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Shabbat Bag Journals, 1998-1999

Shabbat Bags were introduced to first and second grade Sunday School families in 1996. In each classroom two tote bags, filled with all the makings for a complete Shabbat, rotate among the students. To the more traditional items like candlesticks, kiddush cup, grape juice, challah and challah cover, we added Havdalah ritual items, printed materials, a tape of Shabbat and Havdalah music by Cantor Klepper and a journal. Families are encouraged to write a journal entry after their Shabbat. What follows are some barely edited Shabbat Bag journal entries from the 1998-1999 school year.


Kids' Entries

Shabbat Shalom! Hi people. We had a great time at Shabbat. We lit the candles. It was Great! We ate challah and we said the prayers. We had a delicious dinner. We discussed our day. I loved the challah!

We had a delicious Shabbat dinner. We used everything in the bag. It was the first time my baby sister had challah - and she loved it! I said prayers with my parents.

We said the blessings over the wine and the challah and over the kids and we we said what we were thankful for. We listened to the Cantor Klepper tape and then we smelled the spices. The end.

We read "Shabbat is a day for rest, for prayer, and also for joy." Isaac said, "I really like that joy part." When we listened to the Shabbat tape, Isaac said, "You know, the Cantor sings very well." We prayed, we ate and we sang.

We liked the music especially. We made a yarmulke for our Teletubby and he participated too.


Parents' Entries

We don't often take the time to celebrate Shabbat. The Shabbat bag with all its goodies was a welcome catalyst to enjoy the weekly ritual. The children especially enjoyed the challah! The symbols, the prayers, the singing ... bring about opportunities to talk about Judaism and what it means to us. Thanks.

While we celebrate Shabbat each Friday night, we don't normally observe Havdalah, so the Shabbat bag helped introduce that ceremony into our home. Joseph says he would like to have Havdalah every Saturday evening.

We shared the Shabbat blessings and ate dinner with several families to whom it was new. Noah said the blessings proudly for everyone. We ended Shabbat watching the braided candle burning in the dark. We think the bag had a good time. We did.

We have been incorporating Shabbat dinners into our family life since January, 1997, but we like to integrate new rituals whenever we can. This Shabbat bag enabled us to learn a new prayer about how Shabbat is different from the rest of the week and to use a challah cover and to smell the spices. We listened to the tape of songs by Cantor Klepper. It was one of the most complete Shabbats we have ever experienced. Thank you.

We celebrated the Shabbat as we have been doing weekly since Michael began Sunday School at Beth Emet. The tape of Shabbat music made our celebration especially nice. (Grandpa recalled Shabbat in his home back in Poland and the songs that were sung.) The Havdalah service was wonderful. We followed the laminated sheets and felt like "pros" after we had recited the blessings. Thanks for the Shabbat Family Bag. We now look forward to saying goodbye to Shabbat every week. As our old Uncle Joe would say - and now it finally makes sense - Goot Vuch, Goot Yoour - good week, good year (in Yiddish). Thanks for the future memories!!