ToTally Taking Hold

It’s not just a Hebrew School...
It’s a ToTal Experience!

A very short time ago, we reported in the Afikim Newsletter: Winter 2005 issue, “The ToTal Network now numbers 30 schools and growing.” That “growing” should have had a capital “G” because as it now stands, we’ll have 70 on board for the school year starting in September!

Among the successful recent ToTal initiatives was our Purim Treats for Troops, a program that brought the meaning of Purim to hundreds of our Hebrew School children as they prepared Mishloach Manot for the Jewish soldiers serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and North Korea. Along with the Mishloach Manot treats, the packages included letters of support and warm wishes, an ArtScroll Megillah, and even disposable cameras! The letters of thanks from the soldiers were quite moving.

Here’s a sampling of some special notes we received:

“Dear Devora:
Thank you so very much for considering me for the Purim Treats for Troops. I just got the package today and can hardly wait to dig into the goodies and read the letters. Getting Kosher things to eat out here in Iraq is quite a challenge much of the time. I have a question for you. I have a desire to learn to read, write and speak basic modern Hebrew. Is there something that you can help me with? I hope to hear from you soon.
Respectfully,
Gunnery Sergeant Nicholas, G. United States Marine Corps.
P.S I would also like to learn to read from Torah in Hebrew, out loud.”

A Chaplain stationed in Iraq wrote to us:

“ Dear Rabbi Karmel, Adam, Brandon, Dalia, Michelle, Shelby, Joshua, and many more of you who put together and sent the enormous number of generous packages to us for Purim: I am the only Rabbi in Iraq and I want to personally thank all of you. I shared the items with the Jewish people here, sent some items to Jews in other remote locations, and shared the food with members of my battalion. I am the chaplain for an Apache Helicopter unit. We are in the middle of an 18 month tour. Aside from the packages, what makes us feel good are the many letters with loving and caring sentiments. We hang them in our offices.
A happy Purim, a meaningful Pesach, and blessings from Iraq......
Chanoch.”

One of the services which we provide to our ToTal Talmud Torah network along with the curriculum and advertising, are beautiful full colored posters on various chagim and significant Jewish dates. These informative posters are offered to the general public as well.

In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, The Afikim Foundation produced a poster called “ToTally Ours”. This informational piece was all about Jerusalem, its history and reclamation in 1967. The response was overwhelming. We are still getting requests for this poster, even months later.

“Thanks for sending me such cool stuff.
The poster you sent me for Pesach
was awesome. My kids loved it!”
- Leawood, KansasHere is some feedback from this project:

A US Army Veteran from Cyril, Oklahoma wrote:
“ I appreciate this project. I was on duty in a USAF Command Center when the Six Day War broke out. I was part of the team to air lift US personnel out of Israel. Our best intelligence said Israel could not win. But I reminded them this is the same people that marched around Jericho. The same G-d who led David against Goliath and Gideon against the Mididanites. As I counted the personnel and armament they were very close to the same odds against Gideon. So Yom Yerushalayim is a very special day to me. Shalom!”

“ The Passover poster was great. We used it during our second seder. It may have been intended for children but our adult children and their wives gave it rave reviews. Thank you.”
Annandale, Virginia

“ Thank you for such a treasured offer to share.”
Melbourne, Florida

Thank you very much. I will hang this with pride!
Smithburg, Maryland

ToTally Free
We recently offered a ToTally Free Passover poster; describing yetzias mitzrayim, a step-by-step guide to the Pesach seder, and fun things to do with the children. Faculty, students and their families as well as prospective students and their families used this for study – and even hung up in their homes

Here are some notes we received from people who received the Passover Poster. You can easily see how we have touched people’s lives in such remote areas of the United States.

“ Thank you. Any link - however small - is important to me. I am disabled with no nearby Jewish community and things like this keep my heart connected and content.”
Plainwell, Mississippi

“ Thank you. This means very much to me and my family.”
Lawton, Oklahoma

“ I teach at a day school so I’m looking forward to receiving it and possibly using it for classroom material!
St. Louis, Missouri

The ToTal Network now includes schools in Atlantic Beach, NY, Bensalem, PA, Boynton Beach, FL, Columbus, OH, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jacksonville, FL, Princeton, NJ, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA and Yardley, PA.

In addition to our locations in North America, outreach programs across the world are turning to ToTal for assistance in their programming and curriculum, in places as far away as Brazil and Guam.

For more information on a ToTal site in your area, go to
www.totally.org/locations.

Hebrew Reading
Made Fun & Easy

ToTal has joined with the National Jewish Outreach Program (NJOP) to produce the most popular Hebrew reading program for children in the country. With an innovative, kid-friendly approach to learning Hebrew, this program is sure to revolutionize the way children will learn and read the Hebrew language.

Our innovative Bible (Chumash) curriculum is now being used all across the country. Based on the portion of the week, it includes an
overview of the parshah, stories with a message, arts and crafts activities, as well as a “Table Talk” component which are sent home to parents to discuss with their child at the Shabbat table, thus creating a family learning experience.