In science class, we have been learning about simple machines. So my teacher asked us to make a project using one of the simple machines that will benefit the gym. Me and my partner, Shylee, made The Hydrator which is a drink dispenser for our gym. We worked on this project for 2 weeks. We won 3rd place and are both extremely proud of ourselves. It was great for our last innovation day in the school to get such a good mark.

We new that we wanted our project to be nutrition based but it was all up to the small details. Our project was deigned to help younger grades fill up their water bottles, supervised.

Shylee was really good at the researching bit of our project and I think we both surprised our selves with the things we could do. If we were to change anything in the future, we would print slides to put on the board so it would look neater.

Overall, me and my partner think that our project was a good solution to a serious problem in our school. I could not have done it without Shylee and I hope that our 4 years experience of innovation day projects together, really showed in our presentations. Here are a few pictures of our project:

יום אחד היה כלב. הוא היה בגשם. הוא היה קר ועייף. לא הייתה לו משפחה. שתי ילדות ראו את הכלב. הם הביאו את הכלב הביתה. הם האכילו את הכלב. שהכלב נרדם. הכלב היה מאושר. זכרו תמיד להיות אדיבים גם אם הם לא נראים כמוך.

In science, our class had to make a candle holder for hanukah abut our favourite jewish hero. Then, we had to design our angle with elects about that person.  I chose Mel Brooks…

For my candle holder, I chose Mel Brooks. My dad, my sister and I love Star Wars so when my dad introduced us to the rip-off version of it, we LOVED it. It was much funnier than Star Wars so I decided to take the creator and a cameo appearance in SpaceBalls, Mel Brooks. 

Mel Brooks is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He has been acting for over 7 decades. 

Mel Brooks is a Jew. His father’s family were Jews from Gdańsk, Poland and his mother’s family were Jews from Kyiv, Ukraine. 

Mel Brooks is famous for the different movie genres that he made such as Blazing Saddles, History of the World: Part I, Silent Movie, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and Spaceballs.

He is seen as a comedy legend to fans of his movies because of his funny humor and iconic funny face. 

When you get a chance, check out Mel Brooks, and his famous movies ( I promise you will laugh!)!

I hope you liked my candle holder!

En cours de français, nous avons eu des présentations sur une ville spécifique. J’ai eu Osaka. Toutes les villes ont plus de 10 millions d’habitants. Nous avons dû parler de 3 problèmes et ensuite des solutions. Nous avons expliqué pourquoi ces villes sont des mégapoles.

Bonjour a Ottawa! Il y a des bonnes et des mauvaises choses. En le classe de français, nous avons dû parler de trois bonnes choses et de trois mauvaises choses à propos d’Ottawa. Prendre plaisir!

בשיעורי עברית, היינו צריכים לעשות נתיב של מה שעלינו לעשות השנה. השתמשתי ב-Google Slides כדי להפוך את הנתיב שלי.
זה מה שאני צריך לעשות לפני התיכון!

PERKEI AVOT PLAYLIST

Songs; Verse 3, Verse 6, Verse 10, Verse 11, and Verse 15.

My first song choice was based on verse 3. Verse three is about having what you think is friends but in your time of difficulty, you find out they are not. I think that you should understand that in these moments, that these people who used to be your friends should not be anymore, because even if they have an excuse, friends should have your back. The song I chose is called “Real friends” by Camilla Cabello. Part of the song says, “I’m just lookin’ for some real friends, all they ever do is let me down. Every time I let somebody in, then I find out what they’re all about. I’m just lookin’ for some real friends.” (Cabello). In this song, Camilla says that she is looking for some real friends. Which is exactly what the verse is about. 

The second song I chose is related to verse 6. Verse 6 is about karma. If you hurt someone, then some time or someplace, you will be hurt. Even if you didn’t mean it. Things always have a way of coming back to you, whether it is for the good or the better. The song that I chose is “Karma” by Alicia Keys. Alicia says “What goes around comes around. What goes up must come down. Now who’s crying, desiring to come back to me”. I think this relates to the verse because clearly it says that you should not do unto others what you don’t want done unto yourself. 

The third song I picked has similarities to verse 10. Verse 10 is explaining that the most important value in a person is to have a good heart. All the Rabbi’s said different things but in the end, Rabbi Elazar said the most heartfelt one which included all of their opinions. The song I picked is “Good Heart” by Elton John. The whole song is about having a good heart for others and yourself. 

