From the "Super Simple Songs" collection, "I Am Sorry" lets young children respond to each question, such as "What if you hurt your best friend's feelings? Now what should you do?" with "I am sorry. Please forgive me." The lyrics continue, "That's the thing to do." The final verse of five asks, "What should WE say on Yom Kippur when to God we pray?" The response changes to "WE are sorry. Please forgive us. That's what we should say." This song is not the same as "I'm Sorry" from "Gan Shirim."

This sweet little 6-measure song, from the "Super Simple Songs" collection, reminds young children that they're not too young to do a mitzvah and talks about a mitzvah and also mitzvot. Lyrics are "Mitzvah, mitzvah, I can do a mitzvah. Doing what God wants me to, helping others--you can, too! Let's do mitzvot, mitzvot all week through." It's short enough that a class could sing it before each student tells about a mitzvah they did.

This song teaches the Hebrew word for various family members--ima (mother), abba (father), ach (brother), achot (sister), sabba (grandfather), safta (grandmother), tinok (baby), kelev (dog), and chatul (cat), and does so with humor. Plus the refrain acknowledges that "Families can be big or small. Some are short and some are tall. Although they are different as you and me, we are each loved by our family." So this song works as well for a 2-person family as for a much larger family. I hand out a laminated card with one of the family members to my students, who love to come up front and join the line as we sing about the member pictured on their card. Sheet music download includes free separate songsheet. Published in "Gan Shirim."

Written to be sung for or by an adult bar or bat mitzvah, "I Stand Before You" acknowledges that "The years have gone by, my God, and yet on this day I am but your child." The refrain's lyrics are "Baruch shenatan Torah l'amo Yisraeil bikdushato." Published in "Jewish Life Cycle."

This fun Tu B'shevat song has a Broadway vibe (think Charlie Brown) and puts a smile on everyone's face. The lyrics say that I want to be a tree on Tu B'shevat because then everyone would be celebrating me on the holiday, as most children want to be the center of attention and would love to have a second birthday each year! Be sure to watch the video on the Children's Music Videos page. Published in "Gan Shirim."

Channel your inner Elvis for this one! Fun and educational, "I'm All Shook Up" teaches the order of shaking the lulav. The lulav is doing the talking in the lyrics. A friend wrote lyrics for a second verse (not shown on the sheet music) that goes like this: "I'm an etrog, ooh, I smell so sweet, and without me, Sukkot's incomplete. With a lulav, we're a pair that can't be beat. We like it when we're all shook up!" I sing this while families are shaking the lulav and etrog. Published in "Gan Shirim."

This song, sung at children's Yom Kippur services (and in classrooms), can be presented as an echo song two measures at a time. I've been told it captures the essence of the holiday. Published in "Gan Shirim," this is one of the songs featured in the High Holy Days song video on the Children's Music Videos page. Please note that this song is different from the similarly named "I Am Sorry."

"In God's Image," with its catchy Calypso rhythm, is designed to be sung by those in elementary school and listened to by preschoolers. The song answers the question of how we can be made in the image of a being whose appearance we don't know: "I don't know how God looks, but I know that I can be like God if I try." The song also explains that there's a bit of God in us all. From the "Super Simple Songs" collection.

I wrote this one for my own adult bat mitzvah, as the Torah portion was B'reishit. It's designed for adults or older children. Its seven verses describe the story of the seven days of creation.

This one's for very young children. You sing "In the sukkah, what do you see?" Let one respond--for instance, they'll say, "an apple." Then it's up to you to sing "Let's point to the apple, red as can be." If you're stuck for a rhyming word, simply sing, "We all point to the apple; that's what we see."

Although Jews live in some 135 countries, those who live outside of Israel consider Israel our "home away from home." That's the message of "Israel Lives in Every Jewish Heart," which is published in "Gan Shirim" but also was recorded by Steve Brodsky for the "Shalom Israel" CD (https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lives-Every-Jewish-Heart/dp/B0028HBJK8). Perfect for Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrations. Watch the video on the Children's Music Video page.