Thousands of children worldwide join CKids Mitzvah Meter competition
With 25,000 mitzvahs logged online in the first week, Jewish children from Brazil to Hawaii are getting onboard with the new CKids Mitzvah Meter competition, and the excitement is growing. CKids, the Chabad Children’s Network, launched the “Mitzvah Meter” competition last week in partnership with the legendary Tzivos Hashem program, established in 1980 by the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. In the fall of 1980, the Rebbe called for Jewish children everywhere to join forces in the “Army of Goodness” and make this world a better place one mitzvah at a time. The Mitzvah Meter facilitates doing just that.
During an engaging and entertaining Hebrew-school lesson that was presented via an interactive PowerPoint presentation that included games and activities, students explored the role of Jewish children in creating a better world—one filled with goodness and kindness. After participating in the lesson, students were introduced to the Mitzvah Meter, an online platform where they could spin a wheel and receive a personalized Mitzvah Mission to carry out. Each region and state has their own cumulative total of mitzvahs that they’ve accomplished and the global total of mitzvahs accomplished worldwide is currently nearing 70,000.
In light of the ongoing attacks on Israel, CKids set aside a special subdivision of the Mitzvah Meter campaign encouraging children to add extra mitzvot to their daily regimen as a means to ensure the physical safety of Jews everywhere. “During the Lag BaOmer parade of 1967, a few days before the Six-Day War, the Rebbe called on Jewish children to add in their Torah and Mitzvot observance,” says Rabbi Zalmy Lowenthal, director of CKids.
“The Rebbe emphasized that Jewish children have a unique spiritual ability to ensure the physical safety of Jews in Israel during times of war or conflict.” Meital Meimoun, an 11-year-old Hebrew-school student at Chabad of the Upper West Side pledged to light Shabbat candles on time and hear the reading of the Ten Commandments on Shavuot.
Worldwide Praise from Kids and Parents
From North America to Asia, the Mitzvah Meter program has won praise from kids and parents alike. “Our daughter Jessica came home from Hebrew school extremely enthused and excited about the mitzvah program,” Shana Koffman from Buckhurst Hill, England, told Chabad.org. “She couldn’t wait to get started and immediately logged on to check the Mitzvah Meter. She takes great pleasure checking how the different countries are doing with their mitzvot and loves the fact that other Hebrew-school kids around the world are all involved. We think it’s a great program!”
“The kids are having so much fun with the Mitzvah Meter,” read the message that Mrs. Pearl Krasnjansky, co-director of Chabad of Hawaii, received from Chavah Israel of Honolulu, whose children attend the Daniel Levy Chabad Hebrew School. “Now we are looking for a mezuzah because kissing the mezuzah was the one task we couldn’t complete since we don’t have one here.”
Israel says that for her four children, “The Hebrew school is really our only Jewish network here. The kids have been enjoying learning about mitzvot at school, and they were excited to be able to ‘spin the Mitzvah wheel’ and love racing each other to see who’ll accomplish the mitzvah first.”
“Recently, one of our children asked if we could put up a mezuzah in our house,” adds Israel. “It was exciting for them to watch the rabbi put it up on the doorpost and make the blessing. Now when they enter and leave the house, they make sure to kiss it. I like that through seeing the mezuzah often, my children feel that their Jewish identity has a tangible place in our home.”
Lowenthal says that the feedback he’s received from parents has been overwhelmingly positive. “This year marks 40 years since the Rebbe launched Tzivos Hashem, and thus we saw a unique opportunity to promote the program as part of our popular Hebrew-school curriculum, which has been implemented by about 400 schools across the globe.
“After the lesson, each child received a water bottle with the Mitzvah Meter logo, as well as daily mission booklets, IDs and badge holders to make the ‘army theme’ as lifelike as possible,” he says. “We spent three months working on the curriculum, using the Rebbe’s talks to children as a baseline for our work. We tried to incorporate the special tone with which the Rebbe would speak to children as well as his unique view on children’s important role in changing the world for the better. Daily raffles and an interactive app where children can log their Mitzvah Missions make for an engaging program for all those involved.”
“It’s really cool that my kids can watch as the numbers go up,” says Israel. “It’s exciting for them to see how they’re impacting the world on a global scale.”
Children everywhere are invited to get involved in the Mitzvah Meter competition. Visit mitzvahmeter.com to receive your first mission! Make sure to log your achievement under your state or regional area. To sign up your child for Tzivos Hashem, visit ckids.net/th.
