GET A HEAD START ON THE SHABBAT HABIT

Shabbat (the Sabbath) – a day of rest, a day for learning, a day for enjoying family and friends. At Congregation Agudath Achim, we celebrate Shabbat every Saturday morning at 9:00 AM.  It’s one of the ways that we’re a “Family of Friends.”

From October to April, we organize the first Shabbat morning each month so that families with young children can enjoy Shabbat age-appropriately.

You and your child are invited to participate in a service full of music, prayers, blessings, and Let’s Discover Israel” – downstairs in the vestry.  You then return upstairs to the main sanctuary for the community Torah service when all our children/students take the lead and are active participants.  You’ll hear these mornings referred to as “Shabbat Rishona” (first Shabbat) or “Mini-Minyan” (a minyan-group of 10 – but for little ones).

You may be an “old hand” at Jewish services or you may have never been in a synagogue before in your life.  You may not be Jewish. That’s OK.  No experience needed.  And, don’t worry about the Hebrew.

The Hebrew we do use will “grow” on you. We make sure to provide translations so that you know what’s being said/sung. There are also transliterations – a way to read in English how the words sound in Hebrew.  You’ll pick it up in no time. Your kids will!!  And so can you.  And, we do have classes for learning Hebrew – for all ages.  Just ask.

Join Rabbi/Cantor Anne Heath and other families with young children for these special monthly Shabbat mornings.  For more information please email Rabbi Heath at jewishtaunton@gmail.com

Click here for more detail about all our Shabbat morning services, as well as how the Mini-Minyan for our younger children is part of larger morning for all ages.

Click here for an overview of all our programming for Young Children.

MORE ABOUT LET’S DISCOVER ISRAEL

We offer young children an exciting and age-appropriate introduction to the Jewish homeland using eight colorful and charming 4-page folders. Lively text and photographs teach core concepts about our biblical and modern ties with Israel, the country’s major cities, and the diversity of Israel’s people and geography.

Students learn Hebrew words such as Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), Shalom (Hello, Goodbye and Peace), and Magen David (Shield of David or Jewish Star). They also gain a basic understanding of core Jewish values, including Ahavat Tzion (Love of Israel), Bal Tashhit (Conservation), and Sh’lom Bayit (Peace in the Home).

• October 3 – Our Homeland: Eretz Yisrael – Our Home Across the Millennia
• November 7 – Northern Israel: Haifa, Sea of Galilee, Carmel, Jezreel Valley and Kibbutzim
• December 5 – Modern Israel: Israeli Flag, Israeli Money, Israeli Map, Ahavat Tzion/Love of Zion
• January 2 – Tel Aviv: Oldest Port – Jaffa, Azrieli Center, Skyscrapers, Hi-Tech and Shopping Malls
• February 6 – Israeli Kids and Israeli Food: Jews, Arabs, Druze, Bedouins and Christians, Diversity, Food Unites Many
• March 5 – Southern Israel: Be’ersheva, Dead Sea, and Eilat
• April 2 – Jerusalem: Old City and New: The Kotel (Western Wall), Dome of the Rock, Churches, Synagogues, Mosques, Knesset, Israel Museum, Menorah, Shalom

The booklets include more than 100 full-color photographs and playful illustrations, as well as an array of creative activities and questions that stimulate critical thinking and help students make meaning of what they learn. For example, students are asked to imagine what it might be like to start a new school and learn a new language as an immigrant in Israel, and they respond to the question, “What might be some differences between the city of Haifa and a farm in the Galilee?”

Family Education:
The “My Family and Me” section at the end of each folder encourages students to share their Israel experience at home.