Parsha for Kids

By Chana Friedman

Hello, and welcome to Parsha for Kids! My name is Chana and I love learning Torah. I am so excited to learn the Parsha with YOU! Each week we will learn a key point or idea from the Parsha, and maybe ... more

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How many episodes does Parsha for Kids have?

The podcast currently has 55 episodes available.

Parsha for Kids episodes:

March 22, 2023 S3E1 Vayikra 2023
Did you know God wants to have a relationship with you?
He does! And that is why God taught us how to connect to Him through korbanot. Although this word is often translated as 'sacrifices' or 'offerings,' the main idea has to do with the Hebrew word karov, close. God wants us to come close to Him, and He taught us how to do that through korbanot.
If we had sinned and felt guilty and ashamed, there was a korban for that. If we were extremely happy and wanted to celebrate our child’s birthday, there was a korban for that. If we wanted to connect with God again after feeling distanced from Him, there was a korban for that. No matter what, we were never stuck simply wallowing in our emotions, but had a process through which we could connect with God and forward.
Korbanot are about connection, relationships, and repairing relationships. It is because we can no longer bring them that we now use words, via prayer, to connect to and repair our relationship with God. But the original visceral, experiential method of korbanot - placing our hands on the animal's head, confessing our sins, watching the animal die, smelling the scent of blood, all experiences that would significantly impact us- remains unmatched.
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19min
March 17, 2023S2E11 Pekudei 2023
In Pekudei, we learn about several values:
Transparency

Justice over power

Celebration
Moshe modeled transparency. by telling Bnei Yisrael exactly how all of their donations had been used. Placing God at the center of our camp through putting the Mishkan there meant that we focused on God's laws and way of being in the world- which means an emphasis on justice, not simple power. And finally, after Bnei Yisrael finished building the Mishkan, Moshe blessed them. He celebrated their accomplishment.
All of us can learn to be transparent in our financial dealings, make God our focus, and celebrate one another's accomplishments from the ideas in this week's parsha!
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13min
March 14, 2023S2E10 Vayakhel 2023
In this week's Parsha, Vayakhel, we learn about qualities that we can strive to emulate as well. Specifically, we learn about meeting people where they are, generosity, imagination, and teaching.
God understood that Bnei Yisrael needed a physical way to connect to Him, so He gave them the Mishkan as a way to do that.

Bnei Yisrael were so generous that Moshe had to tell them to stop bringing contributions for the Mishkan. We can learn from this to be generous with our possessions, talents or time as well.

Bezalel had a wonderful imagination- the ability to envision and also to execute. It’s important to consider which of these we are able to do (or both) so we can partner with the person who can best help us in our work!

Teaching is a gift, and Bezalel and Oholiav were given the gift of being able to teach well.
Hopefully we will be able to acquire these qualities and use them in our own lives!
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14min
March 10, 2023S2E9 Ki Tisa 2023
Parshat Ki Tisa contains many ideas we still keep today. Among these:
God values all Jewish people equally, which is why every person, whether rich or poor, contributed a Machatzit HaShekel when it came time for them to be counted.

Even nowadays, we keep the laws of washing our hands Netilat Yadayim when we wake up or eat bread as a way of preparing ourselves to perform our Avodah for God, just like the Kohanim did when they used the Kiyor.

By keeping Shabbat, we are testifying that we believe God created the world and rested on the seventh day.

Even negative traits like stubbornness can be channeled and used for good.

There is a special way to pray before God to remind Him to have mercy on us using the Yud-Gimmel Middos, His 13 special attributes. We use this today when we prepare for the holiest days of the year, saying special prayers called Selichot and hoping that God forgives any mistakes we might have made over the course of the year.
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34min
March 03, 2023S2E8 Tetzaveh 2023
In this week's parsha, we learn about what God values. Specifically,
God values creativity. This week’s parsha focuses on people who knew how to work with their hands to create beautiful garments, which is a different skill from reading or doing math. No matter what skill set you have, there is a way for you to connect with God.

God values beauty. The Mishkan and the garments the Kohanim wore were all extremely beautiful to enable people to feel impressed and amazed.

God values practice. The Kohanim were not allowed to do their jobs until they first prepared for seven days and learned what to do.

God values engagement. He wanted to make sure everyone in Bnei Yisrael could be engaged with all of their five senses, so He designed a Mishkan experience that would do just that!
This enables us to consider how we can best connect to God through being creative, using beauty, practicing something, or engaging all our five senses.
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17min
February 24, 2023S2E7 Terumah 2023
In Parshat Terumah, God helps us bond with one another by having us work on a national building project. Every aspect of this building project, the creation of the Mishkan, was thought through.
God wanted all donations to be voluntary, so that no one would feel forced or coerced into building God's home.

