Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

Bringing Shabbat into the Early Childhood Classroom
Of all the rituals that take place in the early childhood classroom, the celebration of
Shabbat is the most consistently celebrated. Each week, children watch as the candles are
lit, and they quickly learn the brachot for candles, grape juice and challah. To ensure that
the children and their families experience Shabbat as exciting and spiritually rich, full of
joy and delight, and consistent from year to year, takes planning. There are many factors
to be considered.
Content: The entire day should reflect the spirit of Shabbat. Torah study, special games,
and songs all can enhance the beauty of Shabbat in the classroom. Many schools have a
Shabbat abba or ima – children or invited parents who lead the class in the Shabbat
brachot. Try inviting another class to join in – that is a wonderful way for children to
understand the value of hachnasat orchim, welcoming visitors. Also, use class time to
show the children how different Shabbat is from the rest of the week. Perhaps there are
special games that only come out on Friday, or regular activities that are closed on
Fridays (such as messy art). If tefillot are not done on a daily basis in the school, have a
tefillah circle on Friday. If you do tefillot every day, add prayers for Shabbat to make
Friday’s tefillot extra special.
We begin the Shabbat rituals by giving tzedakah (charity).
Lighting Shabbat Candles
Lighting candles on Friday as evening approaches marks the beginning of Shabbat.
Tradition teaches us that we are partners with God. Candle lighting is a sacred deed that
allows us symbolically to participate in the act of creation: “Let there be light.”
Traditionally, we light two candles, representing the two times that the fourth
Commandment is cited in the Torah: “Remember – Zachor” (Exodus 20:8) and
“Observe – Shamor” (Deuteronomy 5:12) the Sabbath day.
Shabbat candles serve at least two purposes: they provide shalom ba’yit (harmony in the
home), as they give light, flickering and dancing throughout the Friday night meal, and
provide oneg Shabbat (the joy of Shabbat) as they symbolize the light and gladness that
Shabbat gives us. In order to fulfill both purposes, we light the candles close to where we
will have Shabbat dinner.
The order in which we light candles and say the brachah at the beginning of Shabbat is
unusual. Normally we say a brachah immediately before we do a mitzvah (fulfill a
commandment), and the mitzvah follows without interruption. Since Shabbat starts once
we say the brachah, we cannot light the candles after we say it – we cannot light candles
on Shabbat. We solve this problem by performing the mitzvah in this order:
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
USCJ Department of Education
Maxine Handelman
Handelman@uscj.org
104