Annual Scout Shabbat service Feb. 14
Scout Shabbat 2009
The Miami Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of Western Ohio will host their joint Annual Scout Shabbat at Beth Abraham Synagogue on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 9 a.m.
Scouts and adult Scouters of all faiths are welcome to attend; area Jewish Scouts from all synagogues are also invited to participate in the service.
| Jewish Committee on Scouting Chair Scott Segalewitz |
The Scout Shabbat program is held in rotation each year at one of the Dayton area’s four synagogues. Facilitating the program is Scott Segalewitz, chair of the Dayton Jewish Committee on Scouting.
Segalewitz hopes the event will inspire Jewish parents to consider Scouting for their children: an activity, he says, that teaches humanness, morality and how to make good choices.
“Both the Boy Scout and Girl Scout programs promote character building, and work to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes,” Segalewitz says. “Both programs instill the values of their respective Scout Oath/Promise and Scout Law. Among the values in both of these programs, members of these organizations promise their duty to God.”
He says the committee’s job is to promote Jewish Scouting throughout the Miami Valley and to help Scouts earn Jewish emblems (see below).
Recipients of Jewish Scouting emblems this year will receive their awards at the Scout Shabbat.
Scouts planning to join the service are encouraged to dress in uniform. All Scouts who attend will receive a Scout Shabbat patch.
The service will be followed by a light kiddush luncheon.
For more information about Jewish Scouting or to volunteer to participate in the service, call Segalewitz at 885-6868 or Cantor Joyce Dumtschin at 435-3400.
Emblems for Jewish Scouts
Requirements for Jewish Scouting emblems are created by the National Jewish Committee on Scouting and the National Jewish Girl Scout Committee. Scouts receive instruction from parents and religious leaders.
Boy Scouts
• Maccabee Emblem (Cub Scouts in grades 1-3): Work in six categories: Jewish names, holidays, terms, symbols and objects, community helpers, and heroes.
• Aleph Emblem (Cub Scouts and Webelos in grades 3-5): Work in eight categories: The Torah, prayer, religious holidays, Bible heroes, famous American Jews, the synagogue, the Jewish home, and the land of Israel.
• Ner Tamid Emblem (Scouts in grades 6-9): Work on activities in home observance, synagogue worship, Jewish study, the American Jewish community, and world Jewry. Boys must also complete at least three service projects related to the award within their community.
• Etz Chaim Award (Scouts and Venturers in high school): To encourage young adults to explore adult Jewish roles in the context of family, community, and Jewish people. Work in community and family history, community institutions and agencies, synagogue worship and Torah study, community Jewish leaders, your community and the Jewish world, your community and the future, and community sharing.
Girl Scouts
• Lehavah Award (Brownies, ages 6-9): Learning about self, family, religion.
• Bat Or Award (Juniors, ages 9-11): Learning about Jewish holidays and festivals, the Torah, the synagogue, Israel and how history and heritage relate to Girl Scouting.
• Menorah Award (Cadettes, ages 11-14): To increase knowledge and experience within the context of Jewish living. Topics of interest are: ethics, heritage, the calendar, Israel, the arts and women.
• Or Emunah Award (Seniors, ages 15-17): To increase knowledge and experience within the context of Jewish living.
