ONLINE Jewish Play-Based Learning for 3-5 year olds!
Lama lo means “Why Not?!?” in Hebrew! Spoken-Hebrew, Jewish Values, and the Aleph-Bet for kids and their Grown-Ups.
Together Let’s:
Build a sweet and connected online Jewish community of kids and their grown ups.
Have a fun, active, and interactive introduction to Hebrew.
Play with spoken Hebrew words including counting 1-10, colors, animals, and so much more.
Meet Hebrew letters through their shapes and sounds.
Get to know Shiri the Llama adapted from the book Yesh Lanu Llama!
HIneini HEBREW
Mondays 8-13 year olds
Hineini Hebrew Gimmel Level 3
4:45-6pm Central Time
Fun with prayerbook, Torah, and Modern Hebrew. We build fluency, vocabulary, and understanding through games and dialogues and stories!
HINEINI HISTORY
Wednesdays
4:45-6:00pm Central Time
(PG/Middle Grade)
Wednesdays
6:15-7:30pm Central Time
(PG-13+/YA)
Let’s time travel together! We will begin in the 1700s in shtetls (Jewish villages and towns), and in Jewish communities in urban centers around the world. We will visit our ancestors in Persian and Arab and African communities where they lived for hundreds and thousands of years. We will travel with our ancestors through their migrations to the Americas and Australia and Palestine. We will learn from them about early Zionism - and movements against it - life in the diaspora up through the 1920s.
*This history includes so much beauty and culture and delight. It also includes antisemitism, war, slavery, persecution, pogroms, Jewish violence against others, and the emergence of nazism. These themes will be handled with sensitivity. You know your child best and whether they are ready for this material. Please contact me if you have any questions. r stories we make them our own and weave them into our identities.
In 5784 I offered the FIRST Hineini experience through Genesis/Bresheet and it was pretty epic! In 5785 I’m expanding to two Hineini classes. Last year’s students will continue with Exodus/Shmot and I’m opening up a NEW class for Genesis/Bresheet. Both classes are open to 8-12 year old students who will be in community together.
Jewish Middle Grade & YA Book Clubs!
Be JEWcy and Spill the Jewce.
the readers’ grownups can look through the lists and determine which set of books are appropriate for their reader.
What are we reading? Here you go!
Spill the JEWce: YA! 5786/2025-2026
9/14/25 A World Worth Saving, Kyle Lukoff
10/19/25 The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, Isaac Blum
12/7/25 The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker
1/25/26 The Judgment of YOYO GOLD, Isaac Blum
3/1/26 The Ghosts of Rose Hill, R.M. Romero
4/19/26 Time and Time Again, Chatham Greenfield
Be JEWcy: Middle Grade! (5786/2025-2026)
9/14/25 Not Your All American Girl, Madelyn Rosenberg and Wendy Wan-Long Shang
10/19/25 Anya and the Dragon, Sofiya Pasternack
12/7/25 Benny Feldman’s All-Star Klezmer Band, Allison and Wayne Marks
1/25/26 Rooting for the Trees, Dori Weinstein
3/1/26 Abby Tried and True, Donna Gephart
4/19/26 Nightmares in Paradise, Aden Polydoros
PREVIOUS YEARS BOOK LISTS
Be JEWcy (5785/2024-2025)
9/22/24 The $150,000 Rugelach,
Allyson and Wayne Marks (!)
11/17/24 Two Tribes, Emily Bowen Cohen
12/15/24 The Ring of Solomon, Aden Polydoros
1/12/25 Hooplah Under the Chuppah, Dori Weinstein (!)
3/23/25 Death by Toilet Paper, Donna Gephart
5/4/25 Pickled Watermelon, Esty Schachter
(!) The author(s) will be joining us for part of our book club meeting!
9/22/24 The Way Back, Gavriel Savit* (!)
11/17/24 The Story of the Jews, Stan Mack
12/15/24 Dreidels on the Brain, Joel ben Izzy
1/12/25 The Path of Names, Ari B. Goelman
3/23/25 Aviva vs. The Dybbuk, Mari Lowe
5/4/25 How to Find What You’re Not Looking For,
Veera Hiranandani
(!) The author(s) will be joining us for part of our book club meeting!
