Kol Tzedek Shabbat Vision and Communal Practice Guidelines Adopted at Sep. 18 Board Mtg.

The Kol Tzedek Shabbat Vision and Communal Practice Guidelines was discussed and adopted at the Sep. 18, 2008 Board Meeting. To everyone who helped draft, edit, revise and comment throughout the process, Thank You!!

You can read the final document in .pdf format on the Kol Tzedek website at this address:

http://www.kol-tzedek.org/ktshabbatpractices

or click here to go straight to it. We hope to see you at Shabbat programming soon.

-Shabbat Study Group

Shabbat Vision and Communal Practice Guidelines Doc to be Presented at Board Mtg., Sep 18; Please Come!!

Dear All,

The document we've been working on since we started the Shabbat study class in January is now ready for the Kol Tzedek Board, and we would LOVE for you to come to the board meeting and learn more about our process and our product, and to be part of this exciting accomplishment. We will discuss it right at 7 pm, in the first half-hour of the board meeting. We would like as many people as possible to have participated in this process. For the location of the meeting, please email president@kol-tzedek.org.

We again invite the community to review our last revisions to the document, available online on our website in .pdf format here: http://www.kol-tzedek.org/ktshabbatpractices

Please offer your comments beforehand (on the blog, or in an email to communications@kol-tzedek.org) or in person during the first half hour of the Sep. 18 board meeting. This and all Kol Tzedek board meetings are open to the public.

We hope to hear from you and see you at the board meeting,
-Joshua and the Kol Tzedek Shabbat Study Group

DRAFT of Shabbat Vision and Communal Practice Guidelines

The Kol Tzedek Shabbat Study Group seeks feedback on the DRAFT version of the Kol Tzedek Shabbat Vision & Communal Practice Guidelines document. Please click here to read the draft in .pdf format, and post comments here on our blog or send email to communications@kol-tzedek.org with the subject DRAFT Shabbat Guidelines document, or attend the September 21st board meeting where the document will be discussed; you can also email communications@kol-tzedek.org for details about that meeting. We look forward to hearing from you! Thanks,

-Kol Tzedek Shabbat Study Group

Principles for Decision Making on Shabbat Policies

We are embarking on the process of decision making for Kol Tzedek Shabbat policies. Of course, we will get input from people as we go forward. For now, I wanted to share some Principles/Values we have outlined that will guide us in our decision-making.

KT Shabbat Study Group Decision Making Principles

Oneg Shabbat (delight)--
Cultivating opportunities for people to experience joy and thankfulness
Shabbat Shalom
Infusing our Shabbat practice with an atmosphere of peace and harmony
Menuha
Giving ourselves the opportunity to rest, to breathe, to appreciate life exactly as it is and isn’t
K’vod HaMesoret (Respect for tradition)
Respect for our sacred tradition; the tradition has a “vote but not a veto”
Inclusivity
Wanting an environment where people feel welcome, invited to bring their whole selves into community or prayer
Kehillah
Creating opportunities for people to gather in community
Diversity
Respecting the diversity in the room; creating an environment which to some degree can accommodate people with varying observance levels
Outreach
Meeting people “where they are” and helping them find deeper meaning in Jewish spirituality and peoplehood
Hiddur Mitzvah (beautification of the mitzvah)
Doing things in order to add beauty or depth to traditional mitzvoth
Sh’lom Bayit (Peace in the house)
Making compromises for the welfare of the “household” or community
Lifnim Mishoret HaDin
(Going above the letter of law)
Keeping in mind the spirit of Shabbat and reaching to bring that spirit in, even by doing additional customs or in contemporary terms, perhaps doing things that violate the letter of the law but keep the spirit of the law
Making Shabbat Different
Creating an environment that feels different than our workplace or daily life
Challenge
Challenging people to move out of their comfort zone, try on new practices, deepen their commitments
L’Shem Hinuch
“For educational purposes”—the principle that at times, the letter of law needs to bend in order to educate
Tircha DeTzibura
“A burden to the community”—we can and should take in the community’s needs and desires as we make decisions

DRAFT Version of the Vision Statement

Hello All--this is still very much a work in progress, and we're eager to hear your feedback here below, in the comments section. You can also email your comments or questions to ktshabbat@gmail.com if you prefer, or talk to members of the Shabbat Study group.

DRAFT - DRAFT

Kol Tzedek Shabbat Study Group—Version 5

Shabbat is an integral part of Jewish life: as Achad Ha'am¹ said "It's not so much that Jews have kept Shabbat as that Shabbat has kept the Jews." Shabbat offers the opportunity for joy and delight (oneg), depth and meaning, transcendence of our busy daily lives and connection with the divine and with community. Shabbat is zecher le’ma’ase vereishit, ‘a reminder of the Creation of the world’; as such, Shabbat invites us to cease from our work and regain a sense of wonder for the world in which we live. Leaving behind work and day-to-day concerns, we sanctify Shabbat as a day for rest and renewal.

Traditional observance of Shabbat incorporates prohibitions against various kinds of labor (melacha) that sets Shabbat apart from the rest of the week. Many contemporary Jews see some of these – such as talking on the phone or gardening – as away to enrich their Shabbat; while other labors, such as driving to shul, may be seen as unavoidable. For some Jews an ideal Shabbat is centered on individual reflection and Torah study; for others, on communal connection through prayer; and for others, on joyous activities, such as hiking or playing music.

At Kol Tzedek, we encourage innovative Shabbat rituals as well as honor traditional observance. We value these practices for how they may enrich and sanctify our Shabbat:

• Talmud Torah (Study): To engage with Torah, Jewish and non-Jewish texts and reflect on how they connect to our world.

• Hachnasat Orchim (Hospitality): To enter each other’s homes for communal and family gatherings, sharing meals, prayers and song.

• Tefilah (Prayer): To experience meaningful connection to the Divine and community through davening, meditation, and music.

• Menucha (Rest): To leave behind our work week and take time for quiet reflection and rest, “re-souling” (v’yinafash) us for the week to come.

1 INSERT FOOTNOTE ON ACHAD HA’AM

Watch this Space: draft coming soon

The study group met on April 9 and worked through another draft of the Vision Statement. At the end of the meeting we agreed that we need one more session with the draft before posting it here on the blog. The study group will meet again next week, then post the new draft on Apr. 24 and look forward to your comments.

March 26: Vision Statement Drafting Continues

At this Wednesday's meeting, we spent a full two hours with the first draft of the Vision Statement. Two committee members will now rework the first draft, and hopefully pretty soon we'll have a draft that we feel ready to show the community. At that point, we'll want your recommendations for further additions and revisions, so stay tuned!