"Well," his father
said, "this year your
mother and I thought
that a tree would be
just the thing. There
are no wheels to
come off, no
batteries to die, no
switch to break."

"A tree? For my birthday?"

Charlie took his tree outside and dug a hole. Then
he filled the hole with dirt and watered it. "So far
you're not much fun," Charlie said.

So Charlie took his hose and watered his tree. .

"A ladder? For my birthday?"
"You'll need it when you pick the cherries on your
tree this summer."

obligations, noch lunch after
attending morning church. Then, if
it were zumer, we would get
together and sit under the tree.
There we were surrounded by green
grass and the loveliness of the
blumen. The big, beautiful boym
provided precious cool shade. It
always remained a vunder to me
that I could step from the heat of
the day into the cool of the shade.
We would sit in this haven and I
thought that heaven must be like
this. There are many reasons why
trees are an important tayl of our
lives but this is the reason that I
love them.

thoroughly.

At last there were cherries — big and red. "We can
pick them now," Charlie said.

Vocabulary

hob gevoynt
zeit
gahs
andere
dires
zayer
lahnd
vaksn
etleche
hoyfn
farnumin
ferd
mentshin
kimaht

lived (resided)
side
street
other
dwellings
very
land
grow
few
backyards
occupied, busy
horses
people
almost

dor
mazel
shochin
Paylishe
hoyz
grinz
mishpoche
hot gearbet
hob farblibn
oyb
ganef
zuntog
ophitn
frei
noch
zumer

The next year on his birthday, Charlie found a
present on his bed.
"A basketball! Or maybe a football helmet!"

His friends said, "Hurray for Charlie."
Charlie said, "Hurray for my tree."

generation
good fortune
neighbors
Polish
house
vegetables
family
worked
remained
if
thief
Sunday
take care of
free
after
summer

blumen
boym
vunder
tayl

flowers
tree
wonder
part

Family Activity

Plant a tree in your yard or in
Israel in honor of Tu B'Shevat or a
friend.

Recommended
Reading

The Jewish Festivals, by H.
Schauss; Holiday Programs for

Children, Workmen's Circle.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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