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score!
I've commented before about how I really dislike the Shabbat services we have where the kids in each class lead. (So there's a 4th-grade service, and a 5th-grade one, and so on to high school.) The classes are large, the kids (particularly the younger ones) are unruly (and often insufficiently skilled), there are halachic issues with the younger grades, and overall, it's really just a show for the parents and not a true community worship experience. I resent that last part, as the Friday service really is the (single) community service for our synagogue. (We have other services with dedicated attendees, but this is the big one.)
Tonight at the end of the worship committee's meeting, the rabbi and director told us that they're making some changes to these services. The 4th and 5th grades will lead Saturday mornings (at the once-a-month family service) instead of Friday nights, and the 6th and 7th grades will be split (so a total of 4 services) and do theirs on Fridays. It's not clear what'll happen for 8th grade and high school.
Yay! It's not a perfect solution, but this will go a long way toward making these services functional again. We are really trying to promote the monthly family service on Saturdays this year, so if that takes hold maybe it can expand to, say, biweekly in future years, which will help it to become a real community. (I don't know if once a month is enough to build connectiosn, but that's where we're starting.)
And the best part is that this happened without my involvement. I hadn't yet brought up my issues with these services with the rabbi. So I haven't burned those particular points (I expected this to be controversial), so I've got points available to spend on other controversial ideas. Friday-night b'nei mitzvah, here I come. :-)
Tonight at the end of the worship committee's meeting, the rabbi and director told us that they're making some changes to these services. The 4th and 5th grades will lead Saturday mornings (at the once-a-month family service) instead of Friday nights, and the 6th and 7th grades will be split (so a total of 4 services) and do theirs on Fridays. It's not clear what'll happen for 8th grade and high school.
Yay! It's not a perfect solution, but this will go a long way toward making these services functional again. We are really trying to promote the monthly family service on Saturdays this year, so if that takes hold maybe it can expand to, say, biweekly in future years, which will help it to become a real community. (I don't know if once a month is enough to build connectiosn, but that's where we're starting.)
And the best part is that this happened without my involvement. I hadn't yet brought up my issues with these services with the rabbi. So I haven't burned those particular points (I expected this to be controversial), so I've got points available to spend on other controversial ideas. Friday-night b'nei mitzvah, here I come. :-)