March 2006

Are the Mishpachah Shabbat and Mishpachah Torah Service just for kids?

Mishpachah Shabbat and Mishpachah Torah services are both Sabbath experiences for the whole congregational family ("Mishpachah" means family). They are not just for kids! These services are "kid-friendly" and involve children as well as adults, but my hope is that they will become vehicles for integrating all ages in worship of God and love of Torah. Sometimes it's a challenge to reach such a diverse group at the same service, but we are constantly trying new ways in which to do so. This month, our Mishpachah service is also "Shabbat Across America," and so we especially encourage people of all ages to attend.

Two years into it. We started the first Friday Mishpachah service at CBI over two years ago to encourage families with children to attend and feel at home in the synagogue. The first Friday night service has been held at 6:00 p.m., followed by a potluck vegetarian dinner. However, this month we will experiment with having dinner first, at 6:00 p.m., followed by the service. One reason to reverse the order is so that our Tot Shabbat families can stay and join us for dinner. This year, we have introduced the "Tot Shabbat" prior to the Mishpachah service at 5:30 p.m. Our Menchkins and their parents enjoy songs, stories, blessings, and grape juice and challah.

The Friday night Mishpachah service includes guitar music, rhythm instruments for the kids (the Rappaports just donated some new ones, so there are plenty!), stories for various age levels, and inviting the kids up on the bimah to help lead the services.

Third Saturday is the family Torah service. The Mishpachah Torah service on the third Saturday of the month was started in order to encourage families to bring their children to a Torah service and share the study of Torah together. The service is slightly shortened, a bit livelier, and usually includes guitar or other instruments. Our B'nai Mitzvah students help to lead, and we are starting to invite our teens to read Torah at the service.

Prior to the Torah service, our "Torah Tots" (Menchkins) join us to hear a story, pick up their stuffed torahs (made by Shirley Hajdu). and then join in the Torah parade. In order to make the service more "adult friendly," instead of another story after the Torah reading we will often have a discussion of the Torah portion in which we split into small discussion groups, including both adults and children.

There are always challenges to be met in order to improve all of our services, including the Mishpachah services. One thing we need to work on is the potluck dinners on the Friday nights and the potluck kiddushes on the Saturdays. If every family will bring a generous dish to share, we can have a delicious meal together in community. If you don't have time to cook, just pick something up, such as bagels and cream cheese, a vegetable or fruit tray, or prepared vegetarian salads from a take-out place.

The Ritual Committee is always helping me evaluate and improve our services, and some of our young families have volunteered to help me come up with new and creative formats for Mishpachah services. Please contact me if you would like to get involved: from the food, to helping create plays or presentations, to reading Torah. Our best programs are a community effort and can be a wonderful way in which to feel that we are all part of the congregational "Mishpachah."