Rel/Ed Chapter Program Suggestions
Table of Contents
| Monthly Youth Shabbats
| Megillah Reading
| Megilah and Mingle
| Purim Skit
| Sukkot Shul-inn
| Sivion and Suffganiyot soiree
| Torah Conflicts |
Monthly Youth Shabbats- Often chapters try Youth Saturday morning services and it seems like they always fail. Try changing it up, do a havdalah and bowling on a Saturday night or a fun and interactive Friday night service. Often, unfortunately, USYers would much rather sleep late on a Saturday morning than go to synagogue; rather than just using that as an excuse, work around it. Also one event that could work well is making a full shabaton. After services on Friday night let everyone just hang out, have shacharit on Saturday morning and after services show everyone some fun shomer Shabbat actives like board games, a game of wiffel ball, some football, basketball, cards, or anything!!
Megilah Reading- Get your chapter involved with the megillah reading in your shul. Have a couple of nights where USYers get a chance to learn how to read megillah, learning the hebrew and the trope, even in groups. Have the chapter read the megillah for the congregation on Purim.
Megilah and Mingle- Get your chapter involved in the megilah reading in your Shul. Make sure that even those who are not reading come to services. Have USYers hold up signs (IE stop and go) for when ever the name Haman is said and after the services have a dance! Get a DJ and the whole shtick. This way you are getting USYers to come to services, showing the community our involvement and passion, and also showing the USYers the fun in Judaism.
Purim Skit. Get together as a chapter and write a Purim Spiel (skit or play) to be performed in front of the congregation. You don't just have to tell the actual Purim story, get creative! Give the Spiel a theme, like "Guys and Dolls" or "Esther and the 7 dwarves" or "Estherella" (with evil step-sister Vashti, fairy god-father Mordechai, and prince Achashverosh). There area million more ways to make it fun and interesting...have fun!
Sukkot Shul-Inns- Often there isn't a large showing at conservative Shuls on some of the 3 regalim (Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot). One fun way to get people to come is to have a Sukkot or Shul-inn! Have USYers sleep at Shul in the Sukkah. Some fun ideas to do at this Shul-in are; Edible Sukkah competition (who can make the most real looking edible Sukkah out of graham crackers, peanut butter, fluff, twisters, M & Ms, lettuce, and anything else you can think of), a Sukkot Game Show, or a scavenger hunt in the shul. On the other hand make sure to have at least an hour of serious studying of why we celebrate Sukkoth and another hour or so, on a "fun topic" of sorts (IE Tattoos in Judaism, sex in Judaism, homosexuality in Judaism).
Sivion and Suffganiyot soiree- Have a Chanukah party! Play a little driedel, serve latkes and suffganiyot (jelly doughnuts). Together with the community light the chanukiyah and sing Chanukah songs. A way to attract people to this is to make it a lounge night. Have a TV on and possibly a ping-pong table or anything fun your chapter has.
Torah Conflicts. This is a nice a little rel/ed program that will teach people a little bit about some of the conflicts in the Torah while still allowing them to have a great time. Ask certain people, who are at least somewhat knowledgeable about Torah, to study the conflict of one set of people from the bible or from Jewish History. For instance, tell them Jacob and Esau, or Hillel and Shammai, or Moses and Ramses, etc. Then, during your chapter program, set aside about 15 or so minutes to have a "celebrity deathmatch." Well, not actually. Encourage the actors to really get into their parts and bring up a lot of key points at the same time. Make sure they are enthusiastic. This will achieve the goals of teaching people about Judaism, and also giving them a chance to see their friends "beat up" on each other.
