a progressive Reform Jewish congregation |
2600 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa California 95404(707) 578-5519 fax: (707) 578-3967 email: [email protected] |
Dear Tot Families,
Shalom! First and foremost, we offer our heartfelt thanks to Danny and Sophie, the Hirshfeld-Flores family, for their absolutely fabulous Purim Schpiel which we all enjoyed. We extend our thanks and appreciation to this tot graduate family for their ongoing support and generosity to our tot program. We invite all of you who are tot graduates � or even if you haven�t ever been to a Tot Shabbat at all, no matter what your age � to come and experience tot shabbat.
We are in room aleph or bet every 2nd Saturday of the month beginning at 9:30 am sharp. Room location (aleph or bet) is flexible depending on other events happening the same day. We know 9:30 is a little early to begin, especially being Shabbat, but Rabbi George has especially committed himself to our tot families. Arriving punctually at 9:30 enables us to enjoy Rabbi George�s storytelling, adult education and prayer services before his other commitments to the rest of the community. It�s no joke to say that Rabbi George puts our children first! Also, if anybody in the community would like to perform, do a special art, music or any other activity for our tot families, please contact Lauren Kalmanson, tot program co-coordinator, at 542-6521 to schedule. We would delight in your offerings!
We thank all of you for your support and participation in our recent tot Pesach seder. We hope all of you had a very Happy Pesach. On behalf of all of the tot shabbat families, we extend our condolences to Alissa Hirshfeld-Flores and her family for their recent loss of Alissa�s mother. We are keeping you in our prayers.
Quick note re: Tot Shabbat over the summer: We will have Tot Shabbat in June and August. Since Rabbi George is away in July, we will take a break � so no Tot Shabbat in July. If families would like to have a gathering/picnic of sorts, let me know if there is someone who wants to organize it and s/he will be in charge of communicating details of location, time, etc.
B�shalom
Lauren
We had a really sweet Tot Shabbat workshop in February on celebrating Shabbat for young children and their families. Twenty people attended, including children, and we received a lot of positive feedback from attendees. Thank you for your support! The small numbers created a more intimate experience, allowing adults to have a good chunk of time learning with Rabbi George, as well as providing an opportunity to ask Rabbi questions and share experiences with the group. The goal of the Pathways Grant (which provided funding for the workshop) is to reach out to the greater community and provide people an opportunity to feel included and welcomed in a Jewish experience. A side benefit of the grant is that those in our community who are thirsting to grow and deepen their knowledge of Judaism have an opportunity to do so. So far, a large number of attendees are in this category and we are delighted to serve our community in this way.
Personally, and on behalf of all of the community, I wish to thank Rabbi George for his outstanding commitment to young children and their families. Rabbi George is an outstanding Jewish early childhood educator. He has so many incredible skills to convey his knowledge of Judaism, not to mention his incredible teachings for the adult community. Rabbi George is a true blessing and rare gift to all of us and if that weren�t enough his heart is at the heart of his teachings.
On behalf of Rabbi George and me and the entire Tot Shabbat community, we offer our warmest thanks and gratitude to Laurie Peretz, who administers the Pathways grant. Laurie does a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes advertising these opportunities, since it takes a lot of work to get the word out. And on the day of the workshop, Laurie is a full-fledged member of the team, welcoming, supporting and helping every step of the way. We could not do it without you, Laurie. Laurie offers her hard work to us because, she says, she �loves being around young children.� We are so lucky to have you, Laurie. We bless you and yours for all your kindness and support.
All of us at Tot Shabbat want to offer a huge bowl of thanks sprinkled with chocolate chips to Alissa, Danny and Sophie Hirshfeld-Flores for their extra special, super-duper appreciated spectacular performance of a Purim schpiel. We are so blessed with such a talented, wonderful family in our community. You make our joy and laughs happen! We love you!
Pesach Ahoy! Get ready! You know that when Purim comes, Pesach is around the corner. We will be having our very own Tot Shabbat model Pesach Seder on Saturday, April 12 at 9:30 am. Please be on time so we can have time with Rabbi George before he has to leave for the Shabbat service. Please bring some food to share as part of our Seder �meal�. Please bring food that doesn�t contain �chometz� or bread, e.g. NO BREAD, CRACKERS, CAKE. Pot luck items DO NOT have to be kosher for Passover, but we will appreciate VEGETARIAN FOOD ONLY. Some suggestions are: fruit platters, cheese, veggies, potato salad or any traditional vegetarian Passover food.
Hope to see you there!
B�shalom
Lauren
Dearest Families:
Wow!! We�re blessed with lots of rain this season! It�s the first
time since I have lived up here (5th year) that the trees haven�t
blossomed by Tu B�Sh�vat!! Sending you all well wishes and
hoping everyone is holding up well and staying healthy.
