Hanukkah Mitzvah Challenge 5781
From now to December 10 (first night of Hanukkah), you may collect a virtual candle for doing any of these mitzvot. Collect 8 candles by the first night of Hanukkah and earn another mitzvah opportunity: gelt (chocolate coins) to share with family/friends, or a chance to direct an $18 donation from Melissa to the charity of your choice.[1]
- Bring a food donation to the Haven. Upload a photo of your donation to the school Padlet.
- Choose a favorite toy or clothing item that you have outgrown and donate it to Listen. Upload a photo of your donation to the school Padlet.
- Write and mail a card to an elderly person who is not seeing many people these days. Upload a photo of the card to the Padlet.
- Make breakfast for a parent on Shabbat. Little ones can have help doing this. Upload a photo of the food and/or the happy parents to the Padlet.
- Call your grandparents and tell a story or sing a song. Describe it on the Padlet.
- Lead a blessing at shabbat services. Email rabbi@uvjc.org to arrange this.
- Help a parent or neighbor with a big chore (shovel the driveway, mow the lawn, rake the lawn, walk the dog, etc). Describe it on the Padlet.
- For a whole week, sing the shema every evening when you go to bed and the hamotzi before supper. At the end of the week, write a sentence about how it made you feel to do it all week and post that to the Padlet.
- Do a carbon footprint analysis and write on the Padlet a list of the ways your family will reduce its carbon footprint.
- Collect tzedakah in your family each Friday night before Shabbat and donate it to a local charity. Describe it on the Padlet.
- Study Torah by watching videos of three parshot during Marcheshvan (the current month) and writing a short description of them on the Padlet.
- Beautify your Friday night/Shabbat table with arts and crafts and/or flowers. Upload a picture to the Padlet.
- If you have a pet, feed it before you eat (shows compassion). Upload a picture of the pet eating to the Padlet.
- Care for the earth – reuse something in your home for a good purpose. Upload a picture to the Padlet
- Bake challah to celebrate Shabbat. Upload a picture to the Padlet.
- Your choice of a mitzvah. Document it in a photo or description and upload it to the Padlet.
The school Padlet is here.
[1] For those who haven’t learned yet, 18 is a special number in Judaism because it corresponds to “chai,” the Hebrew word for “life.” In Hebrew, each letter has a numerical value. The number 10 is the letter Yud (י). The number 8 is the letter Chet (ח). Chet-Yud (חי) spells the word Chai. Many Jews have the custom to donate money in multiples of “Chai”, as a hope for good life.
