Soul Full Together

Whether you are exploring Soul Full with your family or as part of agroup, each chapter concludes with Soul Full Together, activities designed to build confidence, connection, and community.

FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN SensoryDelight

Help the experience of Shabbat come alive for your children through sight, sound, scent, taste, and touch. Here are some ideas to get started: • Sights: flickering candlelight, abeautifully set table • Sounds: the strike of amatch, the melodies of blessings and songs • Scent: challah in the oven, fresh flowers, Havdalah spices • Taste: sweet grape juice for Kiddush, warm challah, favorite treats • Touch: hands clasped in blessing or prayer, the braids of the Havdalah candle • To explore oneg Shabbat, the joy of Shabbat, with your children is to uncover awonderland for the senses! For more ideas, turn to Year of Growth, the Momentum companion to charting ayearlong journey of learning. The “Try It At Home” section of the Shabbat chapter (pp. 56–59) is packed with ideas for families with children of all ages.

FOR FAMILIES WITH TWEENS AND TEENS ErevShabbatSoundtrack

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke described music as “the language where all language ends.” Sometimes the best way to introduce or elevate something in your life is not with words, but with music. Shabbat is no exception. Consider creating aFriday playlist with your family. Invite your tweens and teens to add songs that speak to them about the transition from workweek into Shabbat. Try to capture the hectic energy of Friday afternoon, the hustle and bustle of returning home from school and work. Then gradually slow down with songs that welcome the joy and restorative rest of Shabbat.

You now have afamily soundtrack to erev Shabbat–the Sabbath Eve–and amusic-centric family ritual to imbue with meaning the time on Friday before sundown.

FOR GROUPS

Each chapter of Soul Full includes personal prayers from women around the world. Create awriting workshop to inspire your participants to create their own. 1. Discuss Themes Encourage your participants to review the chapter before your gathering. When you meet, move through the content together and discuss the main themes that emerge, for example: awareness, delight, restoration, renewal, peace, unconditional love, longing, separation, gratitude, celebration. 2. Why Did You Choose This Theme? Invite your participants to choose the theme that most speaks to them and gather in small groups according to their chosen topic to share their thoughts on the subject with each other. Asimple question (Why did you choose this theme?) is enough to spark these fifteen- to twenty-minute small group conversations. 3. Creative Writing in Groups of Three Time to write! Allow for at least ten minutes for writing afirst draft. Underscore that it’s afirst draft and that you’ll be working in groups that will support each other. Consider preparing aplaylist of music to run in the background to give your participants asoundtrack for their reflection and creativity.

Have each person in the trio pass her work to her friend on her right. And again allow for ten minutes for each person to craft their own version of aprayer on the topic that is now before them, inspired by what they received.

Do this one more time, passing the prayer sheets to the third person, who will see two prayer drafts and craft their own version. Again allow for ten minutes.

Finally, each person receives back their first draft, together with two other drafts. For the last ten minutes, invite each to create afinal draft, drawing upon all three of the versions they are holding, and making the prayer their own.

4. Share and Inspire Invite those who feel comfortable to share their work, regardless of how far along they are in the process–apiece of writing, the progress they’ve made thus far, the inspiration they received from others, the direction they hope to go, or stumbling blocks they’re encountering along the way. 5. Stay Accountable Keep in touch with each other and suggest that participants share their pieces, either on your group chat or at your next gathering. Encourage them to write their own prayer at the end of their book. You can even collect everyone’s prayers and create ablessing book unique to your group.

CELEBRATE THE YEAR

HOLIDAYS AT HOME