Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

Missing the Game: A Story of Samayach B’Chelko (contentment with your lot)
This story is inspired by Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly by Jane O’Connor, because
Jewish values are often found in secular children’s
books.
Once there was a girl named Maddie. One day, her best
friend Eloise invited her to go to a baseball game. The
Cubs were playing, and Maddie loved the Cubs. The
game was on a Sunday in a couple of weeks. Maddie
ran to her dad and jumped up and down. “Can I go?
Can I go?” “Yes,” said her dad, “you can go see the
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Cubs play.” Maddie and Eloise couldn’t wait. They practiced pitching and hitting the
ball, and they dreamed about the peanuts and the kosher hot dogs at Wrigley Field. The
week before the game, Maddie’s mom said, “Next weekend we are going to Philadelphia
for your cousin Brittany’s bat mitzvah.” “Next weekend I’m going to see the Cubs with
Eloise!” said Maddie. “Oh no!” said her mom. “Is that next weekend? I’m sorry, but
we’re all going to Philadelphia.” “No!” yelled Maddie. “It’s not fair!” Maddie stamped
off to her room and slammed the door. Maddie’s mom knocked quietly at the door, and
when Maddie didn’t answer, she walked in. “Maddie, a Cubs game is very special. But
there are many games all summer long. Brittany will only become bat mitzvah once in
her life. And your cousins in Philadelphia are some of your favorite people. Grandma and
grandpa will be there too.”
It was true – Maddie loved her Philadelphia cousins, but she wasn’t ready to stop being
mad. All that week, Maddie moped around the house. She made faces at her sister, and
answered questions only by grunting. She felt miserable. She tried on the dress her
mother bought her for the bat mitzvah. It was beautiful and the skirt twirled all the way
out when she spun around, but it didn’t make her feel any better. On the airplane, her
sister let her have the window seat, but Maddie was still too mad to enjoy the view as the
city got smaller and smaller while they lifted into the sky.
At the hotel, Grandma and Grandpa were just down the hall, and Grandma brought
Maddie a poodle that she had knitted around a little bottle just for her. Maddie smelled
the fancy lotions in the bathroom, and her spirits lifted a little
bit. That night, at Shabbat dinner with the whole family, Maddie
ran and played with her cousins, who she hadn’t seen in a long
time. The next day, Maddie’s family was called up to open the
aron hakodesh at the beginning of the Torah service, and Maddie
got to open the big doors with her sister. When Brittany chanted
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from the Torah, Maddie’s mother leaned over and whispered in Maddie’s ear, “Some day
you can do this too!” and Maddie squirmed with pleasure and anticipation.
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
USCJ Department of Education
Maxine Handelman
Handelman@uscj.org
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