Episode 20: A Quiet Reminder

Welcome to Episode 20 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 soft and quiet that actually says a lot. 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 0:00

Listen closely, clue by clue, solve the mystery. Who are you? Welcome to Mystery Mirror, a Jewish guessing game for kids. I'm sorry from that Jewish moment, and in each episode of Mystery Mirror, you'll 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 are usually grey, black, or white, and you're very light. You can be carried away by the wind. You are soft and powdery, and you are much smaller than you once were. You weren't always like this. And you can make things look very dusty or dirty. If you get on someone's fingers, you might turn them grayish. Do you know what you are yet? Round two. You are what is left after something burns. You're not the fire, but you do remind people that there once was one. You can come from wood, paper, or other things that have burned, and by the time people touch you, you are usually cool. Sometimes people sprinkle or collect you for a special reason. Now, do you have any idea of what you could be? Round three. Sometimes people use you as a symbol of sadness or mourning. And before Tishab, some people dip part of their meal into you as a reminder of that loss. And in some traditional Jewish weddings, there's a custom to place a tiny bit of you on the forehead as a reminder that even in moments of great joy we remember Jerusalem. Now do you know what you are? Are you ready for the reveal? Look in the mirror. You are ashes. Mozletove. Mystery solved. Did you know not everything leaves ashes when it burned? Some materials leave very little, while wood usually leaves quite a bit. And did you know ashes can actually help plants grow? Wood ashes contain certain minerals like calcium and potassium, and sometimes they're even added to soil to help certain plants. Did you know that in many Jewish communities people have a custom before Tish Abba'av of dipping their bread or a hard-boiled egg into ashes? And this takes place during a meal called the Suuda Hamafseket, the final meal before the fast, as a way of remembering the destruction of the Betamagdash, the Holy Temple. Get ready for game time. Let's play rhyme time. I'll say a short poem and I'll leave the last word out for you to fill in. Listen carefully and use rhyme to help you. Here we go. Number one, ashes are tiny and often are grey, they can be carried by the wind far what goes in the blank away. Number two, though the holy temple was destroyed, we still love the building it was Antisha What Goes in the Blank? But of and finally number three. Even when things are broken or gone, we hold on to hope and keep moving what goes in the blank on. And now it's time for your mystery mirror mission. Ashes remind us to remember things that happened before. Draw or write about something important that you never want to forget, and ask a grown-up to send it to Mirror at ThatJewish Moment.com. Thanks for listening. And 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.