How do you do Shabbat?
Keeping Connected February 2022
What rituals and traditions did you do growing up? What rituals and traditions are you creating with your own family?
Do you want to start a new Shabbat tradition? How about having Shabbat Dinner at temple with your family and friends? It is a great way to welcome Shabbat – someone else cooks and cleans, you get to eat a good meal and you and your family get to be surrounded by your temple community!
This year we have been piloting a new way of offering Shabbat Dinners. The once-a-month meal is now open to any school families, free of charge! On a Shabbat Dinner Friday, you enter the temple at 6:00pm to the glorious smells of a home-cooked/temple-cooked meal of pasta, sauce, meatballs, salad and challah. The meal is served buffet style so you can decide exactly what you want to eat. After Shabbat Blessings, everyone enjoys a good meal and great company. A wonderful way to end the week and an even better way to begin Shabbat!
Notices go out each month close to the date of the dinner. All you need to do is RSVP with the number of people who will be attending and then show up for the Shabbat meal. People have been reaching out to their classmates and temple friends and have been making it a fun time with friends and family.
The Shabbat Dinner is followed by a beautiful Family Shabbat Service, filled with music, prayer, ruach and joy. Attending services is a meaningful experience for the students. It allows them to understand the meaning and importance of the Hebrew they are learning during the week, allows everyone the opportunity to join together in prayer and music and helps strengthen everyone’s connection to Judaism. It is an important piece of your child’s education.
The schedule for upcoming Shabbat Dinners (at 6pm) is as follows: February 3, March 3, April 14, May 5
I hope to see you at Shabbat Dinners!
Tzedakah Update: Our tzedakah project is moving along this year. Check out how the weaving on the loom in the lobby is getting larger.
On Sunday, February 5 and Wednesday, February 8, we will be holding a Friendship Bracelet Fundraiser, selling friendship bracelets made by Mayan Hands artists. (Our collected tzedakah money is being donated to Mayan Hands this year.) All money earned from the bracelet sale will be added to our tzedakah collection for this year. Friendship Bracelets will be sold for $5 each.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments or concerns.
Thank you, Deborah
February
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Hebrew School
Chai School
Friday, February 3 – Family Shabbat
Dinner at 6pm
Shabbat Service at 7pm
Sunday, February 5
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Preschool
K-7th
Wednesday, February 9
Hebrew School
Chai School
Sunday, February 12
K-7th
Monday, February 13
Post Confirmation at the temple
Wednesday, February 15
Hebrew School
Chai School
Sunday, February 19 – NO SCHOOL – Massachusetts February Vacation
Wednesday, February 22 – NO SCHOOL – Massachusetts February Vacation
Sunday, February 26 – NO SCHOOL – Massachusetts February Vacation