Lesson Plan

Create your own Shana Tova card!

Have you ever received a Shana Tova card for the Jewish New Year? Nowadays it is less common to send cards in the mail, people usually greet their friends and family with text messages and emails. But not so long ago it was customary to send cards to friends and family for Rosh Hashanah. These cards were often decorated with designs and pictures portraying the festivals of the month of Tishrei or other Jewish motifs. Sometimes, however, the cards showed completely different designs. Let's explore some Shana Tova cards and then create our own!

We will use this worksheet to explore Shana Tova cards and examine them in detail, as preparation for designing our own.

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Age group:

Time:

Group Activity

Discussion Questions

Creative Activity

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Lesson Plan

Group Activity

We will use this worksheet to explore Shana Tova cards and examine them in detail, as preparation for designing our own.

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Discussion Questions

What is special about the design? What interesting details and symbols do you notice?
What can you learn from the card about Jews of that time or place?
What questions come to mind from examining the card? How can you find the answers?
What would you include in a Shana Tova card? What symbols, design, and content would you incorporate? Why?
To whom would you like to send a Shana Tova card?

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Creative Activity

Plan a card of your own. Think about the illustrations and the texts you would like to include in the card. Then create a card with art materials or on the computer.

Share your card with friends and family!

Create an exhibit with all of the Shana Tova cards created by the group.

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