DESCRIPTION:

• A cozy, light-hearted night of “art therapy” where we turn aging into an art form! We’re building a community calendar and writing personalized birthday cards for each other so everyone in our Moishe House family gets a little handmade love on their special day this year. We’ll supply blank cards, Jewish-themed stamps, stickers, paint markers, and plenty of inspiration. Snacks, sweet treats, and chill tunes provided! 

MATERIALS:

• Blank greeting cards with matching envelopes (A2 or A7 size work best). 
• Forever stamps 
• Sticky notes. 
• Two boxes (one for addressed envelopes and one for decorated cards) 
• A large poster board calendar or hanging wall calendar for the year 
• Assorted arts and crafts materials (use some JIO funding to get the Jewish stuff!) 
  • Pens, markers, crayons, paint, and other coloring materials 
  • Jewish-themed stickers 
  • Hebrew alphabet rubber stamps + extra ink pads 
  • Hebrew alphabet stickers or stencils 
  • Washi tape 
  • Decorative paper 
  • Glue sticks 
• Printed inspiration sheets featuring Jewish birthday phrases 

Program Outline

Arrival

• Guests arrive, grab a drink/snack, and head to the entry station. 
• Participants add their name and birthday (or major milestone) to the communal house wall calendar. 
• Each person takes a pre-stamped envelope, writes their own mailing address on the front, puts their birthday on a sticky note attached to the corner, and drops it into the card box, sorted chronologically. 

A Quick Note: To make it seamless during the event, consider pre-dividing your card box with 12 tabbed dividers (January–December) so guests can just drop their envelope right into their birth month slot without worrying about the exact order. 

Art Time

• Explain the concept: “Tonight, we’re creating a stockpile of birthday cards. Throughout the year, when your birthday comes up, we’ll grab a decorated card from tonight’s batch, slip it into your pre-addressed envelope, and pop it in the mail. This is a fun way to de-stress with art and it’s also a valuable way to enact the Jewish values of “kehilah” (community) and “simcha” (joy) 
• Highlight the inspo sheets with Hebrew/Yiddish/Ladino phrases, traditional blessings, and fun design ideas. 
• Put on a relaxing playlist 
• Participants decorate 2–3 cards each. They don’t need to write a personalized message inside. Just decorate the fronts and (optional) leave generic/warm birthday wishes inside so any house resident can easily sign and send them later in the year. 
• Hosts circulate, help with stamp techniques, and keep the vibe relaxed 

Closing

• (optional) Anyone who wants to show off a particularly funny or artistic card can share with the group. 
• Gather all decorated cards into a central “Moishe Card Stash.” 
• Thank everyone for coming and helping make this a welcoming community 
• Remind everyone to double-check that their envelope is in the box before they head out. 

After the Event

To make sure this program comes to full fruition, pick a card for each person, write “Happy Birthday, [NAME]” on it, and put it into their envelope. Do this after participants have left so that the exact card they’ll receive is a surprise. Set a monthly reminder for yourselves to drop off each month’s cards at the beginning of the month. If you have time, you can add extra notes, but this way everyone will at least get a handmade card and a personalized message. If you have extra cards, save them for other birthdays you learn about during the year. 

Optional: Keep the birthday calendar up all year so that community members can add their birthdays during other events.