igniting your shabbat services
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE Hello and welcome to Spark! Spark is a new idea from Tribe, aimed at facilitating the smooth running of Toddlers Services, Children s Services and Youth Services across United Synagogue communities. Firstly, thank you for offering to run a Children s Service in your local shul. The US is very proud of the numerous Children s services that are run every week across the UK, and we would not be able to do this without you! Spark has been designed in order to help you run your Children s Services. Obviously, every Children s Service is different, in terms of how many children there are; what their age range is; how long it is for; and how knowledgeable the children are likely to be of this week s parasha. Ideally, where possible, a Children s Service should consist of some time used to discuss the weekly parasha, and some time devoted to davening. Spark is aimed at the parasha part of the service. It gives you an overview of what happens in the weekly parasha, and then a song, activity, discussion or Dvar Torah to run with the children depending on their ages. After the parasha summary on the next page, Spark has been split into 5 sections. Larger communities may have 5 different Children s / Youth Services running concurrently. Each of these will be able to use one section for their relevant age group. If your shul does not have as many groups, then you should use the section that best suits the age range of your participants. It has been created in a way to be flexible, so that it can be run in 10 minutes, if you have a short service, or longer if you have the time. If you also look at sections for other age groups, you may even find that you would like to use the ideas and information from more than one of the sections. It is important to note that Spark should help you to run Children s Services, but it does not completely run it for you. It is not designed to give to one of the children to read out to the group for them to run themselves. You are running the Children s Service, and Spark is here to help you do it. Largely, no props will be needed, but ideally you should read Spark before you start the Children s Service, so that you can think of further ideas to complement it. We hope that you and the children in the Children s Service will benefit from Spark, we thank and congratulate you for doing it; and as always we welcome your feedback. Shabbat shalom, The Tribe Education Team
Parasha Summary n In this week s parasha, the route that the Children of Israel will take to get to Israel, is set out. n Pharaoh changes his mind about letting them go, and sends 600 chariots after them. n As the Children of Israel stand by the sea, with the Egyptians approaching, God tells Moshe to lift his hand up and split the Sea. n The Children of Israel cross the sea, and then the Egyptians drown. n The Children of Israel sing a special song of thanks to God. n The Children of Israel complain about bitter water. n The Children of Israel complain about not having enough food, and God gives them manna. This food sustained them throughout their time in the desert, and they got a double portion each Friday before Shabbat. n The people of Amalek attacked the Jewish people, starting an eternal war.
Pre-nursery to Reception Tots In this week s parasha we read that the Children of Israel were terrified that the Egyptians would catch up with them. God made the miracle of splitting the sea, and they were so relieved and grateful, they sang a special song to God, to show Him how happy and appreciative they were. Activity: n Sing the following song: n 'If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands' n Add more verses e.g..touch your feet put your hands in the air touch your toes. Discussion questions: n How do they show someone that they are hugely happy with them? n What songs do they like to sing when they are very happy?
YEAR 1 & 2 Ages 5-7 At the beginning of this week s parasha, we learn about the route that the Children of Israel will take, on their way towards Israel. We see that God did not lead them on the quickest, most direct route, but instead took them on a much more roundabout path. There are many possible reasons for this: n God did not want it to be that it was so easy to get to Israel, that as soon as they faced any difficulties there, the Children of Israel would recall how easy it could be to go straight back to Egypt. n God wanted the Children of Israel to be in the desert, where they would see constant miracles in order to survive. Through seeing things like the manna, and the cloud of protection, they would learn that everything comes from God. n This is comparable to a king who had a son to whom he wished to bequeath an inheritance, but he argued: If I give it to him now that he is small, he will not know how to take care of it. I will therefore wait until my son studies the writings and comprehends the value of the property, then I will bequeath it unto him. This is what God said: I shall first give them the Torah, and then bring them into the Land. n God thought; If I bring the Children of Israel into the land now, each will immediately take possession of his field or vineyard, and they will neglect the Torah. Rather, I shall take them round the desert for forty years, so that they should eat manna and drink the water of Miriam's miracle well, and the Torah will be absorbed in their bodies. Discuss with the children the similarity of waiting and waiting to get a throw of 10, and then being in a huge rush, in case someone else gets it soon. This is similar to the Children of Israel who waited for years and years to be able to leave, and when they were finally able to, they had to do it in such a rush that they did not even have time to eat properly. Does this matter? Did it change the end result? Activity n Do a blindfolded assault course with the children. n The children should prepare an assault course, by moving the positions of the tables or chairs in the room. n One child should be blindfolded, and then led to the beginning of the assault course. Another child should lead them through the assault course by giving them instructions e.g. take two steps to your right, go forward one step. n Show the children that the most important result is that the child reaches the other end of the assault course safely. This is much more important than speed, and so it is more sensible to go on a longer, safer, route, rather than the most direct route that may have too many obstacles in the way.
