2007 - United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

service on a rotational basis every week of the year, including summer months and the holidays. The service attracts
between 25 and 30 participants on a typical Shabbat; however we have had as many as 60 in the service. Mini-Minyan
was introduced in 2000 to serve the needs of children in grades K-2. Almost 60% of the children who participate in
Mini-Minyan have moved up from the Tot Shabbat Program, and once they move up typically their parents also move
up as leaders.
One of the most successful parts of the children’s services at Beth Shalom is the friendships that have
developed and grown over the years. Many non-members attend the Tot Shabbat services which are open to everyone.
Some current members will tell you that they came to Tot Shabbat even before they joined Beth Shalom, and it was in
fact their primary reason for joining the synagogue. Families who first met in Tot Shabbat have become active
synagogue participants, and many of these volunteers have become active leaders in the synagogue. New programs,
such as Mommy and Me and the Family Field Trip Group also have emerged from the children’s service program.
Day School Integration Initiative
As the number of children enrolled in Jewish day schools continues to rise, there is a growing concern that these
students have no connection to their synagogue communities. Including these children in the synagogue community is a
shared concern of day school families and Congregation Beth Shalom. Once the day school population at Beth Shalom
exceeded that of the religious school, a Day School Committee was created. The committee has formulated ideas to not
only include the day school students, but that focus on bringing day school and religious school families together as a
community. It was suggested that both groups work together on mitzvah projects that can reduce any competition that
may exist between the two groups, while benefiting those in need.
The Family Mitzvah Cub was proposed at the first Day School Open House as a way to bring families
together. The group has baked honey cakes for residents of a senior center, learned about composting and the value of
Ba ‘al Tashchit (not destroying the earth), hosted a family Havdallah Talent Show, and is scheduled to host a synagogue
Family Mitzvah Day next month. There has been a noticeable change in the outlook of the congregation, and many day
school families have express their appreciation for these and other new programs aimed at including our day school
children. It is recognized that this will be a gradual process that will only be truly successful when day school and
religious school families can begin to think of themselves as one synagogue community.
SILVER
PLAINVIEW JEWISH CENTER
500-900 Plainview, NY
Submitted by Rachel Ginsburg 516-938-5865
Students from 4 th and 5th grades participated eight times per year on Sundays, for two hours, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00
ã.m., to study Jewish History with one of their parents. The first hour was designed to research the historical era that we
were dealing with. We divided the parents and children into four groups and each group was asked to write a
presentation on an historical personality that was assigned to them. We provided them with the reading material,
computers for research, and a questionnaire that guided them in collecting the specific information (see attached sheets
for the lesson plans). The second hour was a craft project that the children and parents did, together, as a reinforcement
of what had been taught during the previous hour.
At the end of the year, we had a live Jewish History museum where all the craft projects were displayed. Some
of the children and their parents wore costumes of the personalities they wrote about. It was like a live wax museum.
When you touched the personality on its arm, he or she gave you a short presentation about the personality.
Goals were:
I. To bring parents and children together to learn Jewish subjects as equal partners (because all material is in
English and was not taught previously to the children or their parents.
II. To use hands-on techniques as part of the teaching tools. (Doing crafts)
III. By participating in this activity, we are reinforcing the materials that had already been taught in the classroom,
for achieving better integration. The museum event helped, one more
time, to integrate the material that was taught all through the year.
Justification: