Emanuel+Synagogue-+Handout


 * Team Presentation:**

Our theme for the coming year is //The Synagogue//. Using special features of each //Yom// //Tov// service, we will create meaningful family events for each holiday. We will enhance the //Shabbat// synagogue experience by focusing each week’s service around one of our core values, by adding 45 minute //hugim// for religious school children prior to the family service, continuing our //Bar/Bat Mitzvah// Club, and by building on our successful //seudah sh’lishit// and //Havdallah//. programs for individual age groups. Our Biblical Garden will create //Havdallah// and holiday sections. There will be classes in //Kriat haTorah,// leading //Shabbat// and //Yom Tov// services, and the meaning and pronunciation of the //Tefillot//. Our website will include instructional audio and video clips of holiday and Shabbat prayers and rituals.

Our proposal includes:


 * Holiday Happenings: Holiday happening programs for each holiday to be held during services and during //hol ha moed//
 * A variety of educational initiatives to educate the congregation about the shabbat and holiday services including website support, learners’ minyan and various synagogue skill courses (sidur Hebrew, trop)
 * La’atid: We will continue the //La’atid// process of shaping our mission statement and planning for our future.
 * Leadership development
 * Enrichment hugim for children which will meet every Shabbat prior to the shabbat service
 * Sharing Shabbat: Bringing congregants together in each other’s homes during Shabbat including Shabbat dinner in a box
 * Biblical garden: Sections for Havdallah and various holiday themes
 * Religious School family programs on Shabbat and holidays
 * Preparation for the Rabbi’s sabbatical: Lay people will be prepared to assume many of the Rabbi’s duties.


 * Systemic Approach:**

We aim to make each //Yom Tov// a meaningful family “event” of this magnitude. Special features of the service will encourage families to attend and participate in the celebration in the synagogue and celebrate at home. We will link each of the festivals and the High Holy Days to our “Four Communities.” The High Holy Days will be linked to //T’fillah//, //Succot// to //Hesed,// //Pesach// to //Tikkun Olam//, and //Shavuot// to //Talmud Torah//. The services and surrounding events (meals, learning sessions//, Tikkun Olam// activities and ritual observances) will be intergenerational, aimed at encouraging the entire congregation to celebrate together. Through the overall tone of the event and the specific ways we structure the activities we will encourage the formation of warm meaningful relationships. In addition to linking each of the festivals and //Yamim Noraim// to the four facets of our mission we will also focus on a different “community” each //Shabbat// (Caring, Prayer, Learning, and Action). This will be reflected in the emphasis during the //t’fillot//, in the Rabbi’s sermon and in the //D’var Torah//. This will foster a greater understanding of each community and provide a platform from which congregants involved in the work of each community can address the congregation. We anticipate that each //Shabbat// theme will attract congregants whose passion lay in that particular direction. They will find at least one service each month that is directly relevant to their concerns. Seeing others of like mind at the service will encourage more volunteerism and relationship building among congregants. It will also encourage more people to attend services because they will begin to see that by attending on //Shabbat// they can become part of a vibrant community. The goal is to develop a sense that the “norm” in this congregation is to attend services on //Shabbat//.


 * Challenges:**


 * 1) Focusing so much of our programming on Shabbat and holidays means asking many of our congregants to change habits and the way they structure family time. These are major changes. We will encourage families to try Shabbat attendance by enticing them through the programs we will offer. The change in habit will come more slowly though, it will help if we recognize that this is indeed what we are requesting and admit this in our conversations with family members.
 * 2) Our Senior Rabbi will go on a six-month sabbatical from January to June of 2009. We intend to turn this challenge into an opportunity by developing a group of congregants with sufficient skills to assume many of the Rabbi’s roles in the service. When the Rabbi returns these individuals will continue to take a leadership role in the ritual life of our community building true professional/lay partnership.

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