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CLAL NATIONAL UNITY SHAVUOT

Planning Guide

Last year CLAL created the National Unity Shavuot program, an evening of pluralist text study and celebration. In Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Miami, a group of forward-thinking rabbis worked with CLAL to make these words -- Many Voices, One People -- a reality. The National Unity Shavuot "showed that participants were able to put aside their denominational differences in the interest of increasing Torah study. May such efforts continue to grow." (Jewish Week, May 21,1999)

This guide has been put together in hopes that you, in your community, will join with the many others around North America (and now in Great Britain and Israel) who are making pluralist study and celebration a yearly ritual on Shavuot. If you have already been involved in this work, let us know and we will include your information on our special Shavuot web site, www.shavuot.org.

If this is a new program for your community, or even if you've done something similar in the past, the texts and insights in this booklet will help to spark ideas to build a program. There are two study guides, tools to help in cross-denominational dialogue, and tips on writing press releases. There are also descriptions of the past year's programs, and a list of the rabbis who made them possible.

For additional Shavuot program ideas and materials, visit the CLAL Shavuot website, at www.shavuot.org.

You can BROWSE or DOWNLOAD the Shavuot Planning Guide.

To BROWSE the National Unity Shavuot Planning Guide click on the topic links in the Table of Contents below.

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National Unity Shavuot Planning Guide -- Table of Contents

Introduction, and Planning an Event

Guidelines for Respectful Conversation and Ground Rules for Discussion

Alternative Event Models

Newspaper and News Service Clips on Last Year’s National Unity Shavuot from
The Jewish Journal (LA),The Jewish Week (NY), and Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)

The NY Text Study Booklet (Jewish Journeys)

The LA Text Study Booklet

Topics from Chicago and Miami

Additional Texts

Publicity Ideas

Participating Rabbis (1999)

To DOWNLOAD an Adobe Acrobat version of the Planning Guide click here.

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