One Little Goat, One Kid. Chad Gadya.

By Mimi Azrael
Animal Program Chairman
Kayam Farm at Pearlstone

Only hours before Pesach Seder was to begin, Kayam Farm at the Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center in rural Reisterstown had a real, live Chad Gadya to sing about.  One little goat, one kid.  גַדְיָא חַד.  No zuzim changed hands.  Just joyful looks of awe and inspiration were exchanged as members of the Kayam Farm community gathered in the animal pasture to watch and assist the awaited birth of the first “kid” ever born at Kayam.   On April 4, 2012, Sweet Muzette, our first doe of our first kidding season ever to go into labor, gave birth to a healthy baby boy (a “buckling” in goat-speak).   And just one.  Not a twin, not a triplet.  Not a quadruplet.  Just one little goat, one kid.   Chad Gadya.  Just in time for Pesach.

April 4 was a Wednesday, two days before the first night of Seder.  Pesach preparations were well underway:  in the Pearlstone kitchen, in the Pearlstone dining room, in the lodge and in cabins, and in the Kayam Farm fields, as far as eyes could see, all over the 164-acre bucolic campus that Kayam Farm shares with Pearlstone and Camp Milldale, on Mt. Gilead Road in rolling hills off Hanover Pike.   Today, everyone was getting ready for Pesach, the most well-attended, usually sold-out event on Pearlstone’s annual calendar.  More than 150 guests soon would arrive, many to stay for a full week of Passover Seders and communal meals, learning, nature walks, socializing, family gatherings, farm and wellness workshops, craft activities, outings to Washington and Baltimore museums, and generally enjoying one another, and the unseasonably mild spring weather.

Just steps away, in the Kayam Farm Animal Pasture, Sweet Muzette, a pregnant, Nigerian Dwarf dairy goat, was also getting ready for Pesach. How thoughtful of her to begin her labor early in the morning and then to deliver her single buckling baby while the sun still shone, sparing us what could have been an all-night vigil in the midst of Passover preparations.  By midday, as Sweet Muzette’s labor progressed, her supportive onlookers — conflicted by the need to leave soon to travel to distant family for the holiday, yet wanting more than anything to stay put to see Muzette give birth —  shared a collective sigh of relief that the birth was near.  The time of delivery? A civilized 4 p.m.  Unnervingly close, but still two days before Pesach. Within minutes after his birth, Kayam’s new buckling stood up on wobbly legs, looked around, was licked clean by his doting mom, and then instinctively rooted (and finally found) the font of mother’s milk that brought a contented grunt and a satiated, well-earned nap.   All in a day at Kayam Farm.

It was less than a year ago, that Kayam started its first dairy goat-herd.  We now have five dairy goats who share pasture grazing rights in rotation with a diverse flock of about 110 free-range, pasture-fed hens, from which farm staff and volunteers hand gather more than 5 dozen eggs every day.  This Passover, 35 dozen of the farm’s eggs graced Pearlstone’s Seder plates and were served at Passover meals.  Kayam’s colorful,  blue, white, brown and other colored heritage eggs by the dozen are also available to CSA subscribers for weekly pickup and community delivery and are for sale at the farm office, as well.

So, haven’t you always wanted to learn how to milk a goat?  And play with baby goats? Make chevre? Gather freshly laid, still-warm eggs from the coop? Show your children where food really comes from? Come visit Kayam and join us this summer for milking, cheese-making, and animal workshops, as well as team building activities and many multicultural and Judaic educational farm programs, too.

Learn more about Kayam Farm>>

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Stoler ECE first Preschool in County to Participate in Let’s Move Program

By Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore

After a very successful year introducing our Healthy Choices program at the Stoler ECE in Owings Mills, our Health Science Educator, Chris Sigman, decided to take on a new challenge for our school. She has upped the ante a little by registering the ECE for Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” childcare program. Introduced in September 2011, this initiative is designed to change the way preschool-aged children think about food, nutrition and physical activity to prevent childhood obesity. This past January, our school started focusing on four key areas in order to be recognized as a Let’s Move!-certified school.

They include:

• Beverages: We now have pitchers of water available in all of our classrooms and we encourage our parents NOT to send their children to school with sugar-filled juice packs.
• Food: Fresh fruits and/or vegetables are served with both morning and afternoon snacks. Healthy homemade dips are prepared weekly to be served with fresh vegetables during snack time. Family-style dining is taking place for all snacks and lunch.
• Physical Activity: We are aiming for all of our preschool students to have a total of 60 minutes of movement each day and for our full-day, preschool plus students to have 120 minutes of movements each day. Weather permitting, outdoor play will occur at least once per day.
• Screen Time: We are encouraging families to reduce their child’s TV/computer time to two hours a day, and will encourage family participation in National TV Turnoff Week on April 30-May 6, 2012.

