Give up? The connection is strictly circumstantial, really.

As we continue our preparations for our upcoming New York vacation, we’re trying to come up with a good process for Videoblogging on the go. Since we don’t yet have the new iPhone 3GS hardware, we have to rely on our existing tools (DV cameras, laptop, Windows Movie Maker, and a YouTube account).

So, in devising and testing a Videoblogging process we can use while in NY, I grabbed the nearest DV tape and started to process the first “feature” I could find. Happily, the tape started with Yisroel Shem Tov’s Chagigas Chumash. This event took place almost a month ago (June 15, 2009), and was the closing event in Shem Tov’s first grade school year.

So what’s a Chagigas Chumash?

This is a graduation of sorts, in which students celebrate their first year of formal Torah Learning (bible study), and are issued their very first “official” biblical volume. The word Chagigas, is Hebrew for “party of” (the word Chagiga means “party”). The word Chumash comes from the Hebrew word Chamesh, meaning “five”, and represents the Five Books of Moses. Interchangeably, it can also refer to any one of the Five Books of Moses. So, a Chagigas Chumash is the a party event celebrating the official beginning of a child’s biblical learning.

At the end of the typical Chagigas Chumash, the children receive their own copy of the Chumash of Bereishis (the “Book of Genesis”). Shortly after the end of Shem Tov’s Chagigas Chumash, we started to prepare him for his first trip to NY. There’s another connection for ya!

The videos on this page are actually two versions of the same movie – One long(ish) and one short. Or at least, shorter.

What do you think? Yes, we know Shem Tov is as cute as always (even when he’s fighting allergies). Still, your comments about the event are welcome! And your comments about my neophyte video skills are also welcome (I need all the advice I can get in this area, but be gentle, please).