The Bethlehem Star

The Bethlehem Star
Pg. XXXV
Fun Things to Do
with All That Snow!
By our Children’s Writer, Rebecca Smallchilds
Whoooaaa! Have you been outside? Are you seein’
through your window what I’m seein’ through my window?
Have you looked at all that gorgeous white stuff? What a
treat! It hasn’t been this cold around here, though, since ol’
Herod had his poor wife Mariam put down. Brrrr!
But did you know that there’s a whole lot of cool
stuff you can do with that snow? I know, I know, we don’t
see all that much of it, so we at The Star thought you might
enjoy a few tips on what you can get out there and do with it
all.
Believe it or not, some kids actually roll snow up
into super-large “snowballs,” pile one on top of the
other, III-high, and then make sort of a face on the top ball
by pressing dark stones into it to look like two eyes. Is that
clever, ...or what? We actually saw one group of kids who
had stuck a carrot right in the middle and it looked just like
a nose— a Roman nose, to be sure, but a nose nonetheless.
How about branches for arms? Worth a try! Be careful,
though. One group of Rabbinical school students tried to set
the “snowman” on tree stumps for legs, but we don't
encourage that. When the sun came out and it started
melting, it looked like it was going to the bathroom.
Everyone got embarrassed and the principal made them take
it down the next day.
If you’ve got a good grip, we found you can
squeeze a handful of snow into a real tight, solid ball,
perfect for anyone’s sling. Then you can chase crows away
with them. However, here again, be cautious. We heard of a
young visitor from Athens, Zeke “the Greek”
Kanthrorockus, who had never seen snow before. So he
made about thirty little “rock pellets” out of snow and
shoved them into his cloak pocket to go hunting for rabbits.
To his surprise, seems like his body heat melted them,
got his leg all wet, and turns out he nearly lost the leg
to what some healers now call frostbite by the time he
got himself home to the fireplace.
Live and learn, I guess.
A class of XIV students made a scale model
of Herod’s Temple out of snow last week too, but
then they wouldn't let anybody see it without paying
II shekels. Hmmph.
In the middle of the night, then, police
believe it was rival students who ran an oxcart right
through the Holy of Holies, so the whole thing was
pretty much ruined. Go figure.
If you get a chance, head out to Bethany,
though. They’ve started a “snow sculpture” contest
over there. People are going nuts carving lions,
hippos, even images of Samson and Delilah—graven
images, to be sure—so
they’re going to pay for
that one. But we Jews are
certainly welcome to
look at the other stuff.
One man created
an entire chariot with
four white (obviously) A graven image?
horses. Looked great, I
hear, at least until
Really?
someone actually tried to
drive it away. Snow
novices, you ask me.
Enjoy it out
there!