Mazal Tov to Sarah-Jane, Milton and Caiman Rieback upon the birth of their beautiful baby daughter, Eden. Caiman is a big brother now!
When Denise asked Sarah how Caiman was doing with his new sister, she replied, �Great! He is showing her all his toys!�
We would love you all to come to our Saturday, March 8 Tot Shabbat, when we will be making the Rieback family a wimple. A wimple is a piece of fabric decorated by the community. We will use fabric paints. I will add the backing and border to it. Traditionally, a wimple is used to bind the Torah together. In Germany and Italy long ago, a wimple was made for an expectant mother to be used as part of the bris or baby-naming and all life-cycle events and ceremonies, such as b�nai mitzvah, weddings and burials. Rabbi George told me that strips were cut off the wimple to bind the Torah on those occasions. We are reclaiming the tradition of the wimple.
Some folks hang the wimple in the baby�s room. Alissa Hirshfeld-Flores, who received a wimple from the tot community in appreciation for all her work, placed it on her sofa. Others use wimples in ways that are meaningful to them. So please, come and be part of making a wimple for the new baby.
And�a very special guest appearance for Tot Shabbat on March 8 when our very own and quite beloved past Tot Shabbat family, the Hirshfeld-Flores� will be coming to perform a Purim Schpiel just for us. We would love to see you and your tots on March 8 at 9:30 am.
B�shalom
Lauren
Dear Families,
Happy and a healthy New Solar Year! Hope everyone had a good holiday season. Every day is getting longer and we�re moving toward spring. Yippee!! In fact, the Happy Birthday of the Trees just passed � Tu B�Sh�vat! A few years ago, Limor Shapira, a friend of mine from Israel, told me that the blossoms always come by the time Tu B�Sh�vat is here! So maybe even with weather changes from global warming, Limor�s good words will continue to be true.
Our January Tot Shabbat gathering focused on Tu B�Sh�vat. Rabbi George told the story of King Solomon and the trees. The Wise King, who was a great lover of trees, made a terrible mistake. He was able to fix his wrong and in so doing he created a wonderful legacy and tradition to preserve the trees and the forest for future generations.
Please note that next month�s Tot Shabbat on Saturday, February 9, will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in our Sanctuary. Rabbi George will present a workshop on �Celebrating Shabbat� for young children and their families. We look forward to seeing you there. Please tell friends, neighbors, work associates, and family members about this opportunity.
B�Shalom,
Lauren
We hope everyone had a wonderful Chanukah and has a very happy solar New Year.
Rabbi George, Barbara Whitaker-CST 1st Grade teacher, Denise Harrison- CST Kindergarten teacher, and I were simply thrilled and delighted at the wonderful turnout for our combined Chanukah celebration. Thank you for your incredible support and all the good vibes you brought.
We hope you all had fun in every way at our Chanukah party. We're always striving and driving to do things better to serve the needs of our community in every way we can. Each time we see you we like to promote our program with a different piece of creative experience, using ourselves and your feedback as tools for reflection. If you have a thought about something or if you would like to share a personal tale, musical experience or food idea inspired by our tradition, then please PIPE UP!
There are heartfelt thank-yous due: warmest thanks to Barbara Whitaker for her outstanding performance in our Chanukah play. Barbara, you made the story come alive for us! Denise, our bowed heads are before you for your unstoppable thoroughness for every detail that made our event happen. Denise, please accept huge thanks not only for our Chanukah event but for all the work you do behind the scenes for Tot Shabbat and all your personal support and enthusiasm for our program. A big thank you to Rabbi George, on behalf of all of us, for his ongoing love and the attention he gives to our children. A very big thank you to our custodians, Gary and Kiar, without whom we could have no event at all!
And last but not least, we extend our thanks to Raina Blumenthal and Rachel Wiegardt-Egel, the religious school madrichim, as well as Shai. Shai is Idan's brother who is visiting from Israel. Idan is a teacher in the religious school. When Shai came with Idan to the Temple on the day of our Chanukah party he saw us running around preparing for the event. Without even being asked, he offered to help us right away. So to Shai a very, very special thanks to you for giving so generously of yourself in such a kind way. You helped us so much! Thank you for thinking of others.
Thank you everyone for giving us socks. The socks were donated to the Family Support Center which helps people who are transitional and homeless. Also huge thanks for generously sharing your food. We are so fortunate to enjoy our abundance together and we are privileged to be in a position to give to others.
Mazal tov! December also saw the dedication ceremony for our new sanctuary. Gosh, it seems this first year being in our new home brings many opportunities for experiencing dedication as we do things for the first time in different spaces in our Temple. So it�s a first- a lot! - exciting, adventurous and experimental!
Reminder, we're looking forward to seeing you at our next Tot Shabbat on Saturday, January 12, 2008 in the sanctuary of Shomrei Torah.