In the coming months, Chris will be submitting a written journal as well as photos of the school’s progress to the Let’s Move! website.

“We are very excited to be the first preschool in Baltimore County to participate in this program,” says Chris. “We hope to meet this recognition by May 1.”

For more information about the ECE programs at the JCC of Greater Baltimore , visit www.jcc.org.
Find more healthy living programs in Jewish Baltimore>>

Are We Overscheduling Our Children?

By: Jacki Ashkin, LCSW-C,
Senior Manager, Resource Development/Marketing
Jewish Community Services

We all know the proverb: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” As I think of the demands placed on children these days, I often worry that we might be raising a generation of Jacks.

When I recall my childhood, I remember spontaneous games of dodge ball and Red Rover in our neighborhood; spending hours in the woods behind our houses exploring tree forts, pretending we were special agents being chased by “bad guys.”  We would lie on our backs tracing animal shapes in the clouds; trying to make whistling sounds through blades of grass.  Even now, decades later, the sweet smell of honeysuckle in a warm breeze instantly takes me back and I feel a rush of joy remembering that sense of pure freedom.  Back then, there was plenty of time for getting lost in imagination and free play.

Today, children’s lives seem more structured and scheduled — dare I say, over-scheduled. It sometimes seems raising children has become a competitive sport.  Parents feel pressured to make sure their kids are the best, the brightest, the most athletic, the most artistic.  True, there are more opportunities for extra-curricular activities now than when we were kids, but somehow we have been brainwashed into thinking we’re bad parents if we don’t give our children all of those opportunities. How will they succeed if they don’t do it all?  As a result, everyday life seems to take place at hyper-speed as we rush our children from one activity to another – school, religious school, organized sports, art lessons, clubs, community service, tutors, etc.

What’s happened to the joy of just being a kid?  Children are becoming so used to having all their free time structured for them and guided by rules, how will they develop the internal creative skills they need?  Many lack the ability to manage boredom, to “think outside the box,” to create their own happiness, or even to relax.

Our intentions are good, but we may have forgotten the importance of having balance in our lives and we are inadvertently passing that pressure along to our children. This can be a recipe for burn-out and it comes at a cost to kids and families.  Fatigue, irritability, anger, trouble concentrating, meltdowns, sleep problems, slipping grades, anxiety, even headaches and stomach aches may well be signs of overload.

As you set schedules and priorities, consider these tips:
Create balance.  Cramming a huge number of activities into the school year with the justification that “we’ll get to relax in the summer,” doesn’t work.  Throughout the year, it’s important to give kids time to hang out and play with friends.  This builds a sense of self and sets patterns for our children’s future relationships.  We want our children to feel that they are loved and appreciated for who they are, not just for what they accomplish.

Be a role model.  Children need to see that we also value unstructured time and that we make time for the family to slow down and connect with each other.

Trust your instincts.  If life feels too hectic and busy, it probably is.  Look at what’s filling up the schedule and, maybe even more importantly, what’s missing (like family time and down time).  Make some hard (and at times unpopular) decisions about what shifts you can make, what activities you or your child may have to give up, cut back, or delay for now. Work to restore a balance.

Listen to your child, but also pay attention to the non-verbal ques. Ask if your child if he/she feels the days are too busy, or if he/she wishes there was more time to play with friends or just relax after school.  Remember, if you’ve been living the overscheduled lifestyle, your child may not realize there’s an alternative and may say everything is fine.  So attend to the non-verbal signs of overload which speak volumes and may contradict your child’s words.  Be careful not to slip into a rationalization like, “but my child likes doing all these activities.” Children like candy too, but we know too much isn’t good for them, so we limit how much we let them eat. Similarly, if too many activities are overloading your child and your family, you need to set limits because that is what’s best for your child’s well-being.

Before adding another activity, weigh the costs.  Consider how this new activity will affect your child and everyone else in the family: financially, emotionally, physically, socially, etc.

Don’t rush to rescue your child from boredom.  Make a few suggestions, but let your child figure out what to do with his/her time. This offers the opportunity to develop creativity and problem solving skills which are essential throughout life.

As parents, we want the best for our children.  But in this increasingly complex and competitive world, one of the greatest gifts we can give them is the freedom to discover the simple joys and wonders of childhood.  Soon enough they will have to settle down in the ordered adult world, but with your help, blissful memories like fireflies, kickball, and family Scrabble games will keep childhood alive in their hearts.

