By Lily Yacobi and Diana Yacobi
Chag Sameach!
We begin the Jewish year wishing each other Shanah Tovah (
) and after Yom Kippur, wish each other Chag Sameach as we celebrate Sukkot and Simchat Torah. In total, the community shares four weeks of holidays, praying, eating, building the Sukkah, shaking the lulav, and eating some more (in the sukkah), and finally, celebrating the Torah on Simchat Torah, by praying, feasting yet again, and dancing as we complete the reading of the Torah and start the cycle of readings again.
Last time, we focused on the letters shin, nun and hey which spell the word Shana, which means year and appears all over Rosh Hashana greetings. Since we're still very much in the holiday swing, there is another Hebrew greeting that we say, Chag Sameach. Chag means 'holiday', Sameach means 'happy'.
We only need four letters to write 'Chag Sameach' and we get a bonus from Sameach, because the same letters are used for Simcha, like in Simchat Torah.
The letters that are used to write Chag are chet and gimel. Chet has two legs that sit on the line and are connected to it's top. To help us recognize Chet, we like to say that chet looks like a chuppah. The second and last letter in Chag is gimel. Gimel is one of our favorites. Gimel has a tall top and a gap on its bottom. To help remember the gap, we compare gimel to a high-heel shoe.
For the word Sameach, we need three letters. The first is sin. Sin has three arms up in the air (like shin) except it's different because sin has a dot on the left arm. The second letter is mem. Mem sits on the line and is open on the bottom, so Mem is always losing its marbles. That opening on the bottom of the letter helps mem be distinct from other similar looking letters. The last letter is chet, which we just learned appears in the word Chag as well.
So now, put it all together and you have Chag Sameach. Maybe you have greeting cards that have Chag Sameach written on them. Or maybe you're child has been learning about the "chagim" in school. All the same root word with the same meaning.
As Sukkot and Simchat Torah approach, see how many of your friends respond when you wish them a Chag Sameach.
(To learn more and to purchase The Aleph Bet Story go to www.sarahdavid.com)
Lily Yacobi
Lily Yacobi is the founder of Sarah and David Interactive, a Jewish educational media company specializing in Hebrew reading, writing and language. Lily founded the company in 2004 after spending several years tutoring tens of children (and their siblings and their parents) to prepare them for Bar/Bat Mitzvah. While having lunch with the mother of one of her students, Lily mentioned the idea of sharing her teaching method with children everywhere. The mother’s eyes lit up…and Lily knew she was on to something.
Diana Yacobi
Diana Yacobi co-founded of Sarah and David Interactive and has created the Sarah and David program for Hebrew reading, writing and language together with her daughter, Lily.
With a Master’s degree in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and years as educational director in synagogue schools, Diana’s world has been about creating curriculum, working with teachers and making Jewish education enjoyable for students. Over the years, helping students succeed with Hebrew reading became one of her passions, since students spend many years working on the process. Sarah and David was a natural extension of curricula she had piloted in her schools.
As a product of synagogue school education and later as a professional, Diana has published a number of articles on topics related to supplementary Jewish education. Her professional goals continue to be creating curricula, materials and techniques that will ensure the success of both teachers and students involved in the synagogue school system.
Currently Educational Director of the Religious School at Temple Emanu-el in Closter, New Jersey, she is a member of the Jewish Educators Assembly (JEA), The Network for Research in Jewish Education, and the Coalition for Advancement in Jewish Education (CAJE), and has served as a presenter at several CAJE conferences.
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