Jeremy Rosenberg and Noah Marcotte, both of West Bloomfield, led services at the Fall CRUSY Kinnus in Pittsburgh. Teen Action JAN 26-30 & FEB 2— Motor City USY welcomes all to its Kabbalat Shabbat programs. I Stacy Gittleman Contributing Writer I n 2015, the Motor City chap- ter of United Synagogue Youth will ignite the spirit of Kabbalat Shabbat by making monthly rounds to area Conservative synagogues and inviting teens, parents and congre- gants to join them for an evening of what USYers do best — sing, eat and even dance to welcome in Shabbat. McKabbalat Shabbat is an initiative by the teen youth group designed to encourage community bridge building among Conservative Jews in Metro Detroit. The initiative kicked off Dec. 5 at Congregation B'nai Moshe in West Bloomfield. About 60 participants, including 34 teens and 25 parents and younger family members, joined B'nai Moshe members for student-led ser- vices, a brief d'var Torah and singing after a Shabbat dinner. And, just to make sure that parents didn't cramp their teens' style, teens and parents prayed, ate and socialized separately; yet their voices joyfully joined together to welcome in Shabbat. David Lerner, director of youth and young adult programming for MCUSY and Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, said the teens generated this idea for monthly youth-led servic- es around town to bring the spirituali- ty they experience at the organization's Central Region youth conventions back to their synagogues in Detroit. "[The USYers] want to build bridges between the individual synagogues and remind the adults that we need to come together more often on Shabbat as an extended community," Lerner said. He added the teens' enthusiasm Lunch $15 • Dinner $30 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • For more information go to in planning and leading the services — and the camaraderie felt by teens and adults sharing Shabbat together — flies in the face of a recent Pew study that forewarned a lack of youth involvement in organized Jewish life and an overall downward trend for Conservative Judaism. "It was beautiful to see the smiles on the faces of older congregants, knowing that our USYers are fulfilling the mitzvah of l'dor v'dor, continuing Judaism from generation to genera- tion. There is a demand for this type of coming together" The next USY McKabbalat Shabbat is planned for Friday, Jan. 23, at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park; all are welcome to attend. The dinner is $15 per person or $50 maxi- mum per family. For more informa- tion, call Lerner at (248) 357-5544, ext. 32. Allison Bloomberg, 15, of Farmington Hills planned the B'nai Moshe evening with Atara Krakoff, 16, of Southfield, MCUSY's B'nai Moshe liaison. Bloomberg said the evening gave parents and congregants an opportunity to get a firsthand look at what their kids do at USY's out-of- town regional conventions in cities such as Cleveland or Pittsburgh and "a chance to shmooze with other par- ents" "Spending MCUSY's first-ever McKabbalat Shabbat with not only USYers, but family as well, couldn't have been more meaningful," said Bloomberg, who serves as the chapter's religion/education vice president. "It looked like everyone had a blast, and I cannot wait to celebrate another Shabbat with my MCUSY family" ❑ BirminghamRestaurantWeek.org facebook.com/EnjoyBirminghamNOW Free deck parking for the first 2 hours. PARKMOBILE TECHNOLOGY at ALL downtown parking meters! Register at www.parkmobile.com . 195013 WI NER! MST MUSICAL 2013 TONY AWARD® BEGINS THURSDAY. Fisher Theatre • Jan. 15-25 ticketmaster.com , 800-982-2787 & Box Office. Info: BroadwaylnDetroit.com , 313-872-1000. Open captioned performance 8PM Jan. 19. Groups (12+): Groups©BroadwaylnDetroit.com or 313-871-1132. -BROADWAY IN DETROIT SPONSORED BY ,s6spoispi, ChryslerDealer.com KINKYBOOTSTHEMUSICALCOM 195034( 21 January 8 • 2015