Try Playing Some Pickleball!

By: Esther Apt

Even though summer isn’t here yet, do you want to stay active? Try an indoor game of Pickleball!

“Pickle what?” you might ask.

Pickleball is an exciting sport that is a combination of Ping-Pong, tennis, and badminton. It has been enjoyed for over 20 years by people of all ages, especially adults. This mini-tennis game is played on a badminton-size court using a wooden paddle and a plastic whiffle-type ball. Even though Pickleball may be new to you, Bob Eney, the Pickleball Ambassador for Carroll County in Maryland, tells us that Pickleball has been around since 1965 and is played around the world.

“It is a great game for people of all ages including seniors,” he says. “It’s a fun way to get some great aerobic exercise and socialize at the same time!”

Try something new!

Pickleball is pickin’ up at the Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC! Join us on Thursdays from 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. as representatives from the USA Pickleball Association give interactive lessons the first hour and we enjoy game play during the second hour.  For more information, contact Melissa Berman at 410.559.3593 or email mberman@jcc.org.

Looking for other programs to do to stay healthy? Check out this listing>>

Working Out Despite a Heart Condition

During a routine exam over 10 years ago, Andy Malinow was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. To take charge of his health, he and his wife became JCC members in 2001. He started out by biking and using the treadmill religiously. However, as more symptoms began to appear in 2009, Andy needed surgery to have an LVAD inserted (an LVAD is an artificial heart pump that acts as a heart). After the surgery, Andy continued to keep up his workout routine despite the huge battery case he had to lug around to keep the device working. When Andy was healed enough from his LVAD operation he was able to be placed on a waiting list for a heart. Five months later, the call came. Most heart transplant patients are so weak that they arrive at the hospital in a wheelchair but Andy Malinow walked right in. There was no doubt in the doctors’ minds that Andy was in tip top shape because of his workout routine. When asked what he would he tell people whose health issues discourage them from staying active, Andy says, “Do what you gotta do. You will pay for it in the long run if you don’t. It’s a hassle sometimes but it’s worth it.”

We’re all getting older. Don’t fret over it. Embrace it! At the JCC we promote healthy aging. Check out some of our upcoming classes that can help you get and stay in great shape:

Healthy Aging Series Led by Personal Trainer Karyl Rosen
Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC
Heart Health
Tuesday, January 24
1:30-2:15 p.m.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of Americans. Learn what steps you can take to reduce your personal risk and protect your health.
$5/JCC Member; $10/Non-member

Fall Prevention
Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC
Tuesday, February 7
1:30-2:15 p.m.
As we get older, physical changes and health conditions make falls more likely. In fact, falls are the number one leading cause of injury in older adults. Fear of falling doesn’t need to rule your life! Let us give you some simple fall prevention strategies.
$5/JCC Member; $10/Non-member

For more information on the Healthy Aging Series, contact Amy Schwartz at
410.559.3534.

Awareness through Movement: Moshe Feldenkrais Method
Weinberg Park Heights JCC
Thursdays, January 5-19, February 2-16 & March 8-22
9:30 a.m.
Must be 55-years-old or older
Twisting the wrist, turning the head – what was once easy becomes difficult through age, injury and stress. Discover how to reclaim the ease of these movements though the Feldenkrais Method. These simple, gentle movements gradually evolve into greater range and complexity and enable participants to reconnect with their natural ability to move. Requirements: the ability to lie on the floor, bend the knees and have a sense of curiosity!
$20/ JCC Member/$30/No-member per month

For more information and to RSVP, call Lisa Shifren at 410-500-5903.

“And What Will You?”

By: Laura Menyuk
Volunteer Coordinator/Adventure Director
Kayam Farm

“Donkey: Ogres are like onions. We have a lot of layers.”  – Shrek

The onion-layers bit is not only a metaphor from Shrek, but a metaphor used in the study of Kaballah. Jewish mysticism and moon-lore would also tell you that near the beginning of December, when the Jewish calendar month of Kislev began at the new moon, so began the month of dreams.

To mark the new moon, we at Kayam Farm took on the onion’s culinary cousin and completed our planting of garlic and metaphors. Garlic, like daffodils, is a bulb. You make a hole in fertile soil, and push in the piece of garlic you might otherwise have eaten an inch deep- before the ground’s too hard with frost. Then the garlic waits. Sleeps. Perhaps dreams. And when the moment is right in late spring, your efforts will come to fruition as a green shoot pops out of the ground, and that one piece has- magically or miraculously or naturally depending on one’s understanding of miracles and the world- turned to a head of 10-12 pieces.

