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June 15, 2001/Sivan 24, 5761, Vol. 53, No.37
New magazine targets Jewish kids
JULIE WIENER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
A profile of Hallie Kate Eisenberg, better known as the Pepsi girl, might not seem like an obvious choice for a magazine about Jewish values. But Eisenberg, an 8-year-old actress famous for her mop of brown curls and the commercials in which she lip-syncs the voices of cowboys and gospel singers, will be one of the features in the debut issue of BabagaNewz.
A colorful educational magazine loosely modeled on secular publications like Weekly Reader and Highlights, BabagaNewz will be distributed this fall to fourth- through seventh-graders in Jewish day schools and Hebrew schools throughout the United States.
The magazine, which aims to teach Jewish values, will use current events and pop cultural icons such as Eisenberg and the upcoming Harry Potter movie as springboards for discussion. The article on Eisenberg, for example, will include suggestions for how kids, as an act of chesed (lovingkindness) can create a drama troupe that performs in nursing homes.
Each issue will focus on a particular Jewish value tied to the Jewish holidays of the month. The debut issue - which appears shortly before the High Holidays - will focus on "new beginnings," dealing with everything from starting a new school year to the concept of teshuva (repentance). An interview with Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter, will be followed by discussion comparing an actor's preparation for a new role with a Jew's preparations for repentance before the High Holidays.
Future issues will take on such values as peace in the home, caring for the environment, truth, responsibility, and protecting one's health.
A test issue sampled in 37 schools last year used the story of Elian Gonzalez as a launching point for discussions on Jewish approaches to resolving custody disputes, an article on the Jewish community in Cuba and an interview with Spencer Eig, the Jewish lawyer who argued on behalf of Gonzalez's Florida relatives.
"My biggest hope and goal for the magazine is that it will provide an entertaining venue for the kids, that they'll enjoy reading - something that's lively, colorful and a good read," said Mark Levine, BabagaNewz's editor. "At the same time, we'll be providing good hooks for them to introduce Jewish text materials and show them that every dimension of their lives can be viewed through a Jewish lens."
BabagaNewz's creators hope that the magazine also will serve as a model for Jewish unity by catering to a diversity of Jewish kids, ranging from centrist Orthodox to Reform and Reconstructionist. The idea is that by focusing on values, rather than practices, BabagaNewz will be able to avoid theological rifts.
"What's great about Jewish values is they don't have a denomination," said Yossi Abramowitz, editor, publisher and founder of Jewish Family and Life, the nonprofit Jewish media company behind BabagaNewz.
"Kids are kids," said Rabbi Heshy Glass, principal of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, an Orthodox school in Long Island, N.Y., that tested BabagaNewz last year. "You want to have the material - current events from Israel, things that relate to the holidays, how to connect with other Jewish children. These are all good values that are nondenominational, just Jewish."
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