Text Box: As you stroll through the halls of Bruriah, you are guaranteed to find posters with the emblem “WW” sketched on them hung on the walls. “WW” is an acronym for “word watch”, a popular phrase in our school that was coined last year by Mrs. Feder, Bruriah’s very own celebrity, in order to launch a campaign against speaking lashon hara. As the laws of lashon hara are technical and complex, Mrs. Feder introduces new halachot and reminders about lashon hara on a weekly basis. On Monday Mrs. Feder cautioned us not to share any lashon hara via text messaging for sometimes we forget that spoken lashon hara is just as bad as lashon hara that is merely written. Aside from these reminders there is a “kabala of the month”. This month’s kabala is not to stereotype, not to make generalizations about entire communities or groups of people. Members of the “word watch” committee share their lashon-hara-prevention suggestions and personal experiences in dealing with the issue of lashon hara. Mrs. Feder, Aliza Starashefksky, and Sarit Lautman are the stars of the illustrious, amusing, and enlightening “word watch” skits in which they play the parts of young girls who gossip and then instantly advise each other not to speak lashon hara. “Did you hear what happ…?” says Aliza as she is cut off mid-sentence by another actress who warns “word watch!” Students have even bought promotional “word watch” merchandise, such as sweatshirts and bracelets, in order to spread the word about “word watch” (no pun intended) and having a frequent reminder not to engage in lashon hara. When Mrs. Feder founded “word watch” she envisioned a world wide revolution against lashon hara. As we have already been successful in spreading “word watch” to other communities, states, and even countries, especially during our summer vacation, it seems that this dream may not be too far off.

Jewish Educational Center

The Revolution                          by Kayla Rosenblatt

Volume 1 Issue 1 10/25/07

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Text Box: Tehillim Names פיגה בת חנה קאלה ליבה חיה בת מלכה אסתר

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