Timely Program Ideas

Timely Program Ideas
Department of Congregational Programming
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
155 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10010
212-533-7800 ext 2620

TPI 4: Autumn - The High Holidays and Beyond

Planning for the Holidays

Autumn is perhaps the busiest time in the synagogue year: one holiday follows the next in quick succession, congregants return from their summer vacations, and the new school year begins. It is a time when synagogue professionals and lay leaders feel swamped, with little time for programming beyond the required activities. Yet, it is also a period with many programming opportunities. The rituals of the holiday season are so interesting and colorful, that this is an ideal time to inspire and educate members of our synagogues.

This issue of Timely Program Ideas will focus on the planning and implementation of programs for the High Holiday season.

Selihot

Selihot are the penitential prayers recited by Jews during the period approaching Rosh Hashanah. Ashkenazic Jews recite them at midnight on Saturday night at the conclusion of the Shabbat preceding Rosh Hashanah. (If Rosh Hashanah falls before Wednesday Selihot is pushed back to the previous week.) Sefardic Jews recite the Selihot prayers throughout the entire month of Elul.

Among the Ashkenazim, however, the term Selihot has come to refer specifically to the special Saturday evening service when they are first recited.

Since the Selihot service traditionally begins at midnight many congregations use the earlier part of the evening for special programs. This year, focus on the shortcomings of the Jewish community as a whole, as we fail to confront our responsibilities to build a strong and vibrant Jewish community for the future.

1. Bring in a speaker to confront the issue of Jewish continuity, focusing on what our individual responsibilities are, if we hope to build a strong community for the future
2. Follow the presentation with small group study sessions, examining the observances and commitments that are necessary for Jewish survival. These themes are examined in the study material provided with the Jewish Living Now: Tikun Leyl Shavuot (available from the USCJ, ext 2620.)
3. Another program idea: If any of your USYers attended one of the programs in Israel or in Eastern Europe, ask them to give a slide presentation on their trip.
4. Follow study with a Selihot service at midnight. Two different versions of the Selihot service are available from the United Synagogue Book Service (Ext. 2004).
5. Selihot is not well known by our congregants, therefore, be sure to publicize Selihot before the end of August This will give people time to plan to attend. Send out a special mailing, or have a special bulletin article letting people know about the program. Be sure to provide refreshments during the evening.

Tashlikh

Tashlikh is a remarkable ceremony which enables us to begin the preparation for Yom Kippur. Performed on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah (or on the second day, if the first is on Shabbat), Jews go to a body of flowing water and recite the special Tashlikh readings, while casting crumbs of bread into the water. The crumbs represent the sins that we must cast off to prepare for Yom Kippur.

Tashlikh reminds us of water's purifying effect and allows us to reflect that even as the water purifies our bodies, so too, must we purify our hearts through teshuvah (repentance), as we ask God's forgiveness during the High Holiday period.

Tashlikh can also provide an effective time for socializing, sharing and community building, as congregation members join together to perform the ritual.

Program:

• Encourage members to come to the congregational Tashlikh service. Announce from the bimah and through written publicity that synagogue members will gather at a set location after Minha to go to an appropriate body of water to perform Tashlikh.
• Encourage those who cannot get to the Synagogue Tashlikh to go with other congregation members to a river or stream near their own houses to perform the ceremony.
• Distribute copies of the Tashlikh service so that congregants will not need to bring their prayer books to the body of water.

Operation Isaiah

In the Unatana Tokef prayer on Rosh Hashanah, we are reminded that three things are necessary to convince God to forgive our sins, namely: teshuvah (repentance), tefilah (prayer), and tzedakah (charity).

The last of these, in a sense, is the most difficult, because there is no formal setting for its accomplishment. Yet it is as important as the first two. Isaiah reminds us of the importance of tzedakah in the haftarah that we read on Yom Kippur morning. In this portion, Isaiah tells us that fasting is useless if it does not lead to concrete action in the form of G'milut Hasadim (acts of loving kindness).

Join with United Synagogue congregations across North America as we participate in Operation Isaiah. A project of the Education department of the USCJ, Operation Isaiah asks congregations to develop projects that meet the needs of the less advantaged members of our community.

Begin participation this year with a food collection for the hungry and homeless. Ask congregants to bring donations of food with them when they come to synagogue before the Kol Nidre service. After the holiday, the food should be distributed to soup kitchens and food pantries in your community that offer direct service to the hungry and homeless.

