Bianca's Blog

Hello! It’s me, Bianca! Your favourite blogger😁!

In Jewish studies we were assigned a project. We needed to pick out 5 verses from Pirkei Avot and pick a song for each that relates to it:

 

TV-Billie Eilish

 

“And do not say “When I free myself of my concerns, I will study,” for perhaps you will never free yourself.” That last sentence is what I want to focus on. This means not procrastinating and not being in denial about your ‘concerns’. You should always try to find a solution to your problems, not rely on life to fix your problems for you. Waiting around is the worst thing to do. Take action, because you’ll be grateful that you did. You can’t turn away and ignore your problems forever.

 

“All of my friends are missing again. That’s what happens when you fall in love.You don’t have the time, you leave them all behind. You tell yourself it’s fine, you’re just in love(Eilish).” Though not all problems are centered around love, the same general idea is there. Billie waits for her problems to get better on their own, instead of facing the music and doing something about them.

 

Shake it off-Taylor Swift

 

“He also saw a skull floating upon the water. Said he to it: Because you drowned others, you were drowned; and those who drowned you, will themselves be drowned.” This means that two wrongs don’t make a right. Even though someone did something wrong, it doesn’t mean other people have to react the same way. Be the bigger person, and stand up for yourself, instead of doing something wrong back, just because they wronged you. Treat people the way you want to be treated.

 

“And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, Baby i’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Shake it off, I shake it off (Swift).” This shows that acting back isn’t the answer. If haters hate, just ‘shake it off’. Reacting negatively in the same way can create even bigger problems than there were originally.

 

Applause-Lady Gaga

 

“Rabban Yochanan the son of Zakkai received the tradition from Hillel and Shammai. He would say: If you have learned much Torah, do not take credit for yourself—it is for this that you have been formed.” This means not taking credit for something you did, and that if you trained to be a righteous person, you should not focus on the fact that you put work into it, but on the fact that you are now a better and more educated person. If you only take credit, you are going against what you have learned. We were created with this expectation. 

 

“I live for the applause, applause, applause(Lady Gaga).” This shows that some people are very arrogant; instead of being humble and appreciating what they’ve learned/ done, sometimes people can brag, and they want all the attention on them. This is not a good habit. People will not want to listen and congratulate you if you’re basically doing it yourself.

 

Avril Lavigne-Complicated

 

Rabbi Joshua would say: An evil eye, the evil inclination, and the hatred of one’s fellows, drive a person (away) from the world. This explains that if you are mean and full of hate, people will not want to talk to you. Your evil inclination will drive them away and potentially stop them from seeing the rest of the good in the world.

 

“Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated? I see the way you’re acting like you’re somebody else, Gets me frustrated(Lavigne).” This is about how a lot of people are fake friends and act like someone else, when they are not. This can overpower the good parts of life, but no one else sees it because they are focused on the hate and bad in the world.

 

Rihanna-Umbrella

 

“And all your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven.” Again, I’d like to focus on this part.

All your mitzvahs, (acts of kindness) should not be done to make you look good, or any other selfish reasons. Mitzvahs should be done because it is the right thing to do. Even if no one is looking, doing mitzvahs is still the right choice. Doing a mitzvah for the glory and everyone’s reactions is not ethical. We do mitzvahs for fulfillment, kindness, and making the world a better place.

 

“When the sun shines, we’ll shine together, Told you I’ll be here forever. Said I’ll always be your friend, Took an oath, I’ma stick it out to the end(Rihanna).” This shows that you should actually put effort into your good deeds. Rihanna doesn’t do this for people to think she is a good person, but to be loyal to her friend.

 

Thank you for reading my blog!

Hello! It’s me, Bianca.

On Friday, it was the international Holocaust Remembrance day.

I read the story of Vladka Meed, a young Polish Holocaust survivor. Vladka was a member of the Jewish Resistance.

I read about Vladka on this site: https://echoesandreflections.org/podcast-for-students/

PDF of story

Why is it important to remeber the Holocaust every year?

It is important to remeber this event in history. Some people think it’s better to forget, But that is incorrect. So why do we remember? We remeber because it is important that history never repeats itself. If everyone forgets of the horrors that happened in World War 2, it can happen again. We have to stand up for our rights especially after learning what our culture went through.

What did I learn from the website?

I learned lots about Vladka Meed. It’s interesting for me to learn about other people’s expiriences. Vladka was brave enough to be part of a resistence, smuggling things in and out of her ghetto in Warsaw and helping children out. Vladka looked Polish and Christian enough, so she made a fake ID and was free to wander the streets. This inspired me to be brave. I’d want to help the Jews, my family,  in every way possible. This story made me think about what I’d do in Vladka’s time. Would I be strong and fierce enough to join the resistence? I think this would be great to teach to future generations: Stand up for yourself and for your loved ones.

