Every Sunday, the Jewish Youth Encounter Program pairs teens from Bergen yeshiva high schools with children from unaffiliated Jewish families who want to learn more about their heritage. On October 24-25, the teens and their families will be hosting the children and their families as part of the world wide Shabbos Project. “We have two Shabbatons a year where our Big Brothers and Big Sisters invite the children to spend a Shabbos with them. But we have never had the children and their families come to our homes for Shabbos. This is an opportunity to make a real family to family connection,” said Dr. Debby Rapps, Director of the Jewish Youth Encounter Program.
The OU Shabbos Project began in South Africa and this year has expanded across the globe. Observant Jewish families all over the world will be sharing their homes with families who want to experience Shabbos, most for the first time. “This will be a chance to share our Jewish identity,” Dr. Rapps said, “And for some it will remind them of Shabbos spent in their parents or grandparents’ homes.”
Dr. Rapps said the biggest group of teens who are JYEP Big Brothers and Big Sisters live near Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield and they will have their own beginner’s explanatory service on Friday evening. Host families in other neighborhoods will take families to the shuls where they daven.
Both families have guidelines for the experience, Dr. Rapps explained. The children and their families will get a booklet with prayers that are both translated and transliterated. The Shabbos Project also put together a booklet that tells families about each aspect of Shabbos so they don’t feel overwhelmed. Dr. Rapps said host families shouldn’t feel like they are putting on a show. When she hosts not yet observant Jewish families she just acts naturally. “I tell our guests to feel free to ask questions. We show them everything, how we light one candle for each child in the family, how we make Kiddush and wash hands, and have home baked challos.”
The families are invited to come before Shabbos begins and stay until the end but the focus will be on Friday night. Dr. Rapps sent letters to the parents of all JYEP students, explaining the project. In a letter to parents of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters, asking them to invite the children and their families to their homes, she wrote, “This is a great way to get your entire family involved in the Mitzvah of Kiruv Rechokim–a chance to impact the lives of an unaffiliated family. We hope that through your efforts, one more Jewish family will be transformed from a spark into a bonfire.”
By Bracha Schwartz
