FRIDAY NIGHT FAMILY THEMED SERVICE
Inspiration for Service: My mom always tells me this: friends come and go, but your
family will always be there for you.
Where: any comfortable space that can hold the number of participants expected, ex. A family room at
someone’s home, a basement, a room at a synagogue
Atmosphere: Try to emphasize a “back to the basics” feel. Make it simple with only Shabbat decorations.
Ask that people do not use their phones between now and the end of the program out of respect for the
people who want to pray, out of respect to BBG, and out of respect to their family sitting around them.
Have everyone sit down where it is comfortable. (pillows on the floor and sit in a circle…make it ALL
INCLUSIVE!) Make them feel at home whether or not that person is actually at home. This idea of family
is the idea of all kinds of family. We are emphasizing the ideas of all kinds of families and
PARTICULARLY BBG family. Throughout the service, ask different people to come up and lead to help
the communal feeling.
Materials: Various dessert foods (spooey (frosting and pretzels), jelly beans, m and m’s, marshmallow
fluff, twizzlers, sour straws…etc. for building family members out of food), plates, napkins, utensils,
siddurim (supplement available below feel free to adapt the service or use a different siddur),
pillows/couches for sitting,
Outline: (Total Services and Activity approximately 1hour 45 minutes)
Arrival and Schmoozing (10-15 minutes),
Services with script (50 minutes)
Family Making Project (20 minutes)
Present Projects and Concluding Song (20 minutes)
At the beginning of the service, go around and have everyone share a highlight of the week. Emphasize
that you are creating a light and happy atmosphere! Don’t forget to have different people help with each
prayer.
Have Shlicha or facilitator read: Friends can come and go, but family will always be there for you. Many
of you have probably heard this said by a parent or a relative, but there is so much depth to it. Family
members do not have to be blood relatives. Maybe your best friend is like family to you, the sister or
brother you never had. Family members are the people who have unconditional love for you. Each and
every one of you is part of a family, or maybe even multiple. There is always your BBG family here, you
can always count on the girls in this circle to help you out, but there are so many more people. Your
immediate family, your best friends, your camp friends, and the list can go on and on. It is the people
who accept and love you for who you are, not what you have, the people who are always there no matter
what.
Tonight, we are going to take a journey together as a family. Look at the people in this room because
tonight this is your family. Take this opportunity to connect with someone new; to start a new bond with
someone. L’dor V’Dor. From Generation to Generation. From generation to generation, your family will
always be supportive. This is a constant.
Think of all of these prayers. From generation to generation, the Jewish family has been saying them.
Below are suggested prayers with a script to relate the theme to some of the prayers. Feel free to add
more prayers, if you don’t have a siddur you can use this one from Build a Prayer:
http://buildaprayer.org/create?rm=dsh;id=114
Opening Song
Now it is time to welcome the Sabbath angels and the Shabbat for this weekend. While we do this, reflect
upon Shabbat in your family. What do you do in your family that makes Shabbat special or what do you
wish you did? If Shabbat is something you do not do, what makes you Jewish- is it BBG? And what
makes BBG special to you?
L’Cha Dodi
Barchu
Maariv Aravim
Ahavat Olam
Before we start the Shema, let’s take a minute to reflect. The Shema talks about how there is only one
G-d. Like G-d being a constant, what are some constants in your lives that keep you going and keep you
strong?
Shema
V’ahavta
Mi Chamocha
Hashkivenu
V’shamru
Chatzi Kaddish
Amidah (Do silently, sing Shalom Rav together)
What is peace to you? Has the definition of peace changed since you have been alive? Do people
elderly to you see peace the same way you do? Do you think there is a reason for this?
Aleinu
Mourner’s Kaddish
Yigdal
Family Project:
Here it is time to get CREATIVE! Use the dessert foods to design your family. This can be your BBG
family, the different generations in your immediate family or any other community that feels like family to
you. After you create your families we will share them and then enjoy them by eating them!!
At the very end of the program, sing a song that is important that is a unifier, a song that girls can listen to
or hear in times of need. Have Shlicha read:
Regardless of where you are or where you live, your family is what supports you. Throughout your lives,
you will all do great things. To get to those great things, you must take chances. You must push your
personal boundaries and experiment with a new world. You must open your eyes to the wonders around
you and be ready for anything that comes your way. While this is easy to say, it is scary. I hope
throughout all of your lives, you remember that your family is with you for support. Remember, with the
help and the support of the people who love you, you can be fearless! The song we are about to sing is
called Kol HaOlam Kulo. The lyrics are Kol Haolam Kulo, gesher, tzar meod. Vihaeekar lo lephached
k’lal. It translates to the whole world is a narrow bridge and the main thing to remember is not to be afraid.
Remember that each of us girls is here to help you walk across your own narrow bridge.
KOL HA'OLAM KULO
THE WHOLE WORLD GESHER TSAR ME'OD IS A NARROW BRIDGE
Kol Ha'olam kulo
Gesher Tsar me'od
Gesher Tsar me'od
Gesher Tsar me'od -
The whole world
is a very narrow bridge
a very narrow bridge
a very narrow bridge
Kol Ha'olam kulo
Gesher Tsar me'od Gesher Tsar me'od.
The whole world
is a very narrow bridge A very narrow bridge.
Veha'ikar - veha'ikar
Lo lefached lo lefached klal.
And the main thing to recall is not to be afraid not to be afraid at all.
Veha'ikar - veha'ikar
lo lefached klal.
And the main thing to recall is not to be afraid at all.