The Willow Glen Resident Photograph courtesy of Ronit Waissman Voice Lessons: Andie Markowitz, Emily Leiter and Ian Wolfe sing "I've Got that Shabbat Feeling Here in My Heart" with Torah for Tots' Susan Leider. Children find both fun and faith at Congregation Sinai's Torah for Tots Program stresses a hands-on involvement in Jewish rituals By Cecily Barnes Susan Leider faces her palms upward and raises her hands from waist to shoulder. "OK, everybody," she half whispers to the group of toddlers and preschoolers, "we're going to have a silent prayer." Leider turns to the adults and smiles, "at least as silent as we can with this age group." At this point, around 10 children from 6 months to 6 years old stand up, the 1- and 2-year-olds with the help of parents. Leider moves fast--attention spans are short and time is of the essence. "You can say anything to God you want. You can thank Him for something good that happened this week, you can ask him for something," she says. Leider then takes her tallis, a ritual prayer shawl, and cups it over her eyes. "You can make a private space to cover your eyes." Some of the kids drag their yarmulkes from their heads and cover their eyes, others bury their faces in mom's arm. Miraculously, the silence lasts a good seven seconds. Knowing it won't hold much longer, Leider quickly moves on with Congregation Sinai's Torah for Tots Saturday morning service. "The purpose is to provide an opportunity for children to experience a Sabbath service on their own level," Leider says. "I don't want them to feel like this is the place where they come and people tell them to be quiet. That's why I try to incorporate a lot of movement into the service. Kids need to move." As a mother of three, Leider knows kids very well. She has also spent many years teaching songs and prayers to children at congregations and Jewish pre-schools throughout the Bay Area with her guitar. Leider says that while she alters the Sabbath service for little people with short attention spans, the main prayers and order of a genuine service comes across clearly. "A lot of the prayers that we sing are the ones the adults sing. We try to mimic that so when the children grow up, they'll hear 'oh, it's time for the Barchu prayer,' " Leider says. "Sunday School for children doesn't start until kindergarten at Congregation Sinai. Unless they go to a Jewish pre-school, this is the only Jewish education some children get." In the tiny classroom where the Torah for Tots service is held, Leider invites two boys to open the Aron Hakodesh, the cabinet that holds the Jewish holy script, the Torah. Tentatively, the 4-year-olds pull open the doors, and reach for the pretend Torah, made from cotton-stuffed tube socks and wrapped in colorful material--an actual Torah scroll is too large for children, and could be torn or dropped. Before any kids have a chance to become upset, Leider quickly produces a box filled with tube-sock Torahs for everyone. "Okay," Leider tells the group. "Let's go on our Torah processions." With every child grasping their very own smooshable holy script, a teetering, uneven line files out into the courtyard, singing songs. Once back in the classroom, the children gather around Leider's chair to hear a Torah story, which today is about Rebekah at the well, and Eliezer's search for a wife for Isaac. The kids are most impressed by the 10 camels that accompany Eliezer the servant, even though the moral of the story is Rebekah's altruism. Throughout the story, acknowledgment of the animals floats from the young crowd. "Camels!" one 2-year-old says excitedly. Julie Kriegel has been taking her toddler and 5-year-old to Congregation Sinai since they were infants. Although they are free to run around in the adult synagogue, Kriegel says, they love Torah for Tots because they can actually participate. "It's like a very miniature, kid-oriented version of what the adults do, done in a very lively way," Kriegel says. "There's a part of the service where we sing about the tents the Israelites stayed in, and [Leider] holds up the tallis for the kids to go underneath. They have their own little Kiddush afterwards, where they have donut holes and juice." Before the children's Sabbath service, Susan Ellenberg says that she and her husband rarely came to the congregation for Sabbath. "It was very difficult," Ellenberg says. "There was no place for the kids to go, and they'd be running around. And a year ago, I wouldn't let my 3-year-old play outside alone." Now Ellenberg spends the morning at the children's service, and then joins the last 20 minutes of the adult service with all the children from Torah for Tots. At the end of the kids' Sabbath service, the children file into the adult synagogue, where they join the rabbi on stage for a final song--Adon Olam. The rabbi than hands out candy, and the kids go outside and play. Both Torah for Tots and Congregation Sinai's adult Sabbath services are free and open to anyone. For more information, contact Congregation Sinai at 408/264-8542. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, November 25, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.