Winter work on the education and programs side of a farm is like this garlic: laying all the groundwork so that in the spring, programs can just do their thing.  And as the sun sets early along with my computer screen, it can feel like work of the spirit or the soul. An entire Jewish month has passed since the garlic planting and as the January cold sets in, it’s an opportunity to ask myself: what is it that I must plant now and then allow it to sit, hibernate, and rest in order to come to fruition in the spring?

And what will you?

JCC ECE Moms Commit to Fitness

By: Esther Apt

Tara Rudo and Beth Rose are not only active moms at the JCC ECE, they are also energetic JCC fitness participants. Tara is the Co-President of the Parents’ Association and Beth is the Chairperson of the ECE Silent Auction this year. Since both moms know that education doesn’t end in the classroom, they teach their children by exemplifying a healthy life style.

“People don’t always realize there are amazing fitness classes included in their JCC membership,” says Beth. In the course of a week, she takes cycling, Barre Sculpt and Bodypump and works out with a personal trainer. “It’s a nice way to socialize with other kids’ parents outside of the classroom and to have others motivate you,” she says. Beth confesses that prior to meeting Tara she had never even taken a fitness class. “But I am definitely addicted now!”she admits.

Convenience is another perk the mothers love. “I don’t have to waste time driving to multiple locations to get things done” says Tara. “For me, it is perfect having the kids in school at the JCC and being able to work out there also.” Beth points out, “Everyone has 30 minutes. You have schedules for your kids so make one for yourself and stick with it! ”

Group Fitness classes are free to JCC  members. Get a schedule at the front desk or visit jcc.org/schedules.
For other healthy living options, click here>>

The Family Meal: Taking Advantage of Time Together

By Ilene Meister, M.S.
Director of Early Childhood Services
Jewish Community Center

As family members become busier and busier, a very important practice is being enjoyed less and less: the family meal.  Many early learning educators and family and dietary counselors are seeing the effects of this missing practice and are encouraging families to reconnect around the table.  There are so many positive outcomes when families eat together.  Consider the following benefits.

1. Healthier meals are eaten and healthier habits are established.
2. Interacting at the table slows down eating and contributes to lower obesity rates and other eating disorders.
3. Conversing, learning to talk, listening and taking turns build important social skills and increases one’s vocabulary.
4. School success starts with mealtime conversations.  As a result, more words are learned which positively affects reading.  Better reading skills result in higher grades.
5. Having a place at the table gives one a sense of belonging, which creates greater confidence, higher self-esteem, better emotional health and fewer behavioral problems. Risky behaviors and eating disorders are minimized.
6. Shared mealtime responsibilities including planning, shopping, prepping, and cleaning-up (it’s not just mom’s job) build a sense of ownership. Participation in meal planning and preparation also encourages children to feel that they are a part of the process of mealtime.
7. Eating meals together saves time, money and energy.
8. Communication is improved between parents and children.
9. Everyone has the opportunity to enjoy mealtimes and each other’s company and build new, or reinforce established, family traditions.
10. Allowing children to serve themselves encourages them to eat a variety of foods.

By eating together each and everyday, we can build memories, and at the same time create stability in our children’s lives and celebrate our time together.

For more information, on JCC Early Childhood Education programs, visit our website at www.jcc.org/ece .
Find more healthy living tips>>

Grassroots Green Paints Metro Baltimore

By H. Glenn Rosenkrantz
The Covenant Foundation

It started out as a simple study session about Sukkot. It evolved into an emotional exchange of recollections and histories. And no one will forget it anytime soon.

Those gathered in the community room at Weinberg Village, a retirement complex northwest of here, had decades to draw upon when naming the ushpizin – or visitors – they might invite into a sukkah.

For one participant, it was a lost mother and sister. For another, a daughter. And one tearfully described a beloved surrogate mother from his boyhood.

Through the window, a small garden loomed large. Here, this group of dedicated seniors planted, tended and toiled beginning last spring, through the summer and into the fall.

They nurtured plants and vegetables, but what also grew was a community united and connected in uncommon and unpredictable ways.

“This garden provided a sacred space where they built trust and relationships,” said Jakir Manela, the founding director of nearby Kayam Farm. “It provided the foundation to collectively deepen relationships, build community, and explore Jewish lives and values.”

This year saw the flowering of Jewish educational gardens, and the attendant creation and solidification of community across the Baltimore metro area.

