Rosh Hashana

Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days B”H

Geared towards ages 8-12

Written by Nechama Retting

Shlock Rock’s songs Tshuva from the CD Shlock Rock Greatest Hits 10 – The Early Years and the song “Holy Days” from the CD Learning is Good teaches about preparing for the High Holy Days.

Goal: Used as an introduction to the idea of Teshuvah (repentance and returning to G-d), Tefillah (prayer) and Tzedakah (righteousness/charity) as the way to repent for past mistakes. (Also see the lesson plans for Teshuvah and Jonah and the Whale)

Other related Shlock Rock songs: “Baruch HaGever” from the CD Sgt. Shlockers Magical History Tour, “Fast Days of the Year” from the CD WoodShlock, “Turn to God” and “Spiritual DVD” from the CD God Sent Us Email, “Tekia” from the CD Shlock Rock Almost Broadway, “First Step” from the CD Lenny and the Shlockers, “Positive Thinking” from the CD Shlock Rock Manual for the Moral Minded, and “Aseret Yemay Teshuvah” from the CD Shlock Rock for Kids Volume 3.

Materials Needed: Big piece of paper or flip chart, index cards in different colors, markers, “Shlock Rock Greatest Hits 10” CD, copies of the lyrics , copy of “Learning is Good” CD with the lyrics and CD player.

Step One: Assess what your students know about Rosh Hashanah and write it on the big paper to display.

Step Two: Listen to the 2 Shlock Rock songs with the lyrics.

Step Three: Break the class into Chavruta (groups) and have each group analyze the lyrics to the song they are given. They should figure out the main concept and write at least important 3 facts about it on the index cards. (2 groups per song depending on the class size)

Step Four: Have the students come together and share with the class what their group learned from the 2 songs, adding it to the original list in a different color marker.

Step Five: Now compare the original list with what the students learned from the songs related to Rosh Hashanah and the High Holidays to spark further discussion.