Family Programs
“And you shall teach them diligently to your children”
For more information about any of the family programs and to RSVP please contact Rabbi Valerie Lieber, Director of Education & Family Programs
718-875-1550×117
vlieber@kanestreet.org
At Kane Street Synagogue, we know that some of the most powerful, lasting Jewish memories kids have are made with their families. We develop programming that we hope will be memorable, enjoyable, educational and celebrational. We hope to help parents and children come to see Kane Street Synagogue as a hope away from home, a place where adults and kids feel they can be themselves, express themselves and learn more about themselves and the world.
We have regular monthly Shabbat dinners for the entire multi-generational community the third Friday of each month, September to June. During the services before these monthly Shabbat dinners, our rabbis offer birthday and anniversary blessings, and we have a story for the children while the adults are learning from the D’var Torah. We call these Friday events, Celebration Shabbat!
In addition, we schedule several Havdalah Celebrations with a brief havdalah ritual, lots of singing, dessert and a different activity each time. We have special events for Chanukah, Purim, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot and Tu B’Shvat.
We run mommy/daddy/caretaker-and-me programs in the mornings for very young children called Shabbat Club on fridays, and are starting a new story-time program on Tuesdays called Yiddish Chickens and Gefilte Fishes
Download the Family Programs Calendar 2010 – 2011
Shabbat Club
Introduce Jewish customs to your child in a warm, fun environment. Kids prepare for Shabbat, make holiday crafts, sing blessings and songs, hear stories and learn some Hebrew words and letters in a fun environment. Kids love Shabbat Club so much they sing Shabbat Club songs at home, pretend they are driving to the synagogue for Shabbat Club in the middle of the week, and associate Judaism with happiness. This program is for preschool age children 17 months to 4 years old and their parent or care-giver. Shabbat Club meets Friday mornings 10 – 11:15 AM.
To enroll contact vlieber@kanestreet.org
Kabbalat Shabbat Programs and Shabbat Dinner
Several times each year, we hold interactive, educational activities for children and their parents on Friday evening. Each event is based on a theme and includes games, fun learning activities and family time. We spend about an hour in active learning, followed by a forty minute prayer and song session, and end with dinner.
Shabbaton Programs on Saturday Mornings
To enhance the celebration of Shabbat as a family, we hold Shabbaton programs once or twice a year for children with their parents. These programs begin a with bagels and juice, continue with engaging interactive learning on a theme and end with a Shabbat service.
Havdallah Programs on Saturday Evening
As Shabbat is ending after sunset on Saturday we observe the brief and beautiful ritual of Havdallah, lighting the braided candle, smelling the spices and wishing farewell to our day of rest and togetherness. Following the ritual, we sing with accompaniment and learn through fun, hands-on activities.
Tu B’Shevat Celebration
Tu B’Shvat, the new year of the trees is a very fun and easy to understand holiday even for the youngest students. We welcome the families of children ages 18 months – preK for a celebration of the holiday. It is traditional at Tu B’shvat to taste fruits from various trees and to sing and express gratitude for all that we get from trees. We will have a brief Tu B’Shevat seder (a 16th century invention to pay tribute to trees modeled after the Passover seder); some games, crafts and singing.
Purim Family Celebration
5:00 pm service and spiel
6:15 pm dinner and hamantashen
Children of all ages and their families are invited to join us for a fun, silly Purim celebration. Prizes awarded for excellent costumes and masks.