In love and appreciation,
Lauren
Dear Tot Shabbat Families:
Greetings and Shalom! A mom from Tot Shabbat told
me that someone in the Shomrei Torah community gave a
donation in the name of her grandmother at the time of her
yahrtzeit. This mom has given a lot to our community and
perhaps the donor, inspired by her giving, gave to her. Giving
and kindness inspires kindness in remembering loved ones in
this example.
From a meditation in my grandmother's prayer book it is written that �being kind is the highest form of charity�. With this in mind, animals are the first thing that comes to my mind. Our beloved Sarah, (Rabbi George's dog), has given us so much Torah learning in our workshops on "Building a Jewish home" and "Shabbat". I am very delighted to tell you that more Torah learning will come from Rabbi George and beloved Sarah!
On a personal note, my pussycats are some of my greatest spiritual mentors in many ways, especially when it comes to kindness. I have been so fortunate to receive such love from my beloved kitties especially during times of sadness and illness. I guess humans need to learn Torah; animals know it!!!!
Another way of bringing kindness into our daily lives with our children is being kind to the Earth: recycling, conserving water, riding bicycles and walking instead of cars when we can, being in your garden or nature and appreciating God's creation and instilling these values in our children.
Please note that our Tot Shabbat gathering for December will be on Saturday December 8 from 3:30�5:30pm in the Sanctuary at Shomrei Torah for a combined Chanukah celebration with the Kindergarten and 1st grade of the Religious School. No Tot Shabbat in the morning. Hope to see you there!
Thank you for all your kindness and support.
Blessings Always,
Lauren
Dear Tot Shabbat families,
Shalom! and Greetings. Hope all of you had a meaningful
and sweet High Holy Day season. May all of you be blessed
with the healthiest and sweetest of New year�s.
Rachel Munn, our new Tot Shabbat liaison, sent an e-mail asking if there was any interest in sharing our journeys to Judaism and favorite Jewish family rituals with each other. The place of sharing was part of the inquiry�at Tot Shabbat, pure e-mail, or ta da! even here in the Voice! Please let Rachel or me know of your interest or lack of interest in this.
On the note of new beginnings, I wish to thank Rachel for diving in. We're so lucky to have Rachel and on behalf of all of us we thank you already for all the work you have done.
On the theme of journeys, I wish to share a personal Yom Kippur story: The machzor�(prayer book used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) that I use, belonged to my maternal grandmother. Every year when it is the High Holy Days I open it to pray and I see her name, address and telephone number that she wrote on a blank page after the cover. It touches me in a deep way that she used this very prayer book to say her prayers. In my heart I feel her presence and my connection to her. She died when I was around 5 years old. Seeing her handwriting claiming ownership of this book nurtures a feeling of belonging to my family, the Jewish people and our ancestors.
I feel blessed to have received this spiritual opportunity and this feeling of connectedness from my grandmother whom I will always cherish.
I hope my sharing will inspire you to share your journeys too. Hoping everyone had a wonderful Sukkot. On the note of harvest, if anyone has fruit trees or a vegetable garden, a wonderful way to share the harvest is to pick together with your child and donate the produce to a food bank. There are so many hungry people in Sonoma County who would love to taste fresh garden-picked fruits and vegetables. This is a great example of tzeddakah (giving charity) for your child to experience especially if you have extra to share.
I�m looking forward to seeing tot families at the next Pathways to Judaism Tot Workshop on Sunday, November 18 from 12 noon to 2:00pm in the Sanctuary.
I�d like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the
anonymous donor who provided 5 brand new tambourines to
our Tot program. You are truly a mensch!
B'shalom
Lauren
Dearest Tot Shabbat families,
Thank you all for such a great turnout in August for our first
Tot Shabbat of the year. What a sweet note to begin our new
year. We appreciate your support and enthusiasm. You make
Tot Shabbat happen!
On the topic of new beginnings we warmly welcome Rachel Munn as our new Tot Shabbat Liaison representative. We are so lucky to have Rachel take this on. She is talented in so many ways. If you haven�t sent your e-mail address to Leslie Pearlman, please send it to Rachel instead at rachelmunn@ earthlink.net ASAP. If you have any feedback, concerns, ideas, or questions, please don't hesitate to contact Rachel at her e-mail address or by phone at 527-6554, myself, Lauren at 542-6521 or Rabbi George. We value you!
Once again we thank Alissa Hirshfeld Flores, our former liaison for her energy, creativity and many contributions to our program. Alissa, we will miss you. We hope you, Danny and Sophie will come visit us in the future.
Rabbi George, Billie Blumenthal, Director of the Religious School, and I are working together to create our new Tot Shabbat calendar. There's a lot of juggling that happens with planning our special events and workshops in order to accommodate different schedules and to meet the needs of our program.
