Jewneric: A New Platform for the Jewish Voice

Posted January 9 2008 by Talya Weinberg

Tehina, Chummus, Turkish salad and.. Babaganewz?

Nope, it’s not a typo. It’s the fun kids’ website that I chanced upon while on indoor recess duty in the computer lab the other day. I saw a couple of the kids log on to the educational website, babaganewz.com, and select various games to play, all with Jewish themes. I promptly tried out some of the games myself to see what this was all about. I got eaten by a gefilte fish in Bubbie’s Bubble Adventure, and I played a Mad-Libs type game called “Baba-Meisa’s.” I also read kid-friendly articles about Israel, and how Jewish stars such as Natalie Portman are connected to Israel.

If you are a teacher, there is a link just for you, explaining how to incorporate Babaganwez into your classroom curriculum. If you a parent in search of a more educational but fun website since you need a break from webkinz, there is a link just for you. And if you are a regular adult working in a Dunder Mifflen environment and you need a break from the mundane paperwork, you should check it out too!

From the Babaganewz website:

“BabagaNewz is a full-color monthly classroom magazine for grades 4-7 that accurately and thoughtfully analyzes major news stories, religious holidays, cultural events and youth trends that play an important part in our children’s lives. Each issue of BabagaNewz is organized around a specific Jewish value.”

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Here is the “Mad Libs” I had fun creating:

Scrapbooking

Last April, my family and I went on a 7 -day trip to Timbuktu together. It was the most fat trip I ever took! We all piled into my Mom’s bus and headed off to the remote land of Israel. Of course, we got a flat challah on the way and had to call Dunder Mifflin for help. They came 13 hours later, but in the meantime, we told gorgeous stories and laughed our legs off. My Aunt brought her new camera that she got for Tu B’Shvat , so we took lots of hysterical photos of garages. We even took pictures of a trash running!

When we got home, I wanted to put the photos in my new, silly scrapbook. I cut out a few pictures, but when I tried to paste them, I got matzoh balls all over them and had to jog them. Everyone knows that you cannot jog photos, so it was a crazy idea to have double prints made. I tried starting again, but this time my Brother grabbed my photos and started skiing around with them. When he finally gave them back, they were chubby and I could not use them. I guess I will just have to use my memory and clown to remember this ridiculous family trip.