Thank you for reading my blog post!

 

Hellooo!

A couple weeks ago, we got assigned a Jewish Values project. I did it with a partner, but you could also chose to do it alone.

With a partner, you had to chose 5 Jewish values(alone, you only had to do 3). The purpose of this project is to look at different Judaic concepts and learn from them. The values we chose were Avoiding Waste, Truth, Responsibility, Freedom and Respect. They are all important for multiple reasons. Avoiding waste is important for the planet. Truth is important to keep a friendship. Responsibility is good for trust. Everyone should have freedom. We should show respect to everyone; treat others how you want to be treated.

During this process, I learned how important Jewish Values were, and how examples can be found in so many Jewish texts, like this one, for Responsibility: “If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow.”

Our presentation:

 

 

אנחנו לומדים על הכנסת. הנה החוק שלי: ביום הראשון ללימודים, כל התלמידים היו מקשטים את החלק החיצוני של הלוקרים שלהם כך שיתאימו לאישיותם. זה יאפשר לכל התלמידים להיות יצירתיים, ליהנות ביום הראשון ללימודים, ולהיות מאושרים בכל פעם שהם רואים את הארונית שלהם!

I wake up in my bed. Hmmm… comfortable. Almost…TOO comfortable. I look around. This isn’t my bed. This looks like a RICH PERSON’S bed…and I’m in silk pyjamas! These aren’t my pyjamas! I look around some more. This isn’t my ROOM. There are huge windows everywhere and big gold and blue curtains framing them. The king-sized majestic bed I’m in is on a platform in the middle of the 90×90 room. HOW ON EARTH DID I GET HERE? There are two other rooms attached to the one I’m in. I go to the one on the left first. A HUGE bathroom with TWO bathtubs! This is an EN-SUITE! This is definitely not my house. I go to the room on the right, and it is a gigantic CLOSET! Gucci and Prada purses surrounded a corner of the room. At the bottom was a row of all sorts of expensive shoes; Louis Vuitton, Stuart Weitzman and, again, Gucci. Then I turn to see the beautiful dresses, pants and shirts on one side of the closet. Whoever owned this stuff must be really, REALLY RICH.

 

I hear someone call from down the stairs. 

“Miss, your breakfast is ready!” Is that a butler? I go through the ginormous hallway, and eventually, find my way to the 5-meter wide staircase and go down. It leads me to the entrance with a golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I turn to the right. A very pretty dining/living room area is in front of me. I see the butler come through the arch leading to what appears to be the kitchen. “It’s eggs and pancakes, as you asked, miss!” He’s tall and is wearing fancy black pants and a black tuxedo-type thing. Stereo-typical butler wear.

“Um— Yes, thank you,” I reply. Now I am just super confused. How does this guy know me? Or even better— WHY AM I IN A MANSION? A woman walks in from the arch with plates filled with food, to go put it on the small table in the middle of the big room with a fancy dining table. She must be the servant. She comes to a stop when she looks up to see me.

“Oh, dear! You look sick, I’ll go make you some warm honey tea! Also, you never come down in your pyjamas! Is everything alright?” She asks.

“Yes, yes. I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep much,” I say, looking around. Beside the small table with my breakfast on it is a big living room with a 70 inch TV.

“You look distracted… Well, anyway, sit down! A big breakfast will give you plenty of energy!” The servant says, and with that, she goes through the arch and into the kitchen. I still don’t know her name! I sit down, in front of pancakes and eggs. There is toast on the side, with butter and jam.

“Oh, I’ll turn on the news!” The butler says. He goes to put on the TV in the living room. The butler turns on a channel. Actually, it’s a channel I’ve never seen before.

I see a news reporter with a 1990’s type hairstyle. I see they’re trying to bring THAT back, now! What next, leg warmers and leotards? Then the screen changes to a paparazzi trying to take a picture of someone… I can’t tell who. It looks like a woman, with curly blond hair…

Then I see words pop up on the screen:

LADY DIANA TRYING TO GET TO A CONFERENCE.

 

What on EARTH?! Lady Diana died YEARS ago!

“Ah, yes! Lady Diana. I love her!” Says the butler. I keep watching, trying to understand what is happening. After about 2 minutes, it switches to a different show. Again, a news reporter with the 90’s hairstyle!

“We are all excited for the Olympics 1992! As we all know, this will be happening in Barcelona!” The reporter says enthusiastically.

1992? I nearly choke on my toast.