For more information on Operation Isaiah contact the Department of Education of the USCJ (ext. 2500).

Sukkot

Sukkot is an ideal time to strengthen the commitment and knowledge of congregants. Like Pesah, Sukkot's rituals are both attractive and interesting and can be used to motivate greater observance.

Two myths that must be dispelled are that the building of the sukkah is difficult, and that the "benching” (shaking) of the lulav is strange and expensive.

The programs included in Timely Program Ideas suggest ways to help people to see the beauty of the rituals and to see that they too can observe them, thus adding meaning to their lives.

The Sukkah: Lets Build it Together

Building a sukkah and using it for meals over the holiday is one of the most beautiful observances of the Jewish year and can create lasting memories for the entire family. Sukkot can be a holiday that our members look forward to the entire year.

While many people in our congregations enjoy the synagogue and other members' sukkot, they lack the confidence to build one themselves. They believe that it is too difficult and that they don't have the skill. Yet, this is a mitzvah that every family can observe and enjoy. We need to use the time before sukkot, and indeed the holiday itself to show them that they can build their own sukkot and that if they do so, the satisfaction will be enormous.

Building a Sukkah is a Class Act

Organize a class during a weekend in September to train synagogue members to build their own sukkot. During the class actually build a sukkah (or more than one), letting all the participants help. Distribute blueprints (available from the USCJ Department of Congregational Programming, ext. 2620, and in The Jewish Catalogue).

The Sukkah Kit

If you make the sukkah building as easy as possible, this will encourage members with two left thumbs to have their own sukkot. These kits could be sold at cost; or as part of a fundraiser; or the profit could be used for tzedakah.

• To help encourage people to build their own sukkot your synagogue could buy the materials needed for the Sukkot in bulk; in effect, putting together kits for "build your own sukkot.
• The United Synagogue plan for sukkot is modular in design. Organize a committee of members skilled with their hands to put these panels together. These would then be delivered to members' houses, where the member or the committee could erect the sukkah.
• In some congregations, upon request, members of USY go around to congregants' houses and build a sukkah. In this case the homeowner is required to cover the cost of the sukkah and to make a donation to the USY Tikun Olam fund.

A Sukkah in the Shul

The rabbi of Moses Montefiore Synagogue in Appleton, WI built a sukkah inside his synagogue at the beginning of the summer. Detailed instructions and blueprints were included with the sukkah showing congregants how easy it was to build.

Building a Sukkah can be a Sharing Experience

Another opportunity for encouragement can be found when families build their own sukkot. Ask the families in your congregation that build their own sukkot to invite another family from the congregation to share in the building process. This will enable the other family to observe the mitzvah of building a sukkah, and will allow them to see that it is possible to do, and can be an enjoyable religious experience for the entire family.

The guest family should be encouraged to bring fruit and other decorations to hang in the sukkah. Their own work will give them a sense of real participation and ownership of the sukkah.

During Sukkot, the families should share a meal (or meals) together in their sukkah so that both families can share the enjoyment and observance of the holiday.

Sharing The Experience

Sukkot is also an ideal time for congregants to join together and share in the observance of the holiday. The sukkah lends itself to family as well as congregational dinners and many other activities.

"Sukkah Hop"

One night during Sukkot plan a progressive dinner from sukkah to sukkah. Members of the congregation are divided into small groups. (Check with the families who have sukkot to see how many people they are willing to accommodate.) Each small group will begin the evening at the house of a synagogue family that has a sukkah. At this sukkah they will eat the first course of a meal.

After they finish this course (at a set time) they will then go to another family with a sukkah for the next course of the meal. Each family could be given their own itinerary so that they will be with a different group of members for each part of the meal.

Continue moving from house to house until dessert. Everyone then joins together for this course in the synagogue sukkah. Conclude the evening with a special program at the synagogue.

Things to note:

1. Be sure to distribute kashrut standards so that everyone will feel comfortable during the evening.
2. Check to see if anyone has special needs (e.g., a special diet). Take care, if possible, to cater for these needs.
3. Families with the sukkot should not have to do all the cooking. Either put together a committee to share the burden or ask all the participants to help with the meals.

Sukkah Outreach

Sukkot can be an excellent time to reach out to less committed or less knowledgeable Jews in the community. Recruit host families from your congregation who have their own sukkot and are willing to host another (or more than one) family during the holiday. Be sure that they understand that their role as hosts is to share their observance and to teach by example.