My fourth song is based on verse 11. Verse 11 is about if one person said one mean comment or one small action, than it could drive someone out of the world (meaning: suicide). The song I chose is “Just a Thought” by Gnarls Barkley. Part of the song says “And so I’ve tried everything but suicide, but yes, it’s crossed my mind. But I’m fine”. This connects to the verse 

Because in the verse it explains how bad actions or words can cause someone to lose their life and this artist talks about thinking about losing their life. 

My last and final song choice is based on verse 15. Verse 15 is about the day being too short to really enjoy life. The bosses are mean. The song I chose is “It’s The Hard-Knock Life” by Annie. The title literally says what the verse says. That the boss is mean and the day is too short to enjoy the good things. These girls that are singing, are living in an orphanage so they don’t get the chance to enjoy life. Whether the day is short or long for them.

I hope you agree with my choices and understand my connections. Thank you for reading my post.

At the beginnig of the project, my partner I were excited about the idea and the concept but weren’t really sure how we were going to pursue it. We originally thought of a different idea, but then got a change of our mind and went a different way. We were going to go all out, but like a lot of things, we never got to that point. Our original plan was to make model of a geodesic dome and test all of the theories (it is wind resistant, it can stand really big storms, etc.). Instead we just tested which material was the best to keep it warm (which was only one of the theories). My partner and I worked on the weekend at her house building the boxes. We also worked on our own to make the slides better than before. Overall, we worked really hard on this project. We made a video to present to our class and teachers.

Hope you enjoy!

My bat mitzvah was a week from yesterday (April 2nd) and on this very special day, I had a speech that I prepared.

I had been working on the speech for months before the date it was presented, so a lot of thought went into this speech.

I hope you enjoy it!

Here it is…

Shabbat Shalom!

Today is my Bat Mitzvah. Today is the day I am supposed to become a participating member of the Jewish community. Today, I am supposed to count. In a minyan, in a Torah service, in my family decisions (I can only hope). And I am so grateful and lucky to be part of KBI and an egalitarian, Conservative Jewish community. I count.

It has almost always been this way for the Jewish people of Ottawa who go to KBI or who went to KBI in the past. You might have heard that the first ever woman in Canada to have a bat mitzvah was a girl named Miriam Lieff. Miriam studied at Agudath Israel Synagogue in Ottawa, which we know today as KBI… this synagogue.

But, not all women are as lucky as Miriam to be part of a community that cares about women and their rights. They have often been supporting characters in their own stories. Whether the Torah writers were men, the religious law makers were men or the movie producers were men.

This shabbat is Shabbat Hachodesh, which is the first Shabbat in the hebrew month of Nissan which is two weeks before Pesach. When you think of Passover, who is the first character that comes to mind? …Moses. But if you think deeper into the story, Moses would never have survived if it wasn’t for his mother, Jochebed who kept him hidden and sent him off in the basket on the river. Then, as he traveled down the river, his sister, Miriam, watched over him, and made sure he was safe. Then, when he reached the palace, and who did he meet there? The Pharaoh’s daughter, Batya, who saved him and raised him as her own. Do you see my point? Jochebed, Miriam, and Batya are the reasons Moses survived.

This does not even include the Egyptian midwives who refused to follow Pharaoh’s original decree to kill all of the male Israelite babies. They decided to follow their hearts instead of Pharaoh’s command. 

A Midrash teaches that the Israelite men wanted to stop having children after Pharaoh’s decree. Their wives also pushed back saying, “You are worse than Pharaoh!  Pharaoh only wants to get rid of the boys, but you want to bring an end to all children!”  If it weren’t for these women, Moses would never have had the chance to be born at all. None of these women, Jochebed, the midwives, Miriam and Batya never got to be the heroes of the story, Moses did. 

When Rabbi Kenter asked me about my interests while deciding on a theme for my speech, a lot of my influences were from strong pop culture women. People like Lady Gaga, Pink, and the Gilmore Girls characters. I learned about this interesting test in Hollywood called the Bechdel Test. The Bechdel Test is a guideline that measures whether or not a movie or tv show has at least 2 main female characters who speak to each other about something other than a man. The women in question can not be a sister, wife or daughter to the main character. They must be independent characters in order to qualify in the Test. You would be surprised by how few movies and TV shows passed this test. How few females are the center of their own stories in hollywood.