The building was grand, impressive and beautiful to inspire awe and devotion when Bnei Yisrael saw it or entered it.

The building was modeled after and symbolized the human body, because each of us is equivalent to a Mishkan ourselves- the sanctuary is us, and God dwells in us.

Nowadays, we no longer have a Mishkan or a Beit HaMikdash, but we do have a synagogue!
We can learn from this parsha to act in a unified, helping manner. We can also make sure to remember that our body is as sacred and holy as a Mishkan, and therefore we should serve God with it, just like the Kohanim served God within the Mishkan.
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19min
February 17, 2023S2E6 Mishpatim 2023
This parsha is chock full of important laws. The laws often include significant information about how we should treat others. For example, we learn:
We are responsible to help rehabilitate the Hebrew servant, even though he stole. We need to treat him with dignity and respect.

We are responsible to help heal someone we hurt, and to pay money to accomplish this.

We are responsible to be kind to the convert, the orphan and the widow, all people who might feel especially lonely in our community.

We are responsible to give back a poor person’s shirt if we loaned them money and this was their collateral. This is so that they have clothes to wear each day.

We are responsible to help return a wandering or lost animal to our enemy.
Learning about these responsibilities can help us develop into better people. In each situation, God is helping us to be more sensitive to others around us and making sure we treat them with kindness.
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24min
February 10, 2023S2E5 Yitro 2023
In this week's parsha, Yitro, we learn many valuable lessons. These include:
Not thinking you are too good to serve others. Moshe himself served Yitro his meal!

Being willing to step up and offer a solution if you see a problem. Yitro came up with a much better system and helped Moshe implement a court system. Because we are grateful to Yitro, we name the parsha after him.

Being willing to listen when someone offers us feedback. Moshe didn't bristle when Yitro offered his advice- instead, he took it and was grateful for it.

The importance of setting the tone. God made sure to give us the ten commandments in an unforgettable way - with fire, lightning, smoke, cloud and Shofar blasts. This is why Har Sinai as an event remains unforgettable even today.

The importance of balance. When God tells us ways He doesn't want us to serve Him- such as not making any images of anything in the heaven or the earth- He also provides an example of how we CAN serve him, through building an altar or mizbeach.
Based on the questions and discussions in this week's episode, we come up with some very important lessons and takeaways for our own lives!
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25min
February 02, 2023S2E4 Beshalach 2023
In this week's parsha, Beshalach, Bnei Yisrael face many crises. These include enemies coming against them, a lack of water and a lack of food. We can learn much from the way that Bnei Yisrael responds to these crises- and the way that Moshe as leader and God Himself respond.
Among the lessons that become clear, we see:
It's important to put people in situations that are appropriate for them. That's why God led Bnei Yisrael on an indirect way to the land of Israel rather than taking them on a direct route that might terrify them.

It's not correct to pray for a long time when an immediate crisis is occurring. Instead, that is the right time to act.

It is appropriate to express gratitude and come together as a community in the wake of a national crisis.

God specifically wanted to build trust with the Israelites, which is why He designed a system of delivering them food (Manna) that required them to only take what they needed for one day at a time (with the exception of the sixth day).
How do you respond a crisis? And what can you learn from the series of crises in this week's parsha?
Based on the questions and discussions in this week's episode, we come up with some vey important lessons and takeaways for our own lives!
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31min
January 27, 2023S2E3 Bo 2023
In this week's episode, we recognize God's power and wisdom. God demonstrates these qualities in a number of ways. These include, but are not limited to:
God shows His power through the Makkot He brings - locusts, darkness and death of the firstborn. God demonstrates that He controls the insects, the atmosphere and life and death itself through these precisely timed plagues.

God demonstrates that He is faithful when it comes to keeping promises. Long ago, He promised Avraham we would leave Egypt with great wealth, and He ensures this happens by having the Egyptians give us items of silver and gold.

God's wisdom comes up when we see the first mitzvah He gives to us as a nation. This is the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh, the new moon. This enables us to create our own calendars, something which only free people can appreciate. It also introduces us to the concept of Kedushat HaZeman, the sanctity of time.

God tells us how important it is for us to embed the exodus from Egypt upon our memories- it's something we think about when performing other mitzvot such as Pidyon HaBen or Tefillin. It is also of course something we think about when we keep the holiday of Pesach. These experiential mitzvot enable us to consistently remember God's power and be grateful He took us out of the bad situation we experienced in Egypt.
Based on the questions and discussions in this week's episode, we come up with some vey important lessons and takeaways for our own lives!
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29min

FAQs about Parsha for Kids:

How many episodes does Parsha for Kids have?

The podcast currently has 55 episodes available.