Sing-along

Monthly Tot Shabbat welcomes children

At the monthly Early Childhood Center Tot Shabbat at Congregation Kol Tikvah in Parkland, young children sing songs with the clergy in what is considered a spiritual and fun environment for them and their families.

The next Tot Shabbat, featuring the congregation’s Phylis J Green Early Childhood Center’s 3s (children who are 3 years old and turning four this year), takes place on Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Kol Tikvah, 6750 North University Dr. It includes songs, stories and cookies and milk.

For these services, which feature a different age level of Early Childhood Center students each month, the children sing songs with the congregation’s Rabbi Bradd Boxman, its spiritual leader; Cantor Malcolm Arnold; and Rabbi Melissa Stollman, its director of lifelong learning.

Sydney Berlin, the congregation’s Early Childhood Center director, said “The parents love to come to Tot Shabbat and see their children in the service as it’s their special time that they get to be featured.”

“It’s also a great way to connect families from the community at large that may not necessarily have their children in the ECC and that are looking for something that’s family friendly for young children to celebrate Shabbat and to be with other people and feel connected.”

At 7 p.m., the congregants go to another room where they sing a song, light candles and say blessings over wine and over challah.

“A really nice part is that the parents bless their children by putting their arms around their children or over their heads,” Boxman said.

Milk and cookies follow as parents socialize and the children play.

The Dec. 1 service will prepare the young congregants for Hanukkah, which begins on the evening of Dec. 12.

Arnold said that this service is a great way of creating relationships with the congregation’s young children and establishing some Jewish continuity for them.

“It’s a nice diversion from the formality of a regular service,” Arnold said.

Visit koltikvah.net or call 954-346-7878 for more information, including a dinner before the Tot Shabbat service.