Celebrating their second year, our family Shabbats meet on the fourth Friday of every month. As we gather in our members' homes our venues change from month to month.

We continue to be blessed with increasing attendance for these Shabbats. Families have indicated interest in adding a post-Shabbat Saturday evening Havdallah service gathering every 2 or 3 months. Growth and enthusiasm for our programs is a wonderful problem to have.

Family Rock Shabbat
A Shabbat Service, for the families, with the families, by the families
A quarterly family Shabbat at Unity of Bellevue.
October 24th will be our next event, beginning at 6:30PM.

We will share in a one-hour Shabbat service in the sanctuary of Unity of Bellevue, which will be followed by a family potluck in the Friendship Hall (8PM to 9PM.) Our rabbinic intern, Olivier, will be leading services together with the teenagers and parents who would like to volunteer as musicians, singers, and prayer leaders. Our main purpose is to have fun, dance and sing a lot in celebration of Shabbat.

Service & Potluck!
We will share in a one-hour Shabbat service in the sanctuary of Unity of Bellevue, which will be followed by a family potluck in the Friendship Hall (8PM to 9PM.) Our rabbinic intern, Olivier, will be leading services together with the teenagers and parents who would like to volunteer as musicians, singers, and prayer leaders. Our main purpose is to have fun, dance and sing a lot in celebration of Shabbat.

We are interested in creating a parent-led (post B'nai Mitzvah teens-supported) twice-monthly Shabbat celebration for the children, while the rest of the parents are attending Bet Alef's Shabbat services with Rabbi Ted.

Families would take turn leading this child-friendly Shabbat, modeled on our current monthly Children Shabbat with basic songs and blessings, appropriate storytelling, Jewish themed crafts and/or Shabbat/Jewish themed video.

What we need from you:
If you are a parent or a post-B'nai Mitzvah teenager and are interested in supporting this, we need to hear from you in order to create a schedule for 2008. Please contact Seth Leopold.

This year we are moving away from child care through the High Holidays an into a meaningful High Holiday experience for our children, while providing an avenue for our post B'nai Mitzvah teenagers to remain involved in their community and create mentor relationships with the younger generation.

What we need from you:
We are looking to hire a dedicated Jewish professional with experience teaching children and working with young adults. This person would organize the volunteer teens in order to create a meaningful and engaging program for the children through the High Holidays. This person would be remunerated for his/her time. We need your help in our recruiting effort. If you know of anyone who would fit our profile or are connected to organizations who could help, please contact Olivier directly at olivier@betalef.org.

Our vision is to create memorable and exciting events for children throughout the year around the holiday events such as the traditional Purim party, the Lag B'Omer annual bonfire, our Sukkot gathering or the Chanukkah party.

What we need from you:
We have all the know-how, we just need leadership. Three to four dedicated parents is all it would take to plan and organize these four events. Please contact Olivier directly to volunteer.

Teenagers' programming
Jewish Life after your Bar/Bar Mitzvah!
Friday Evenings Before Services, 5:30 - 7:15PM

Our vision is to create a series of events for the post-B'nai Mitzvah teenagers throughout the year. Suggested possibilities to discuss are:

• Monthly meetings with Olivier studying the Torah or the Talmud and engaging in a conversation relevant to the issues and challenges teenagers face in their lives.
• Two annual weekend retreats with Olivier indoors or outdoors, with a Jewish theme and activities.
• Your idea here...

Please contact Olivier directly at olivier@betalef.org and let him know you will attend.