Celebrations!

Celebrations! is a family education program for children with special needs, their parents & siblings. Celebrations! meets on ten Shabbat mornings throughout the year, and also offers sensory-friendly holiday gatherings. This innovative program creates opportunities for families to experience Shabbat and holidays together and for children with disabilities to have Jewish educational experiences designed for their learning needs.

Celebrations! offers two groups, one designed for children 10 and under and one designed for pre-teens and teenagers. Each session features a theme connected to the Jewish holidays and includes sensory-motor art activities, music, blessings and food. An option for Hebrew learning is included. Parents and children learn together for most of the morning and parents also have a 30-minute period together as adults to participate in a text study or guided discussion.

The Celebrations! program is designed for students who have cognitive, learning or developmental disorders, including but not limited to autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy and Down Syndrome. If you know someone who might be interested in the Celebrations! class for their family, please share this article with them or give them a new Celebrations! brochure (placed around Mishkan). To register for the class or for more info, contact Gabby Kaplan-Mayer.

Celebrations! has been in the news! Click to read about our program in The Philadelphia Inquirer, e-Jewish Philanthropy and the Jewish Exponent.

Click here to watch a short video about the Celebrations! program.

Click here to see a photo gallery of past years Celebrations! Sensory-Friendly Purim Event.

Mitzvah Menshes is a social and social action program for young adults (ages approx. 18 – 30) with special needs. Mitzvah Menshes meets monthly on Saturday evenings and features dinner, Havdalah and a mitzvah project. Contact Gabby Kaplan-Mayer (info above) to register.