*Note: Gavriel and I are still confirming this date and we may switch months with one of the other books.
Be JEWcy (5784/2023-24)
9/10 Scarlett and Sam: Whale of a Tale, Eric A. Kimmel
10/22 . . . too far from home, Naomi Shmuel
11/19 José and the Pirate Captain Toledano, Arnon Z. Shorr (graphic novel)
12/17 The Woodcarver’s Daughter, Yona Zeldis McDonough
1/21 Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen, Sarah Kapit
2/25 When Lightnin’ Struck, Betsy R. Rosenthal
3/17 The Magical, Mystical, and Miraculous Adventures of Mira and Max, Amy Ariel (Beta Readers!)
4/14 Lily Renée, Escape Artist, Trina Robbins (graphic novel)
5/19 Ellen Outside the Lines, A.J. Sass
JEWce Pops (5784/2023-24)
9/10 Sliding Into the New Year, Dori Weinstein
10/22 All of a Kind Family, Sydney Taylor
11/19 The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey, Steve Sheinkin
12/17 In a Latke Trouble, Dori Weinstein
1/21 When Life Gives You O.J., Erica S. Perl
2/25 Lola Levine Is Not Mean, Monica Brown
3/17 The Magical, Mystical, and Miraculous Adventures of Mira and Max, Amy Ariel (Beta Readers!)
4/14 A Spotlight for Harry: Harry Houdini As a Boy, Eric A Kimmel
5/19 Sami's Sleepaway Summer, Jenny Meyerhoff
Spill the JEWce (5783/2022-23)
Not Your All-American Girl, Wendy Wan-Long Shang & Madelyn Rosenberg
Turtle Boy, M. Evan Wolkenstein
A Place at the Table, Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
The Length of a String, Elissa Brent Weissman
Dave at Night, Gail Carson Levine
José and the Pirate Captain Toledano, Arnon Z. Schorr & Joshua M. Edelglass
Spill the JEWce (5784/2023-24)
9/10/23 Almost Flying, Jake Maia Arlow
10/22 Lily Renée, Escape Artist, Trina Robbins (graphic novel)
11/19 Up, Up, And Oy Vey!, Simcha Weinstein
12/17 My Basmati Bat Mitzvah, by Paula Freedman
1/21 A Ceiling Made of Eggshells, Gail Carson Levine
2/25 The Jake Show, Joshua S. Levy
3/17 The Koren Tanakh Graphic Novel: Esther
4/14 The Entertainer and the Dybbuk, Sid Fleischman
5/19 When the Angels Left the Old Country, Sacha Lamb
and more!
we’ll probably make stuff.
In small online groups and 1:1 I teach Modern Hebrew, Prayerbook Hebrew, and Jewish Studies - all with real connection and community.
maybe you’ll be inspired!
whatever we do, it’s going to be good! It’s me and you! Anything is possible.
“I would tell them that Rabbi Ariel is the best Hebrew teacher.” Evan (he/him) 6th grade
“don’t worry, you will learn hebrew in no time! Rabbi Ariel is the best!” Arianna (she/her) 5th grade
“My friend is Jewish and she wants to learn some hebrew. now I can teach her some of the alphabet. Like, mem is a m.” cassidy 4th grade.
Summer 2022, One of my students did a research project about the israeli sea turtle rescue center. she graciously agreed that i could record her presentation about it, and she approved my edits so I could share it with you here! Didn’t she do a great job?
Little One’s, Too!
“My daughter (age 6) loved her time with Rabbi Ariel! Rabbi Ariel made Hebrew fun and found ways to really connect the language to the things around us. I could see my daughter making real connections between the language and her life and environment. Plus Rabbi Ariel is SO MUCH FUN! My daughter got to play games, do activities, and even have mini dance parties, all while learning new Hebrew words. She even called me "ima" and her father "abba" at the dinner table the other night, which she's never done before. Rabbi Ariel is clearly passionate about teaching and passionate about connecting with her students and it shows! I would highly recommend Rabbi Ariel as a teacher and just a generally fun and lovely person!” Annette L.