MitzvotTraditionally, there are 613 Mitzvot in Jewish life.. Mitzvot fall into two categories: a mitzvahthat is between a person and God (mitzvah beyn adam VMakom) and a mitzvah that is betweenpeople {mitzvah beyn adam I 'chavero). The following list of mitzvot gives us manyopportunities to strengthen our lives and the world every day.

Celebrating Jewish Holidays: Joyous Mitzvot Throughout the Year• Welcome Shabbat with a special meal, preceded by lighting candles, kiddush over wine

and motzi over challah. Bless each other after the candles are lit Come to the synagogueand celebrate Shabbat in community on Friday evening or Shabbat morning.

• On Rosh Hashanah, come to the synagogue and hear the shofar as we welcome the newyear. Enjoy apples and honey as a hopeful symbol of sweetness in our lives in the newyear. Have a special meal including lighting candles, kiddush over wine and motzi overchallah.

• On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, enjoy a special meal before Kol Nidre and joinyour Kerem Shalom community at the synagogue. Sing the words of Kol Nidre togetherAsk forgiveness and make peace with friends and family members. Fast so that you reallyknow the hunger of the one who goes to bed hungry each night.

• During Sukkot, participate in the building of our synagogue sukkah. Wave the lulav andetrog, symbols of the harvest.

• On Simchat Torah, dance with the Torah and be part of the joy of this lively and festiveholiday that celebrates Torah and Jewish learning.

• On Hanukkah, light the menorah each of the eight nights. Display the menorah in awindow so that others may see the lit candles and enjoy the warmth of this holiday ofrededication to tradition.

• On Tu B 'Shvat, the new year for trees, plant trees in Israel through the Jewish NationalFund.

• On Purim, listen to the reading of the Megillah as you drown out Hainan's name with thesounds of groggers and stamping feet. Send gifts of food to friends and neighbors andfinancial assistance to those in need.

• During Pesach, the Festival of Freedom, participate in a seder. Hear the story of theexodus from Egypt and share your own experiences of slavery and freedom. Refrain fromeating leavened foods, bread and bread products.

• On Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, light a yahrzeit candle in memory of the 6million of our people who were killed by the Nazis during World War II.

• On Yom Ha 'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, give tzedaka to the New Israel Fund, oranother organization that supports efforts toward peace between Israel and her neighbors.

• On Shavuot, study some Jewish texts in honor of this holiday that celebrates the Sinaiexperience of the 10 commandments. It is traditional to eat dairy foods, includingcheesecake and ice cream!

Mitzvot between people• Act with kindness and compassion and as an advocate for peace.• Keep your word. Be a person of honesty and integrity. Act fairly and justly with friends

and strangers.

• Welcome the stranger: the one who does not look like you do, the one who speaks adifferent language and who is trying to fit in, the one who is new in school, on your team,or in your neighborhood.

• Don't embarrass another person, especially in public.• Watch what you say: don't gossip or speak badly of others or shame or slander them.• Don't take advantage of someone who is weak or not as privileged or connected as you

may be.• Share your food and property with people in need. Do not be indifferent to the poor, to

the one less fortunate that you.• Visit the sick, it will boost their spirit and assist in their healing.• Don't steal money or property, ideas or knowledge.• Do not give harmful advice or lead someone to do something ethically or morally wrong

or that is illegal.• Treat people who work for you, your family or community, fairly, kindly and with

respect.• Comfort mourners: Attend a funeral and visit people during shivah, the memorial period

following a death when they welcome visitors at their home.• Respect and honor your parents and other elders.• Keep peace in your home and with your siblings.• Be a true friend by respecting other people's feelings. Tell your friend when you are

upset with him or her, and help mediate or diffuse a dispute between friends orteammates, classmates or siblings.

• Develop a special connection and concern for fellow Jews throughout the world. We arepart of a very large extended family, a people that spans many centuries and most of thecountries on this earth.

• Foster a special relationship with the Land of Israel and its people. This is the place ofour early beginnings as a Jewish people, and a place where you may visit in the futureand really feel the strong bonds of Jewish community in a Jewish majority culture.

• Remember those who have gone before us. Light ayahrzeit candle on the anniversary oftheir death in memory of grandparents, parents, siblings or other relatives and closefriends who have died. Their spirit lives on in you.

• Work to eliminate prejudice, oppression and danger for all people. Work for the freedomand dignity of all those with whom we share this fragile planet.

Mitzvot between a person and God• Bring harmony and peace to our world.• Protect our environment: our air, water and our precious earth. Conserve natural

resources such as water and fuel and electricity. Preserve everything in the world ofnature.

• Study Torah and our Jewish tradition.• Take good care of yourself. Do not use drugs or abuse your body and mind. These are

God's precious gifts to us.• Place a mezuzah on the outer doorposts of your home and on the rooms inside as a

reminder to lead a spiritual and ethical life.. Be conscious of Jewish traditions around kashruU food and healthy diet, and how these

might apply to us in our daily lives• Recite the motzi before eating and recite the Birkat Hamazon after eating as a way ot

expressing gratitude for our food and drink.

