Last month was my first experience with High Holiday services with a toddler. As we are not yet members of a synagogue, we went to services with relatives. I only attended the beginning of Rosh Hashanah services before taking my son to the toddler service. We both enjoyed the singing and I learned a few things as well – like the shofar is not blown on Rosh Hashanah when it falls on Shabbat. It was fun to hear my son shout out the words he knew, like shofar and challah, and watch his interest in learning a few more words. I still have a lot to learn – in the toddler room we sang a wonderful little hello song to each child, but I had never heard the words before and I had a hard time remembering it enough to ask others what it meant….my best attempt at repeating what we sang drew strange faces from my family. I think there are a lot more Tot Shabbat services in my future!
The synagogue we attended is conservative, and the service was all in Hebrew (for the small parts I attended). Even though I do not understand what is being said, I always find the service to have a musical like quality; it is a comforting sound and I enjoy following along in English when it is time. My husband often sings prayers in Hebrew and my son really enjoys it – no doubt he is enjoying what he is hearing although he does know know the meaning yet either.
We hope to belong to a synagogue soon, which would make attending High Holiday services much more meaningful next year for us all. In the mean time, it is a start and I will always have fond memories of the challah and honey shared with my toddler at our first Tot Shabbat!
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