* to provide opportunities for people to learn skills in a small, intimiate format.
* to provide an alternate service for knowledgeable congregants who would like to do more studying than can be accommodated in the usual Shabbat service.
* to have a meaningful service that ends by noon.
* start at 9:30 (after upstairs Pesukei D'Zimra)
* teach a topic from 9:30 to 10:00
* Shaharit from 10:00 to 10:30 (start at Nishmat)
* Torah service is from 10:30 to 11:40
* read triennial torah portion, giving opportunities to people who have never had a chance for either aliyot or reading.
* haftarah is followed by a dvar torah about 20 minutes long, given by one of the participants.
* Musaf ends by 12:00
* attendees join the rest of congregation upstairs for kiddush
* Learning topic at 9:30 will be focused on the Sim Shalom siddur. We will use an appropriate companion textbook such as that produced by Torah Aura. Either the synagogue will purchase a number of copies or each participant will bring his/her own.
* Triennial cycle (by R. Richard Eisenberg, from JTS) will be followed, with 5757 as the second year (see United Synagogue calendar).
* All participants will be encouraged to read R. Richard Israel's chapter on how to give a dvar torah in "The Kosher Pig" (reprinted from the First Jewish Catalogue).
* no previous knowledge of the text will be assumed -- adults or teenagers who want to learn more about the shabbat service should attend
* more knowledgeable people will be asked to help take more difficult roles, such as teaching or reading Torah and Haftarah.
Focus will be on the basics of the Shabbat morning service (starting from Nishmat). Participants will learn to read and understand the text, the tunes, and choreography. Sessions will be held approximately once a month, starting in October and ending in June.
1. Nishmat (p. 334) to Kaddish (p. 338).
2. Barchu (p. 340) to just before the Shema (p. 346).
3. Shema (p. 346) to Ga'al Israel (p. 352).
4. Beginning of Amidah (p. 354) including the Kedushah (p. 356)
5. Rest of the Amidah (p. 358 - p. 364).
6. Beginning of Torah Service (p. 392) till Torah is laid on reader's table (p. 398).
7. End of Torah Service (p. 412) to (p. 426). Includes Rosh Hodesh announcement.
8. Musaf (p. 428 - p. 506). Only the Shabbat Musaf will be covered.
9. End of service (p. 508 - p. 514).
* festival Amida
* rest of morning service: Birkot HaShahar, Pesukei D'Zimra
* Shabbat minhah
* daily services
* Siddurim and Torah -- to be used from existing synagogue facilities.
* Siddur teaching textbook -- it would be best if the synagogue could supply about 20 copies of the textbook chosen for this service. If not, then we could notify people that they should purchase their own at Israel Bookstore.
* publicity -- notice of this service should appear in the Luach and shabbat flyer.
* Loss of attendance at regular service -- this service will only occur once a month. We will attempt to schedule the service at regular intervals approximately once a month. With the rise in baby boomlet bnai mitzvah and other simhahs such as baby namings, the loss of 20 or 30 people out of a congregation of 300 will not be a significant factor.
* Loss of Torah readers at the regular service -- Anyone who currently reads Torah in the regular service must agree to maintain that commitment if a conflict were to arise. It is for this reason that we propose to read the triennial cycle in this service -- to minimize the Torah reading in the alternate service.