“Are you ok, miss?” Asks the butler, looking at me awkwardly.

“Yes! I’m just—um—really excited for the Olympics, too!” I lie. The 1992 Olympics happened when I was 3!

 

As I watch the news(in confusion), I attempt to grab another toast but realize I have already eaten the second one. As a result, my hand bangs on the porcelain plate and creates a CLaAang! The butler whips his head from the TV right back to me.

“Sorry,” I say, awkwardly. “I wasn’t looking.”

“Miss, are you sure everything’s alright?”

“Of course! I’ll just go take a… bath,” I say with a smile, trying to get out of this situation. I go up the stairs, run through the hallway for about half an hour until I find the master bedroom in which I woke up. I go to the en-suite bathroom and take a bubble bath. 

 

When I hear the doorbell shortly after I get out of the tub, I go downstairs and almost open the door, until I see the butler come towards it.

“Oh, miss, I insist! I’ll take the door.”

The butler opens the door, and I see…

MICHAEL JACKSON?

All of a sudden I’m back in… my bed… My original bed, in my original room, and I realized it was all just a dream. Actually, it was a nice mansion, and I’ve always wanted to see Michael Jackson, so I actually wouldn’t of minded staying in that dream for a couple of minutes longer…

 

THE END

Helloo! It’s me! Bianca!

Over the past… 3 weeks or so we’ve been learning about Bar/Bat mitzvahs, Tefillin and Tallits.  So what have I learned?

Bar mitzvah

-An event that happens when a male reaches the age of 13

-A male reads from the Torah

-It is a mitzvah

What I found interesting:

-Means son of the commandment in Aramaic

Bat mitzvah

-An event that happens when a female reaches the age of 12, or sometimes 13

-It is a mitzvah

-Means daughter of the commandment in Aramaic and Hebrew

What I found interesting:

-A girl doesn’t usually read from the Torah

Tefillin

-Two boxes that contain Torah verses

-You wrap it around your arms

-You put the box for the head on your head

What I found interesting:

-It symbolizes actions and thoughts

Tallit

-Jewish prayer shawl(After 2nd temple was destroyed)

-Has tzitzit on the corners

-Typically made of wool or silk

What I found interesting:

-Some communities started a tradition where females started wearing them, too

     😏:האימוג’י האהוב עליי זה האימוגּי שיש לו חיוך בצד.אני בעצם משתמשת בו הרבה. אני פשוט אוהבת את זה כל כך

זה אפילו הפרצוף האהוב עלי לעשות בחיים האמיתיים. זה חמוד מאוד. אני עונה לאנשים עם זה לְעִתִּים קְרוֹבוֹת. אני סמחה אימוגּי הזה היתקים.

Helooo! It’s me… Bianca.

This week— well, about two and a half weeks ago— we started a reading project. We had to read a book of our choice(Not a 4-year-old picture book) and… read it. I know, crazy, right? 🙂 So, I had already started reading a good book when my teacher told my class about this project. I was around page 20, so it didn’t count as cheating if I read it for the project. The book I read is called Quarantine: A Love Story. It is by Katie Cicatelli Cuk. I had already read her other novel before, entitled Going Viral. I loved it, so I bought the other book she wrote, that was actually written before Going Viral. What was interesting about Quarantine: A Love Story is that the ‘chapters’ were from the two main characters’ points of view, each one at a time. So it would be one chapter, one character talking and thinking from their point of view, and then it would switch to the other character, and so on.

Anyway, after we were finished the book, we were supposed to do an ‘artifact’. This means we would choose between the choices of stuff to do for the ‘project part’ of this project. We could either make a video explaining the book, board games, podcasts, childrens’ books, etc. I chose the podcast choice. Basically, you have to make three episodes, each one three minutes, talking about your book, your opinion on the book, introducing the characters, everything like that. This sounded like a fun idea, so I did it. I felt like a podcast would be a good way to say how I felt about the book, and get my opinion through to other people. For people who haven’t read the book, I wanted to make them feel like they kind of did. In my podcast, I included my opinion on specific things characters said and A LOT of critiques to what characters should have said.😋 I also thought this would be a good idea to do this artifact because it’s like my own real podcast!

Maybe what I could have done better is be more organized with my reading/podcast writing schedule. The THEME of the book is, I think, finding love in the most unexpected place. Maybe also because they describe Oliver, a character in the book, as kind of always nervous, but Flora, the other character in the book, still liked him. Maybe that can also be the other theme— Don’t judge a book by its cover, or, in this instance, don’t judge a person’s personality by how they act. Maybe, it can be a guy who looks like a pig, but it is really, really kind!

Anyway, that was it for this week, and I’ll see you next time! Bye!