The host families should invite another family, drawn from a specially prepared list, for a holiday dinner where the host family shares their observance of the Sukkot rituals with their guests.

Some of the people included on this list could be new members, potential members, families with young children entering the Hebrew school, young couples, or long term members who have not been active in the synagogue.

It is best if this list is drawn up by the rabbi and other synagogue professionals. Be sure to train the host families so that they understand their role - to share and not to force. You may also want to re-enforce their understanding of the Sukkot rituals and teach them songs that could be used.

This training is best carried out by the rabbi, cantor, educator or other synagogue professionals.

This type of program will encourage the guest families to take on the observances of Sukkot. It will also help them to feel more comfortable and part of your synagogue.

Make A Lulav Shake

One of the most beautiful images of Sukkot is the procession of Jews carrying the lulav and etrog after the Torah during the Sukkot morning services. Every additional person with his or her own lulav and etrog, adds to the color and beauty of the service.

“Make a Lulav Shake" a program developed by Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum of Congregation Beth Israel, Worcester, MA, is now a joint program of The United Synagogue and the Rabbinical Assembly.

"Make a Lulav Shake" is an exciting way to encourage congregants to purchase and learn about the use of lulav and etrog. The program involves a serious advertising campaign including posters, buttons, tape and tee-shirts. It also includes educational material to help congregants understand the mitzvah.

Synagogues that used the material in the past year reported a phenomenal increase in the number of congregants who came to services with their lulav and etrog.

Kits, including all the materials needed to begin the campaign, may be ordered from The United Synagogue Department of Education (ext. 2500).

Ordering a Lulav

You can order Lulav sets from the United Synagogue Book Service. They sell a variety of different qualities at reasonable prices. They are guaranteed to be kosher and Israeli.

Educational institutions and synagogues receive a special low price, and those who order 25 sets or more will receive a free set.

For more information contact Book Services directly at (ext. 2004).

Remembering the Desert

The sukkot that we build to celebrate the holiday remind us both of the conclusion on the harvest, and of the temporary shelters that our ancestors lived in as they wandered for forty years in the desert. Even as we celebrate the joys of the harvest we are reminded of the privations caused by hunger and homelessness. Just as we remember the homelessness of the desert, so too must we remember the homeless of our own community.

Sukkot’s connection with the harvest in the Land of Israel also reminds us that the forty years of wandering had an end, when our ancestors came to Eretz Yisrael. This can remind us of our own wanderings, and the messianic redemption that lies ahead of us. This redemption, however, will only come if we work to bring it. It will only come if we engage in tikun olam acts of righteousness that help to make the world a better place.

On Sukkot our ancestors brought offerings to the Temple to thank God for the abundance of the harvest. Now that the Temple no longer stands, we should look for new ways both to thank God and to share the abundance that God has bestowed upon us.

Tikun Olam Sukkot

In years past, the Jewish Theological Seminary's sukkah was decorated with large amounts of fruit. When the recent homeless crisis hit New York, however, it was realized that food which could be eaten by the poor was going to waste. The Seminary, therefore, invested in plastic fruit and in fruit that would not spoil over the holiday. The money that would have been spent on fruit was used to feed the hungry of New York.

Organize a collection in your synagogue to help the poor and hungry of your community over Sukkot.

1. Instead of decorating the congregational and home sukkot with fruit that will spoil, use plastic fruit, fruit that won’t spoil, and decorations made by children in the synagogue. People might also decorate their sukkot with cans, bags and boxes of fruit that they intend to donate to the homeless and hungry.
2. Ask members to make donations to a synagogue fund for the hungry and homeless with the money that was not spent on fruit. The synagogue also should make a donation to the fund. To identify places to donate the money you may want to contact your local federation or MAZON (or MAZON CANADA) chapter.
3. Ask members to bring donations of fruit and food to the synagogue to be given to local soup kitchens.
4. To encourage congregants to have Tikun Olam Sukkot, organize a competition, with prizes, for the most beautiful sukkah which does not use fruit that spoils.
5. If you live in a location where fruit will not spoil: When you take the fruit down from the sukkah put it in decorative baskets and have religious school children bring it to local facilities for the elderly, and to local hospitals.

Be sure to include the children in all aspects of this program so that they will understand the importance of personal tzedakah.