ShekalimYou open your mailbox and see it there waiting for you . . . a paycheck!  It doesn’t matter whether you count in it shekels or dollars, euros or pounds, it’s an awesome feeling (especially if you weren’t quite sure when it was going to arrive).  As we accompany Eran to the bank to deposit his Abacuspaycheck, we will learn some very important Hebrew words related to money and banking.


In addition, we’ll learn a little bit about Israel’s banking system and her currency--the New Israeli Shekel (or Shekel Chadash).  Like so much in Israel, the shekel represents a blend of the very modern and the very ancient.  It has been the currency of the modern State of Israel since 1980, but its first known usage dates all the way back to around 3000 BCE!

And even if we don’t need to know how to count into the millions to keep track of our bank accounts just yet, we are optimistic that someday we will.  So let’s learn how to do that . . . in Hebrew!