even look around the house for relevant costumes and accessories (fabrics, capes, pitchers, etc.).
A Treasury of Hebrew Legends for Children
שְׁמִירָה
Do you know any other story told about the characters featured in this book?
Do you know any other story told about the characters featured in this book? This is a wonderful opportunity to equip your child with sayings and proverbs, as well as additional Hazal stories, and throw a “Proverbs and Stories of the Past” event. You may find the Aggadah stories for kids website helpful, or the full version of Shoham Smit’s book, A Treasury of Hebrew Legends for Children. You could also use other Hazal story collections, such as Yocheved Segal’s series entitled Ko Asu Hakhameinu, or Uri Orbach’s Hakhameinu Leyameinu.
You may want to look at the lovely illustrations by Menachem Halberstadt together, and ask your child to tell the story in their own words. We do not know what Rabbi Hanina Ben Dossa looked like, but we can imagine the lifestyle of his time and the Galilean landscape. Perhaps you would enjoy searching for clues about his time and place in the illustrations.
Menachem Halberstadt added amusing details in his illustrations that are not mentioned in the text. You may want to look for the illustration of all the chickens in the yard. What are they doing? Did you find anything about this illustration funny?
In the story, Rabbi Hanina describes the rooster and hen using signs: the rooster was black with a white spot, and the hen was white with gold dots. You may want to play the guessing game: one of you thinks of an object in the room and describes it using signs, and the other has to guess which object it is. Did you guess right?
Have you or your child ever lost something dear? Was it found? Try to recall together the feeling you had when you discovered the item had been lost, or found.
How can we refrain from losing things we hold dear? You may want to let your child think of ideas to help them keep track of their property, and share some of your techniques and practices with them. You may also like to teach your child where items found are taken today (for instance the police station, or the “lost and found” in public places).
Perhaps you would enjoy playing “Where’s the lost chicken?”: place the palm of your hand on a sheet of paper so your thumb is separate from the other fingers. Draw around your hand – the thumb will be the chicken’s head, and the fingers will be its wings. Add feet, a cockscomb and beak, and cut out the chicken. One of the participants hides the chicken, and the others have to find it. The one who hid it can help the others find the lost chicken by saying “hot” or “cold” as they get nearer and further away from its hiding place.
Rabbi Hanina Ben Dossa was a Tanna – a scholar from the time of the Mishna – who lived in the Galilee some 2000 years ago. He was an incredible man, and many tales are told of his modesty and special qualities. Although Rabbi Hanina and his family lived in extreme poverty, he was not tempted to take anything that did not belong to him, and was very careful about returning any lost property to its rightful owners. The writer Ori Elon based his adaptation of the story of Rabbi Hanina and the lost rooster and hen on the following short story found in the Talmud, in the Tractate of Taanit, page 25a:
Once it happened that a man passed by Rabbi Hanina’s house and left hens there and the wife of Rabbi Hanina Ben Dossa found them. Her husband, however, forbade her to eat of their eggs. As the eggs and the chickens increased in number he was very troubled by them and he therefore sold them and with the proceeds he purchased goats. One day the man who lost the hens passed by [the house] again and said to his companion: “Here I left my hens”. Rabbi Hanina overhearing this asked him: “Have you any sign [by which to identify them]?” He replied: “Yes”. He gave him the sign and took away the goats.
The Hedgehog Who Said: Who Cares? 
The Long Road 
Just an Empty Field 
Nuri and the Whale 
Out 
Signs in the Well – Based on a Talmudic tale 
A Treasury of Hebrew Legends for Children 
The Chickens Who Became Goats 
מִשְׂחָק
סִרְטוֹנִים
הַעֲשָׁרָה
שִׂיחָה
כְּלָלִי
הַשְׁרָאָה
יְצִירָה
חֵקֶר
שֵׁמַע
הַמְחָשָׁה
חֲגִיגָה