YEAR 3 & 4 Ages 7-9 In this week s parasha we see that the Children of Israel were by the sea, terrified that the chasing Egyptians may catch them. God splitting the sea was a huge miracle, and there are many different commentaries on the specific details of how it was done. We learn that when Moshe commanded the Children of Israel to enter the sea, they were still hesitant and nervous, until Nachshon ben Aminadav entered the sea. We are told that he walked forward until the water was up to his neck, and then the sea split. He was the one who took initiative and committed himself. After this everyone followed. Activity: n Play Mr and Mrs with the children. n Two children who know each other well, should go outside of the room. n The remaining children in the room should decide what questions they are going to ask them, to test how well they know each other. n The first child comes back in, and is asked five questions about the child still outside e.g. when is their birthday, do they have any pets, what colour is their toothbrush? n The second child re-enters, and is asked the same questions, now about themselves. n Do this with a few couples, and whoever gets the most correct answers, wins. Discussion Points: n The Talmud tells us that to match couples together is as difficult as the splitting of the sea. Why is this? n When the Children of Israel saw Pharaoh pursuing them into the wilderness, they formed a number of plans of action. Some wanted to battle with the Egyptians; others advised leaping into the sea; some felt they had no choice but to surrender and return to Egypt; and others suggested crying to God for help. Nobody dreamed of the possibility that the sea would split and that they would march through valiantly on dry land. This is compared to finding your husband or wife, as we often dream about finding our most suitable match, but then go on to marry someone who we met in a totally unanticipated way. n
YEAR 5 & 6 Ages 9-11 In this week s parasha we see that the Children of Israel were by the sea, terrified that the chasing Egyptians may catch them. God splitting the sea was a huge miracle, and there are many different commentaries on the specific details of how it was done. We learn that when Moshe commanded the Children of Israel to enter the sea, they were still hesitant and nervous, until Nachshon ben Aminadav entered the sea. We are told that he walked forward until the water was up to his neck, and then the sea split. He was the one who took initiative and committed himself. After this everyone followed. Discussion Points: n Discuss the phrase Actions speak louder than words'. n Who else in history (ancient or modern) acted like Nachshon ben Aminadav (who then went on to become the leader of the tribe of Yehudah)? n Should we always follow what the commentator Hillel said, 'If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am [only] for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? n Do you agree? Why? What is the ideal way to be
Youth service Ages 12-18 Dvar Torah We see in this week s parasha, that amidst everything going on with leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt, Moshe still remembers that Yosef, who had died years before, had asked that his bones be taken out of Egypt to be buried in the land of Israel. How did Moshe know where Yosef was buried? There was one person still alive from that generation; Serach, the daughter of Asher. She told Moshe that the Egyptians made an iron coffin for him, which they sunk in the Nile so that its waters should be blessed. Commentators tell us that Moshe went and stood on the bank of the Nile and called out: Yosef, Yosef, the time has arrived regarding which God swore, 'I will deliver you,' and the oath which you imposed upon the Israelites has reached the time of fulfillment. If you show yourself, well and good; otherwise, behold, we are absolved of your oath. Immediately Yosef s coffin floated on the surface of the water. Commentaries on Tehillim/Psalms chapter 114 say that when the Red Sea saw Yosef s remains, the water withdrew in his merit. What was so special about Yosef s remains that the sea split because of them, rather than because of Moshe or the Jews? Yosef teaches us about avoiding temptations; Yosef had been in a position where he might have been tempted to sin with Potifar s wife. Rather than be placed in a position where he needed to try and overcome his urges, he avoided those urges altogether, even though this meant that he placed himself in danger. From this we learn that it was in Yosef s merit that the Jewish people were freed from slavery, because as his family had originally followed him down to Egypt, his high morals and service of God merited their freedom out of Egypt over 200 years later.
igniting your shabbat services We hope you find our guide to this week s Parasha useful. Be sure to look out for exciting Tribe programmes in your shul. Shabbat Shalom! The Tribe Education Team t: 020 8343 5656 e: info@tribeuk.com www.tribeuk.com