An example of a tv show that passes this test with flying colors is my favorite show, The Gilmore Girls. This show stars many female lead characters who have a higher ranking in the show than the males. There are some male characters thrown in there but they act as background people. All these women are the centers of their stories. No wonder the show is so close to my heart. 

I see myself as a strong, independent woman in training:) a (Rory) for those of you familiar with my show. I come from a long line of strong, independent women, a bunch of (Lorelei’s) for my last reference to the show!

In our discussions, Rabbi Kenter shared a quote with me that he learned from his father; “coincidences are just G-d’s way of staying anonymous”. This quote plays a part in the passover story. Firstly, Moses’s basket coincidentally arrived at the palace. Then, later in the desert, his sheep coincidently leads him to hear G-d at the burning bush. These coincidences were G-d in disguise. 

So, what do you make of this next coincidence? 

My Bubby, Eileen, was born in a time where it was not customary for women to have bat mitzvahs nor to participate fully in the Jewish community. She… couldn’t write her own story. But, when my Bubby was about to turn 60 she decided to start studying for her bat mitzvah. She wanted to write her own story, not to have it written for her. She wanted to count in her shul, and in her jewish community. 

And here is the coincidence… Without even talking, my Bubby and I picked the exact same bat mitzvah date, April 2nd with the exact same portion, Tazria! How cool is it that.. me… with my Bat Mitzvah speech about independent women, in the center of their stories, is tied by date and Torah portion to such an amazing bubby! 

For my Bat Mitzvah project, I decided to help others in what has turned out to be a very timely cause. I have been working with an Immagration aid service in Ottawa helping to resettle refugees through the “From House To Home” project. This project was started by a local, Jewish woman although the refugees she helps are not only Jewish. Until recently, the refugees have been largely from Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Syria though the center has started to plan on settling Jewish Ukrainian refugees shortly. I organized a collection of household items through my school and brought some of my classmates to volunteer at the warehouse a few weekends ago. The organizer of this center, Suzi, is another example of a Jewish woman changing the world around her for the better. 

On Passover, when we tell the story of the Exodus from egypt, we remember how we escaped slavery, persecution, and hardship. While today we are safe in Canada, around the world people continue to struggle. We are commanded to not just tell the story of leaving Egypt but do all that we can to support those people who are still in their own places of hardship and persecution. That’s why so many of us are working to support the people of Ukraine, and why we continue to tell our story of the Exodus every year.

Thank you too……..

I am grateful to now be taking my place, not only as a Jewish adult, but as a Jewish woman and will never take for granted the opportunities that I have. 

Thank you and Shabbat Shalom!

If you understand thinsg from this speech, please write a comment!

Do you know the Gilmore Girls?

Have you ever had a coincedence in your life?

Thank you for reading this post!

In class this week, my class and I did a “Learning Style Quiz” to see what type of learner we are.

My results came back mostly even but I dominate in visual learning. 

Visual learners learn by seeing pictures and these students understand and remember things by sight. They can picture what they are learning in their head and learn best using visual materials like charts, graphs, and pictures. 

It is often difficult to learn just by listening and often get distracted by sounds. 

I am almost completely like that. I learn by looking at pictures and charts. I get distracted by the slightest noises and sounds. I can visualize what someone is talking about in my head. 

But I also have characteristics of a tactile learner and an auditory learner. 

Auditory learners remember things they have heard. It is much easier to read out loud than in their head. It often appears that they aren’t paying attention although they are probably hearing and processing everything being said.

Most of these things are incorrect for me except, I am always listening even if I am not looking. I remember things people have said and less what they are wearing. 

And finally, I am part tactile learner. Tactile learners understand things through physical movement. These learners are “hands on” students who prefer to touch, move, build, or draw what they learn. These students need frequent breaks or to move around. They also often have a fidget or something in their hands. 

I am like this, because I always need a fidget or an elastic. I like to solve a Rubik’s Cube during class, but it might seem I am not paying attention but in fact it is the opposite. I can’t learn when I am staying still. I need to have breaks or to constantly be moving around. 

So now that you know what type of learner I am, why don’t you take a quiz to find out what type of learner you are. 

Thank you for reading this post.