We're on it! So don't give up on us; a Tot Shabbat calendar will be on its way to you soon. We�re looking forward to some new and exciting programming this year.
As the New Year begins I would like to extend special personal thanks to Leslie Pearlman, Amy Haedt, Alissa Hirschfeld- Flores and Sue Smith, our former Executive Director, for all the rides they gave me to and from Shomrei Torah at different times. I couldn't have done it without you!
In addition, a very sweet thank you to Barbra Schneider,
along with her sons Cayden and Max, for giving us the
delicious honey to dip our apples in at our last Tot Shabbat.
We all loved it. Yummy! On that sweet note I bid thee shalom.
Rabbi George and I wish all of you Shanah Tovah U'me'tuka
�a very healthy, happy and sweet new year. We're stoked for
another year of Tot Shabbat experiences with you.
Love,
Lauren
Welcome back! I hope everyone is having a good summer. It always goes by too quickly, doesn�t it? It was great to reconnect with you on the phone recently and at our August Tot Shabbat.
We welcome back the Landau-Camarillo family from their 6 week visit to Israel. We delighted in hearing some of their tales from the Holy Land. If you�re planning a visit to Israel, please talk to Brenda (aka Tamar) and Roy for some travel tips.
Another welcome to Rachel Munn as our new Tot Shabbat liaison. We bid farewell to Alissa Hirshfeld-Flores who did such a wonderful job, as well as giving her time and energy into our Tot program. On a personal note, I want to thank Alissa for her enthusiasm, support, and creativity. It has been such a pleasure working with you! Me and Rabbi George, as well as all of our Tot families, we thank you, Alissa, Danny and Sophie for all that you have given to us.
Rabbi George and I also wish to thank Leslie Perlman for her support in collecting all of your reviews of the Tot Shabbat program for the past year. We appreciate you giving your precious summer time to do this for us.
To all of our families who submitted their input and reviews, a big thanks for your opinions, comments, and feedback. It is extremely appreciated to be able to read your comments and to reflect on this past year. Haven�t turned in yours yet? Don�t worry; just call me directly at 542-6521 or speak with either Rachel Munn or Rabbi George.
On behalf of Rabbi George and I, we would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Shanah Tovah�a sweet and good year. May the New Year bring peace, well-being and blessings to the whole world.
We are in the process of putting together the Tot Shabbat program for the upcoming year and you will receive a calendar via �snail mail� in the coming weeks.
Special High Holy Day Reminder: If you�re not a member of Shomrei Torah yet and would like Holy Day worship information, give the office a call at 578-5519 and they�ll be happy to send you a packet. Shomrei Torah offers High Holy Day childcare for ages 2-4 as well as excellent Educational Programs for children beginning at age 5. Due to organizing these fantastic programs, they are not able to accommodate drop-ins so sign up early.
We�re looking forward to another great Tot Shabbat year with you!
Thank you so much to all of you for your wonderful support for and participation in our second grant-funded workshop: �Celebrating Shabbat.� Special, special thanks to Laurie Peretz, our new coordinator of the Pathways grant. Laurie not only attended our workshop, but rushed around ensuring a successful baking of our children�s challot. Laurie helped in every way imaginable, without even being asked. Laurie, we welcome you and thank you so much for your tremendous support.
Also, very special thanks to Cynthia Calmenson for coming to the temple on the day of our workshop to ensure the correct operation of our new ovens. Cynthia, our thanks to you for your devotion to our community.
Many thanks to Paul Munson, who helped in every possible way, from oven support to clean up. Laurie, Cynthia, and Paul, you are the magic that makes this community so great and so successful. Your selfless acts are inspiring and heartfelt. Another person who makes our community happen is Gary, our custodian. Gary, you know we really couldn�t do it without you�infinite thanks from all of us for your hard work and all the care that you give.
Special thanks also to Alissa and Leslie for being my transportation fairies.
The next Tot Shabbat will be on the second Saturday of August at 9:30am in classroom Aleph. Hope to see you there!
Last but not least, on a personal note and on behalf of all of our families, I want to express so much appreciation for our beloved and wonderful Rabbi George, who really invests in our children (Well, of course, I�m biased, being a big fan of both Rabbi George and a nursery school teacher!). But here is proof in the pudding: Recently, in our beautiful new kitchen and in our lovely new outside space, two mothers with B�nei Mitzvah-age children both spoke lovingly of their journeys to this day, which both started in the Tot Shabbat program. They also spoke of the warmth and openness of the community and of the close friendships that their families and their children forged at Tot Shabbat and in this community in general. Another mother from my nursery school, who is a member of Shomrei Torah and of our Tot Shabbat group, told me that the reason she made (a lavash) dinner for another mom at my school who had recently given birth, is because she remembers the meals that Shomrei Torah gave her after she gave birth!
May we continue the traditions of kindness and caring in our community. Have a wonderful summer!