PNP+-+High+Holiday+Prep+Summary

=Prep and Practice - High Holidays, Sukkot and Simchat Torah Summary= Go To: Kavana Main Page

Date: Sunday, September 9, 2007 Location: [|Montlake Community Center], [|Seattle, WA] Attendance: approx 125 participants (about 35 families)

Summary
Our first Prep Day for the 2007-2008 program year was a tremendous success. We had four stations at the program, with each station focused on one of the four holidays we were preparing for--Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Simchat Torah and Sukkot. Here is a .zip file containing the the take-home packets from the program and the e-mail used to advertise the program:

Rosh Hashanah
Led by a community member who is a professional caterer, families were led in the baking of round challot.

Yom Kippur
Organized by a community member with background in Jewish education, a game (sort of like Pin the Tail on the Donkey) was created to teach children about the notions of Teshuvah and "missing the mark.

Sukkot
On the lawn outside the community center, one community member taught parents how to build a sukkah at their house. Then, kids and adults worked together to build a simple sukkah that only required wood, screws, drill gun and wire ties to create.

Simchat Torah
Kavana has been blessed in the last year to have received the gift of a Torah from one of our community members. We put several long tables end-to-end, and rolled out the Torah so that the children could have an up close look. Our rabbi, Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, talked about the Torah, and took many, many interesting questions from both children and adults.

Feedback
Generally speaking, very positive. Two complaints were registered that we will act upon in the future: 1) the carnival-like atmosphere is too chaotic, and 2) some parents would like a bit deeper background with each station.

Photos