the close of Shabbat with havdalah.” That has changed. Now, the congregation’s “Torah Off the Beaten Path” hikes-with-services end on a mountain summit, where about 30 members— many of whom had never participated in a havdalah service—do havdalah with their families and congregational community as they watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. “Just as on Shabbat we enter into a period of rest,” Rabbi Thal Simonds says, “our havdalah hikes allow us to enter the week with feelings of joy, excitement, and a heightened sense of spirituality.” More recently, the synagogue also instituted Havdalah at Halftime (referring to the halfway point of participants’ lives), an occasional program that pairs the end of the Sabbath with a social opportunity for “parents who don’t get together as much as we used to,” says Rachel Galper (photo #5), co-chair of the temple’s committee dedicated to empty-nesters. About 60 people attended the debut service followed by gourmet food. “As we prayed and a guitar played, people put their arms around each other, and we knew it was a success.” ♦♦♦ Shabbat offers a unique opportunity to mix the social with the sacred. Here are four expert tips on how to uplift the entire community: 1. Make Shabbat substantive. “Create connective, deep Shabbat experiences so Shabbat will promote itself,” says Rabbi Rex D. Perlmeter (photo #6), Rabbi, URJ Congregational Networks, “and avoid overdependence on sensationalistic experiences. Otherwise, the next time you have to ratchet up the achievement to an even more sensational level, and eventually it becomes impossible to top yourself. Instead, keep going deeper.” Cantor Alane S. Katzew, former URJ worship and music specialist, recommends handing out a text and asking members to discuss it with those sitting nearby. “A five-minute mini-study session in the middle of worship helps make human connections while maintaining the holiness of the moment,” she says.
2. Take Shabbat outside the synagogue. There’s no reason we need to confine Shabbat within the synagogue walls, Cantor Katzew says. For example, during the week Parshat Noach is read she recommends visiting a zoo— “a wonderful way to encourage family time and a sacred encounter.” 3. Create a sense of belonging with the little and big things you do. Rabbi Edythe Held Mencher (photo #7), a URJ Faculty Member, says, “We need to find ways for people to feel included and get to know one another. Anything that promotes friendship is essential, from small things such as wearing name tags and asking congregants to serve as greeters, to big things such as organizing monthly Shabbat dinners in people’s homes and speaking from the bimah about the shared concerns that connect people to one another. The same applies to inclusion of people with disabilities, from doing small things such as providing large print prayer books and placing tables at a lower level to facilitate wheelchair access, to bigger things such as discussing their concerns and insights, enlisting them in planning and speaking at services, and addressing any fears congregants may have about people with differences.” 4. Utilize URJ resources. The Communicate! program bank (urj.org/ communicate) is filled with congregational Shabbat programs that have worked elsewhere and can be adapted. The website urj.org/holidays/shabbat features a “Shabbat Idea of the Week” and urj.org/holidays/shabbat/congregation offers a free “Embracing Shabbat” guide for experimentation with Shabbat observance. And be sure to consult with URJ professionals Rabbi Rex D. Perlmeter (rperlmeter@urj.org) and Rabbi Edythe Held Mencher (emencher@urj.org). Here’s wishing you a congregational Shabbat experience full of warmth, community, spirituality, and shalom. —Ryan E. Smith, journalist and member of Temple Ahavat Shalom, Northridge, California reform judaism
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NOTEWORTHY from p. 52 designed to facilitate understanding among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam locally and internationally. The synagogue, slated for completion in 2013, will be the first building in the neighborhood, to be joined by the mosque later that year or in 2014. The church and the TriFaith Center will be completed by 2014 or 2015. To learn more, contact Wendy Goldberg, Temple Israel program director, at 402-556-6536, wgoldberg@ templeisraelomaha.com. Women in U.S. & Israel Celebrate Simultaneous Shabbat: Last February 4, Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) members in Arizona and Israel celebrated the joys of Shabbat and TEMPLE EMANU-EL, TUCSON. Havdalah together through a joint simultaneous Shabbat service led, chanted, and sung by women in both Temple Emanu-El (Tucson) and their “twinning” KEHILLAT EMET Congre- VESHALOM, NAHARIYA. gation Emet Ve Shalom (Nahariya). Because Israel is nine hours ahead of Tucson, Emanu-El’s Saturday morning service was held concurrently with EVS’s Havdalah service. Both communities discussed the Torah portion B’Shalach in which Miriam leads the Israelites’ procession in celebration of their escape from Egypt; the women of Emanu-El re-enacted the procession with vocals, tambourines, and hand drums. The two congregations also exchanged drashim
summer 2012
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