Jewish Values for Growing Outstanding Jewish Children

Mitzvah

Bringing PeaceBetween People

Clothing the Naked

Common Courtesy -Respect

Do Not DestroyNeedlessly

Kindness to Animals

Repairing the World

Honoring the Elderly

Return of Lost Articles

Trans l i t e ra t i on

Hava'at Shalom BaynAdam L'Havero

Malbish Arumim

Derekh Eretz

Bal Tashheet

Tza 'ar Ba 'alay Hayim

Tikkun Olam

Hiddur P'nay Zakayn

Hashavat Avaydah

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When You Can Refer to It

When children are sharingafter settling an argument

Clothing drive

When children show respectfor each other as in letting a childget in line

Ecology; destroy property,toys, nature

Feeding the class petPutting a bug outside instead ofstepping on it

Recycling

Making cards for seniors

When a child finds something that isnot theirs and returns it to its owner

Study Talmud Torah rnin TioiKn Telling Bible or holiday stories

Truth Emet DON When a child tells the truth

Visiting the Sick Blkkur Holim ov?in Tip? Calling on or making cards for sickfriends, classmates or relatives

Welcoming Guests Hakhnasat Orhim o>miN Down Shabbat Ema and AbbaInvite guests (i.e., another class)

Cheerfulness

Comforting Mourners

Do Not Covet

Guard Your Tongue

Sayver Panim Yafot

Nihum Avaylim

Lo Tahmode

Shmirat Halashon

Watching What You SayGossip Lashon HaraPolite Speech Dibur B'nimusShaming BoshetSlander Rekhilut

Honor Parents andTeachers

Kibbud Horim u'Morim

Peace in the Home/Classroom

Shalom Bayit/Keetah

Righteous Deeds Gemilut Hasadim

Righteous Justice (Charity) Tzedekah

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Greeting someone with a smileWhen children are happy and smiling,especially after an incident when achild was sad

Visting a shiva house

Hoarding toys

Not calling other children names

Doing something special forparents and/or teachers

Sharing toys/markers

When a child goes out of his/her wayto help another

Weekly charityFood and clothing drives

Giving money to homeless

-For each of these midot and mitzvot you can simply say: [child's name], what a ^erful^exam^f (mitzvah):©"Machon L'Morim BTesh.T Reprinted with permission of "Machon UMonm BTesM, llene Vogelste.n, Director.

Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education

MITZVAHLISTMitzvahs you can do to put God on the guest list for your Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

(reprinted from Shofar Magazine, 2/1993 Shevat/Adar 5753)

Gemilut Chasadim: Acts of Loving Kindness• Visit or call someone who is ill, fulfilling the mitzvah of bikur cholim, visiting the sick.• Learn games, magic, clowning or balloon-animal-making skills to do for kids in a hospital.

Arrange to have leftover food from your Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration taken to a soupkitchen that feeds the homeless and the hungry (have a friend do this so that it will getdone -you and your family will probably be too busy! Then trade and do this for yourfriend at his/her Bar/Bat Mitzvah!).

• Volunteer as a family at a soup kitchen for the homeless.• Ask guests to bring canned food to your Bar or Bat Mitzvah party for distribution to the

homeless.• At Halloween, collect food for the hungry rather than candy for the well-fed.• Give 3% of the cost of your Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration to MAZON.• Participate as a family in a clothing drive for the needy.

Tzedakah: Sacred Giving• Choose a tzedakah and donate a gift of money to help people.• Set aside some tzedakah every Friday night before Shabbat. Use a family pushka, or a

tzedakah container. Decide as a family where the money should go when the box gets full.• Set aside time each week for a socially redeeming purpose.

Hiddur P'ney Zakeyn: Honoring the Elderly• Call, write or visit an elderly relative or friend.• Deliver flowers to a nursing home before the start of Shabbat.

Zikaron: Memory• Know your Hebrew name and the person for whom you were named. (Have your family

help you with this—look for pictures, letters, mementos, ask to hear stories, etc.)• Find out your family's name in "the old country." Do not let it die of amnesia.• Find out the name of the town that your family was from and learn something about the

town and what it gave to the Jewish world.

Shabbat: Honoring the Sabbath• Have as many Shabbat dinners as you can in your home. Lead the family in candle

lighting, Motzi, Kiddush and Birkat hamazon (if you can) the blessing after the meal.Invite friends to share in your Shabbat celebration.

• Help cook a traditional Shabbat or holiday dish.• Avoid commercial transactions on Shabbat, such as business and shopping.• Attend synagogue services as a family.

Kedushat Halashon: The Sanctity of Speech• Be careful about what you say about other people. Discuss a time when you did not

observe this Jewish value. What could you have done differently?

Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayyim: Kindness to Animals• Become involved with an organization that deals with animal rights.• Give money to the local animal shelter.• Adopt a dog or a cat.