July 10, 2003

For the Kids

http://www.jewishjournal.com/ kids_and_teens/article/for_the_kids_20030711/

Where Credit Is Due

The Israelites complain, again, that they don't have water (Numbers 19:1-21:34). God tells Moses to make water pour from a rock by talking to it. Moses, in his anger at the whining Israelites, yells at them: "You'll see how we [him and Aaron] will make water come from the rock!"

He strikes the rock twice with his staff, and, miracle of miracles, out comes water. God then tells Moses and Aaron that they will be punished for their actions and would not be able to enter the Promised Land. So why are Moses and Aaron punished? Is it because Moses struck the rock rather than speaking to it? The rabbis have many answers to this question. One that I like says that it is because Moses says "we" rather "God." It is not Moses and Aaron who caused the water to flow -- it was God.

If you were supposed to do on a homework assignment with your friends, and only they worked on it, please don't say that you did it, too. Give credit where credit is due.

Someone New

by Avital Ajnassian, Los Angeles

Someone came
To camp today
Someone new
From far away.
Someone quiet,
Someone shy,
Who watches as
We hurry by.
Someone lonely,
Someone who
Is frightened by,
A place that's new.
I'll invite
That someone new
To join in
Everything I do.
And when the busy
Camp day ends,
Someone new
Will share my friends.