Episode 18: Branching Out

Welcome to Episode 18 of "Mystery Mirror: A Jewish Guessing Game for Kids" with Sari Kopitnikoff from That Jewish Moment.

In each episode of Mystery Mirror, you’ll become a mystery person, place, or thing from the Jewish world. This week, you’ll become something beautiful and holy. Can you figure out what you are before the big reveal?

In three fun rounds of clues (from tricky, to getting closer, to almost there), you’ll guess who or what you’ve become. Will you get it before the mirror reveals the answer?

Sign up for updates and coloring pages for each episode here: https://www.thatjewishmoment.com/podcast

Please send in your feedback, ideas, as well as your Mystery Mirror Mission responses to mirror@thatjewishmoment.com! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Listen closely, clue by clue, solve the mystery. Who are you? Welcome to Mystery Mirror, a Jewish guessing game for kids. I'm Suri from that Jewish moment, and in each episode of Mystery Mirror, you will become a mystery person, place, or thing from the Jewish world. I'll give you clues in three rounds. Round one, tricky clues, round two, getting closer, and round three, almost there. Your mission is to guess who or what you are before the big reveal at the end. Are you ready to look in the mystery mirror? Alright detectives, let's begin. Round one, you are a thing. You were made from just one piece of material. You were made long ago and were kept in a very special place. You were used every day, and you brought a lot of light. Do you know what you are yet? Round two. You were made of pure gold. You stood inside the Beithamidash, the holy temple, and since then you have become a famous symbol of Judaism. You were lit again and again every single day. Now do you have any idea of what you could be? Round three. You have seven branches. There's another similar object used on a Jewish holiday that has nine branches, but that's not you. Your center branch is taller than the others. Pure olive oil was used to light you, and you stood inside the Hechal, the main area of the Beitamagdash, the Holy Temple. The Torah describes your exact design in the Parsha or the Torah portion of Chiruma with great detail. And you were one of the holiest and most meaningful objects in the Beitamagdash. Now do you know what you are? Are you ready for the reveal? Look in the mirror. You are the menorah, Mazlotov, mystery solved. Did you know the menorah was made from a solid piece of gold and it was used in the Mishkan, a temporary holy place in the desert, and then later on in the Beit Magdash, the holy temple in Jerusalem. And Moshe, or Moses, wasn't sure how to build it until he was shown a fiery model of it. The menorah's cups were shaped like almond blossoms with decorative flowers, and some of our sages say the menorah's branches were curved, and others say that they were straight. The menorah had to be cleaned and prepared every single day before it was lit, and there are pictures of the menorah on ancient Jewish coins from the Second Temple period. The menorah was lit every afternoon, it would burn through the night. And after the second Betamagdash was destroyed, the menorah was taken by the Romans. And there's even a famous image of the menorah being carried in Rome. And now get ready for game time. Let's see how well you were paying attention. And let's play true or false. I'll say a statement, and you tell me if it's true or false. The menorah had nine branches. That one is false. It had seven. It was made from wood covered in gold. That one is false. The menorah was pure gold. The design of the menorah is described in the Torah. That one is true. The menorah had flowers and almond shaped decorations built into its design. That one's true. The menorah was used only on Shabbat. That one is false. The menorah is still standing in Jerusalem today. That one is false. After the destruction of the Beta Magdash, the menorah was taken to Rome. That one is true. We are now in a time period called the Three Weeks, and that is a sad part of the Jewish calendar when we remember and we mourn the destruction of the Beta Magdash, the Holy Temple. But even in times that feel sad, we try to bring more light into the world. So here is your mystery mirror mission. What is one way you can bring more light into the world this week? Write about it or draw a picture and ask a grown up to send it to mirror at that Jewish Moment dot com. Thanks for listening. If you color in the coloring page, please send a picture. I'd love to see how yours comes out. Until next time. Keep your minds sharp, detectives.