Rekindle Shabbat

Register here for Rekindle Shabbat
or contact Phyllis Osher:
978-740-4404 or email posher@rilcf.org.

I want to incorporate this tradition into Joshua’s life now, when he is so young, so it will be part of his life forever.
- Stacey Comito, Peabody, one of over 3,000 participants in the Rekindle Shabbat program

Registration is open for Rekindle Shabbat 2010-2011. Rekindle Shabbat is about connection, convenience and community. Rekindle Shabbat, a family-centered, home-based program, has been providing warm, wonderful and positive Jewish experiences for thousands of people on the North Shore since 1997. Your family is invited to join more than 1,000 families, and more than 3,500 individuals, who discovered the beauty and benefits of Rekindle Shabbat.

When you join Rekindle Shabbat, you receive, free of charge:
-Kosher, catered meals four times a year for you and your buddy family to enjoy in the comfort of your home
-A fully stocked Shabbat kit, including silver kiddush cup for wine, Shabbat candles and candle sticks, a beautiful challah cover from Israel, and much more
-An interactive workshop for parents on how to Rekindle Shabbat
-A spiritual connection to our Jewish Family and a social connection to other Jewish families in our community

Rekindle Shabbat 2010-2011 Dates
Rekindle Shabbat Training for Parents who are new to the program-
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 7:30 pm at Woodbridge Assisted Living, 240 Lynnfield Street, Peabody or by appointment

Rekindle Shabbat Dinners are held on Friday evenings in your home, at a time that is convenient for you, on the following dates:
November 19, 2010
January 21, 2011
March 11, 2011
May 13, 2011

Rekindle Shabbat is free and open to Jewish and interfaith families with children who are teens and younger, and who reside in or affiliated with a Jewish organization in one of the 23 cities and towns in the Foundation service area.

For more information contact Phyllis Osher at 978-740-4404
or email posher@rilcf.org.

What Rekindle Shabbat means to our families:

Jessica O’Gorman, Swampscott
‘Shabbat? Before Rekindle Shabbat, I had no idea how to do Shabbat. Now, it is a part of our lives.”

Laura Watkin, Marblehead
“We really use the program as a way to take a breath, stop, get together with friends and connect. I see that as a huge gift.”

Marilyn Andrews, Malden:
“When I joined the Rekindle Shabbat program six years ago, I thought it would be a program for the children. When I look back, I have learned as much as everyone else.”

Margie Sheris, Beverly
“We had an impromptu Shabbat after I got the Shabbat kit and my kids were so happy. I didn‘t realize what an impact it would have on them until we actually did it. They knew all the songs and all the prayers. It was wonderful.”

Heather Greenberg, Swampscott
“It is an opportunity to spend Shabbat with other families and keep our children interested. We can make it what we want it to be. Rekindle Shabbat gave us the tools and we can customize it to the needs of our families.”

Amy Cohn, Marblehead
“Before Rekindle Shabbat, we sporadically lit candles and took time to acknowledge Shabbat, but now we do it consistently and I feel it is a ritual that will stay with my kids throughout their lives.”

Elisa Zimmerman, Peabody
“It encouraged us to do the blessings and to stop and reflect on our week and it helped us to observe Shabbat every single week.”

PJ Library Expands, Now Enrolling New Families

Children born in 2002 or later, who have not reached age 9, are eligible for the PJ Library, a program that offers free Jewish books and music every month to children from Jewish and interfaith families.

The program, designed to help keep our children Jewish by promoting a sense of Jewish pride in young children, is provided free by the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, Cohen Hillel Academy and the Grinspoon Foundation of Western Massachusetts.  The books, valued at $142, are mostly hardcover with beautiful illustrations. The Lappin Foundation service area is one of more than 100 communities nationally to be part of this growing program offered in partnership with the Springfield, Mass.-based Harold Grinspoon Foundation, www.pjlibrary.org.

To date, the Lappin Foundation has enrolled 933 children, 611 families, 2,001 individuals in the program, and plans to reach many more.

