My school, The Mitzvah School, is on the property of the Bet David Shul, and is heavily sponsored and supported by this local community. Each year, the ladies at the Shul (known as The Sisterhood), host a Friday night Shabbat Dinner for the pupils of my school (remember we get new students every year, so it is always a new experience for each bunch). For the first time (this is my 5th year there!) we as a family joined them. Mom (aka Mrs. Elferink, the fierce Science teacher who takes crap from no-one!) and Dad also came along.
We started with a brief description of the history of Shabbat and did some of the traditions associated with it (I was just waiting for them to launch into 'May the Lord protect and defend you.... from Fiddler on the Roof fame, but no such luck!). We then enjoyed a lovely 3 course meal. The highlight was the kitka bread on our table which gets torn by hand and shared around. Megs and Al loved that, and even now, if we see Kitka bread at the shops, we just have to buy it as a treat!
After dinner, we hurried to the Shul (has to start before Sunset) where we joined in the service. It was sort of Anglican in nature where the rabbi speaks/sings and the congregation speaks/sings in reply. It was also in a combination of English & Hebrew. The most unique thing was trying to keep track of where we were in the book, as it went from back to front!
It lasted an hour or so, and while it wasn't the most fun for Megs and Ali, they were both really well behaved and enjoyed the whole experience very much.
Meg got a table tennis table from us and they had fun testing it out in our garage.
Other than a disagreement between adults and kids re the use (or abuse?) of cell phones, which resulting in Carl confiscating said phones, I think the party went well and the girls all enjoyed themselves.
