Netivot+Shalom-+Intro+to+Rimmonim

June, 2006 Article for Congregation Netivot Shalom newsletter (available at [|www.netivotshalom.org])

Introducing our new family program­ Rimmonim! By Cathy Shadd Rabbi Kelman and I have been busy turning the idea for which we were awarded a grant from the Legacy Heritage Foundation into an actual program. Rimmonim, for K-2 grade children and their families, is due to start on September 10 with a Sunday afternoon celebration and to meet regularly starting September 17, 2006. //Rimmon//, the Hebrew word for pomegranate, is the term for the decorative crowns which top the Torah scroll handles. They have come to symbolize Torah, the whole body of knowledge contained in and flowing from the Torah itself. On Rosh Hashanah, one of the foods we eat is //rimmon//, symbolizing our hope that the New Year be as full of //mitzvot// as a pomegranate is full of seeds. The Rimmonim program guides its participating families in the study of //middot//, the core values of Judaism, and in the ways in which these values can inform our lives to turn our hope for a year of mitzvot into a reality. Our congregation was one of 27 across North America and Israel to receive the first Legacy Heritage Innovation Project Grants from Legacy Heritage Programming. The purpose of the grants is to “support creative advances in Jewish family education and systemic congregational change.” The Legacy Heritage Innovation Project addresses the isolation of much Jewish children’s education from the rest of their lives, families, and community. The grants are for programs which are adopting a holistic approach to Jewish education, incorporating into the educational process not just children, but their families, the extended family, the community, and the synagogue itself. Research has shown that the best way to transmit Jewish values to children is by combining study and action, using both parents and professionals as teachers, and using both the synagogue and the home as teaching environments. So, how will our Rimmonim program do all this? We want to take the central structure of //Shabbat B’Yachad//– parents and children davening and learning together, parents participating leading and teaching, and families forming strong community bonds with each other– and to both continue and expand it. We envision a group of families, with children in K through 2nd grade, coming together to explore key Jewish //middot// with the intent of incorporating them into their lives. Each month we will focus on a different //middah//. The first and third Shabbat of each month, the families will meet from 10:00 to 12:00 for study and prayer. The two hours will begin and end with singing and be structured to include family learning, davening and a Torah story, parent learning, children’s games and activities, and a closing circle. Additionally, one Sunday a month, the families will participate in a social action project designed to apply the middah. A goal for the program is to bring people from various sub-groups of the shul community together. One of the ways Rimmonim can do this is by expanding our definition of “family” to include members of the shul who may not have children or grandchildren or who may not have them in the area, who would like to connect with families in the shul in a meaningful way. These honorary grandparents, aunts, or uncles could study with us on Shabbat or participate in the social action projects. Please contact Cathy Shadd (rimmonim@netivotshalom.org) if you are such a person and are interested in participating in some way. Another way we are hoping to include congregants in the program is by inviting them to lead the Shabbat study sessions for the parents and/or the children. Another way is for the social action projects themselves to bring congregants together. For example, //bal tashchit// (do not waste) might evolve into a project involving the disposal of excess food, the problem of taking too much,” and the “greening” of the synagogue itself. While I will coordinate the program and play a leadership role in launching and supporting it and Rabbi Kelman will be involved in teaching and advising, we sincerely hope that the parents will be actively involved in teaching and learning, in designing and carrying out the social action programs, and of course, in keeping the //middot// alive within their families. The grant will cover the hiring of support staff for administrative as well as programmatic tasks. We are looking forward to a great program with lots of opportunities for learning and growth, both for the Rimmonim “families” and for the larger congregation as well. I am very open to ideas and suggestions, so please don’t hesitate to contact me (rimmonim@netivotshalom.org).

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