The PJ Library is free and open to Jewish and interfaith families who live or affiliate with a Jewish institution in the Lappin Foundation service area. Click here to see a sample of the books in the PJ Library. For more information on the PJ Library, please contact Phyllis Osher, Lappin Foundation program associate, 978-740-4404 or email posher@rilcf.org.

Great Shofar Blowout
Click here to see more pictures from the Great Shofar Blowout on September 17, 2006.
Guinness Awards World Shofar Record to Lappin Foundation
It’s official!

 

 

 

 

The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation was officially awarded the Guinness World Record for “largest shofar ensemble” at the Great Shofar Blowout with 796 shofars sounded at Phillips Beach in Swampscott, Mass. on September 17, 2006.

The certificate was sent to the Foundation by Guinness World Records of London on November 6, 2006. The previous record was set by Congregation Shaare Shamayim in suburban Philadelphia with 400 shofars.

“The Great Shofar Blowout was the largest gathering of Jews in my memory and a massive expression of Jewish pride that created long-lasting memories for everyone in attendance,” said Robert I. Lappin, Foundation trustee.

The Lappin Foundation, headquartered in Salem, Mass. is dedicated to the mission of helping to keep our children Jewish.

For the 1,600 or so people who attended the Blowout or sounded the shofar, the triumph was really in being on the beach with so many Jews just before the Jewish holidays. The event was held shortly before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

“We came two years ago and we came this year because we really enjoy it,” said Patty Pless of Marblehead, who attended with her husband and four children. “It gives us such a feeling of community to see so many people coming to the same event to do the same thing. It is really beautiful.”

Jessica O’Gorman, who attended with her two daughters said, “I am so excited to be part of a Guinness World Record and part of a history-making event. Setting a world record makes it fun, but because it was done Jewishly, it is that much more important.”

Two years ago at the Great Shofar Blowout of 2004, the North Shore of Massachusetts set the first-ever Guinness World Record for largest shofar ensemble, but was topped by Philadelphia last year. To reclaim, the community needed just one more shofar than Philadelphia, but instead of the minimum 401, the community nearly doubled the record with 796.

“Our community showed their Jewish pride by nearly doubling the existing Guinness Record. It was a day where everyone felt connected to the larger Jewish family,” said Mr. Lappin.

Only 10 percent of all Guinness Records make the Guinness Book of World Records, but those with challenges have the best chance. The recently published 2007 book features the Philadelphia record of 400.

To prepare for the Great Shofar Blowout, the Lappin Foundation worked as a partner with more than 20 community agencies and sponsored 14 free shofar educational sessions between May and September. Those who attended received a short educational workshop on the history and role of the shofar, and a lesson in how to sound it. They were also given a free shofar from Israel to bring to the Blowout. More than 350 people were trained in these sessions, in addition to some 600 people who had been trained in past sessions in the community or in a school setting.

“After the Blowout, we went to the Guinness Web site and talked about what a world record is and the number of people there and it led to so many great conversations,” said Glenn Paster of Swampscott, who attended with his wife Hilory and three sons. “We talked about all these people coming together and how we have something in common with all of them, how so many people believe what we believe.”
Check out the links below to read how the Great Shofar Blowout made national news!

The Magic of Sh’ma
“The magic of the Sh’ma is in the power of these six words to transform your lives. Reciting the words makes you stop and think about what it means to be a Jew, a member of a great and unique people. The words connect us through the ages, transform us in time from the present to the past and forward to our future.”
- Deborah Coltin, Peabody

The Magic of Sh’ma is designed to encourage people of all ages to pledge to recite the Sh’ma Yisrael, words that have tied the Jewish people together for thousands of year, twice a day for a week, with the objective of it becoming a life-long habit.

Sh’ma Week took place from August 13 to 20, 2005, with the goal of having hundreds of Jewish people, children and adults, across the North Shore pledge to recite the Sh’ma Yisrael twice a day, morning and evening. During that week, more than 1,000 recited the sacred six words of the Sh’ma from their homes, camps and vacations spots joining millions of Jews around the world.