Israel
Aleichem
Shalom, today we are going to look at
Israel.
Here are a few quick facts:
- The capital in Israel is Jerusalem
- The Shekel is the money they use in Israel
- There are over 8.884 million people who live in Israel.
- The official language in Israel is Hebrew
- The first underwater museum was in Israel
- The flag colors are the same as the talit or prayer shawl
When
God led the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Canaan and had
them settle in a key spot for influencing the world, right on the main trade
route where people going north or south would go right through their land. In the Bible it says “I have placed you in
this land that the world may know that I am God.”
Because the Israelite's didn't always obey God
they were punished by being taken away from their land several times. You can read about this in the Older
Testament of the Bible.
Israel's
history is quite the story and they did not become a country until 1948. From the time of the Bible until then and
probably even since then the people in Israel have been wrongly affected by the
“Christians” and so have been turned off to the gospel. We can now do our best
to be a faithful witness of what Christ's love actually does in a person's life
and pray that the people in Israel would come to know what true Christianity
is.
“I have set thee to be a light of
the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.”Acts 13:47
Operation Mobilization is an organization that
is working in 110 countries including Israel.
They reach out to people of all ages and are working to bring the Good
News to everyone. If you would like to help support them or just learn more about what they do click the link
above.
Our family is
learning how to read and write Hebrew so today I am going to teach you how to
write “Shalom” in Hebrew.
The first thing you should know is that Hebrew is written
from right to left. Another thing is
that Hebrew writings don’t have the vowels in them and other extra marks which
mean I still probably couldn’t read a Hebrew Bible or book.
The way I know how to read and write is with the vowel marks
and extra marks.
We’ll start with the “sh” sound. Make a wide ‘U’ and then add the line in the
middle. A dot at the top right makes it
say “sh” (a dot on the left would make the “s” sound).
Now we will add the next sound, the vowel sound “ä”. This is done by adding a little T shape under the “sh”.
This says “shä”
We will add the “l”.
Remember, we are going right to left so the next letter goes to the left
of the “sh”
Start slightly above the top line and come down to it. Make
a short line to the right then come down and curve back to under the top line.
Your word says “shal”
Next we add the “ō” sound. This vowel
goes to the left of the “l”. Make a short line over and then make a line all
the way to the bottom line. Adding a dot
above this letter makes it say “ō”.
So far you’ve got “shalo”
To make the “m” sound at the end of the word start making a
box, then go back and add the rest of the box but start in from the edge a
little bit. An “m” for the beginning of middle of a word looks different than
this but I’m only teaching you the ending “m”.
Now you can write the whole word “shalom” which means peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare, and tranquility, it is used to say hello and goodbye.
If you would like to learn more Hebrew you can Click here to go to where we've been learning it.
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Ok, let’s learn how to make an Israelite clothespin doll.
What you will need:
Clothespin
Hot glue
Black paint
Paint brush
Red fabric
Black speckled fabric
Red and Yellow thread
Yellow Friendship thread
Ruler
Scissors
Black Thread
White Fabric and Thread
******************
Optional item:
Wood (for arms)
This is the picture I am looking off of to make my
doll. If you went to Israel you might
not see anyone actually dressed like this.
We will start with the hair. Use hot glue to make a layer of hair on her head and let it dry. Next add the big pile of hair on top. I don’t know that the ladies really comb their hair like this we are just doing this so that her head will look right in the end. Paint all of her hair black.
Now we will start to
make her dress. First we will make the
skirt.
Cut a piece of red
fabric 3 5/8 x 4” big.
Fold the piece in half and then in half again
and then cut the one edge almost to the top.
Unfold the skirt
piece and spread open the slits.
Cut two pieces of the black approx. 2 ¾” tall
and 5/8” wide at the bottom taper to a point.
Now start hemming the bottom of one of the
sides and when you come to the slit sew in the first triangle. Fold up the bottom of the triangle but don’t
actually hem it. You might have to trim off part of the top or side of the
triangle so it fits better. When you get to the bottom of the second side of
the triangle continue hemming the center piece and then add the second triangle
and finish hemming the skirt.
Sew on some yellow
friendship thread along the edges of the triangles.
The skirt is done!
We are ready to make the top of the dress and
sew it on.
Cut a piece of red fabric 1 5/8 x 2 ¼”
Fold the piece in half top to bottom. Put a gathering stitch in the skirt and sew
it to the top.
Fold the dress inside out and sew up the back.
Flip the dress and put it onto your doll.
Now add some fancy stitching to the front of
her dress. Make a French knot in the
center and make two circles around with small stitches going out.
***********
Next we are
going to make the rest of the bodice, the sleeves, and the arms (the last two
are optional.)
Make two slightly curved arms, then sand them down so that they are skinny.
1. Cut the sleeve and
bodice pieces. The bodice is 1 ¾ x 1 3/8” The red part of the sleeves are 1 ¼ x ¾” The black part of the sleeves 1 x 5/8” round the tops of the sleeves
2. Sew yellow friendship
thread all the way around the edge of the extra bodice piece. Add a small pleat in the top in the back so
it will fit better.
3. Wrap the bodice piece
around the doll and sew it together in the front. I slid the dress down some so
that it wouldn’t be so short and then the black bodice covered up the part up
to her chin. Go to the next step unless you don’t want to add arms and sleeves.
4. Sew the sleeves together
and add yellow trimming. The shorter piece is ¾” long and I tried to make the
sleeve sort of gathered where the two pieces met. The longer piece is 1 ¼” long.
5. Fold the sleeves in
half, right side in and sew along the edge, then add put a gathering stitch
around the top and pull it tight. Secure
the thread and cut it off.
6. Flip the sleeves and
slide the arms into them.
7. Sew or hot glue the arms
onto your dolls sides.
It’s time to add the headpiece. Cut a piece of white fabric 3 x 3 ½”
(including the selvage). It is best to have a selvage edge for the
bottom. I didn’t do anything to the edge
but if you don’t want it to fray you could hem the edge or try melting it.
Now find the center of the piece and pull it
tight across her hair. Fold down the
sides from the top of her hair.
Make another fold slightly behind the first
fold to bring the corners together under her chin.
Sew the corners together in the front and tuck the long piece behind her shoulders. You can tack different places on the headpiece so that it will stay better.
Choose an Israelite name for your doll and
she is all ready to go.
Goodbye and
peace to you. Shalom ve lehitra’ot
Sources: World Book
Encyclopedia, 1985
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