Kayam Farm, fueled by a grant from The Covenant Foundation, led six Jewish-based institutions – including a synagogue, a university Hillel, a congregational preschool, a day school, a JCC, and Weinberg Village – in the establishment of educational gardens.

The initiative is a first step in creating a Jewish gardening collective across the region and firmly establishing Jewish-based environmentalism in the community’s consciousness through visibility, participation, and education.

It dovetails with “Going Green,” a project of the Baltimore Jewish federation and the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network. The project encourages and supports Jewish organizations, agencies, and families to embrace and practice sustainability within an educational framework.

“It will be interesting to see after a couple of years what the impact is on these participating institutions and what the culture shift is in this community,” said Manela.

“Agriculture and sustainability are important Jewish values offering a new medium and channel for impactful Jewish education. This is an innovative path to Jewish education and a unique tool to reach people’s minds and hearts.”

At Congregation Netivot Shalom in nearby Pikesville on the same day, volunteers from across generations gathered to harvest their inaugural garden – three plots measuring 32 square feet each. Bins filled quickly with gords, peppers, gherkins, peppers, beans, carrots and tomatoes, among other bounties.

Kayam’s Morris Panitz, Jewish Community Gardener, was on hand instructing on how to properly pull the vegetation from the ground and how to prepare it for winter. And he led the younger set in a scavenger hunt for the gords that would hang in the synagogue’s sukkah, and for the foods that would be proper for the weekly Kiddush.

“This is experiential, place-based, hands-on education,” he said. “We are not just talking about it. We’re doing it and getting our hands dirty.”

As she tied string around a newly picked gord, 13-year-old Adi Singerman said working the garden deepened her perspective on the earth, her Jewish blessings, and the imperative of social justice.

“This is helping me to understand how to be more Jewish. When I daven, I can thank ha-Shem for the food from this garden. I know now what it takes to get it on the table, and I think about those who don’t have any.”

Her mother, Shifra Singerman, nodded in agreement. “We are all getting a wonderful sense of community, a love for the outdoors, and a faith-based connection to the environment. So many of our Jewish holidays have a strong agricultural component, but this has been lost in the modern age. This garden is renewing and restoring and underscoring that historical link.”

Congregation officials said they were anxious to be part of the new collective for this reason for sure, and to create a living, organic project that exuded Jewish values and tradition and would be a focus for the synagogue community.

“Over tending to this garden, I met people who I never knew,” said Abbe Zuckerberg, a garden captain at Congregation Netivot Shalom. “It became a place for schmoozing and connecting. People who never lifted a hoe were enthralled by this project. And it was a very public statement that we were doing something positive for our Jewish community and for the earth.”

As a garden captain, Zuckerberg attends continuing education trainings at Kayam Farm, and meets with other participating organizations to share ideas and lessons. Educator trainings, shared curricula and an active community of practice are all part of the Kayam model for the collective.

It is expected to grow to 10 participating institutions in 2012, including an early childhood education program at a synagogue and a multi-cultural partnership.

And garden captains said they expect bigger gardens and increased participation next year. At Weinberg Village alone, the number of resident gardeners will grow fivefold – to 50 – and new gardening tables, which make access to the vegetation easier for seniors, are being installed on the grounds.

Back at Congregration Netivot Shalom, Ari Moskowitz was beaming as he held his newborn baby while surveying the fall harvest.

“It is amazing to me how much this new garden parallels growing a family and a community,” he said. “There is a connection between the earth and sustaining and nurturing God’s creation, and my wife and I starting and growing a family and being a part of Jewish community and continuity. That cycle is right here before us.”

Kayam Farm is a program of the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center, an agency of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore.

Mindless Eating

By Amy Schwartz
Fitness & Wellness Director
Jewish Community Center

A nibble here, a bite there. Such snacking may seem harmless, but it can pad your diet — and waistline — with a surprising number of sneaky calories.

Sound familiar: You made a good dinner: grilled chicken, steamed veggies and fruit for dessert. As you’re cleaning up your kids’ dinner of macaroni and cheese, you steal a few bites before throwing it down the drain.

Turns out, those little nibbles can really add up! Of the many eating decisions we make every day, many fall into the mindless category or that 100-or-so calorie area. Did you know that eating 100 extra calories every day can lead to a 10-pound weight gain over the course of a year?

Try replacing this noshing with healthy snacks that include fruits or vegetables and protein. You’ll cut excess calories, feel fuller, and eat healthier foods!

 

Want more healthy living advice? Check out Jewish Baltimore’s Healthy Living Blog>>
Looking for programs to keep your body and mind fit? See our Healthy Living Focus: You!>>