January 2026/Shvat 5786 Program Inspiration Ideas
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🫂 = Idea for Diversified program
🧿 = Idea for Jewish Culture and Holidays program
📖 = Idea for Jewish Learning program
🌱 = Idea for Tikkun Olam program
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Featured Programs:
In this section
Things to explore
Jewish Holidays and Commemorations
Rosh Chodesh Shvat: (Sundown on Sun, Jan 18 to Sundown on Mon, Jan 19)
The start of the Jewish month of Shvat – a great time to start planning for Tu biShvat, which will be Feb 1st this year. Here’s a Rosh Chodesh gathering resource!
- 📖 Tu Bishvat Seder 3 Ways
- 📖 Seven Species Cocktails and Mocktails
- 🧿 Spice up your Shabbat during the month of Shvat with “Tuber Shvat” celebrating root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, and more
- 📖 Host a Kiddush Levanah ritual for the sight of the new moon
Holocaust Remembrance Day: (Tues, Jan 27)
- 🧿 Participate in a local Holocaust commemoration ceremony.
- 📖 Watch a film about the Holocaust or interviews with Holocaust survivors and host a communal discussion.
- 🧿 Learn about and make yahrtzeit candles (Jewish memorial candles) with this Jewish Candle Making program.
Torah Portions
Saturday, January 4th: Parashat Vayechi – “And [Jacob] Lived”
In this Torah portion, Joseph promises Jacob that he will bury him in Canaan. On his deathbed, Jacob blesses his grandchildren, Ephraim and Menashe, and then blesses each of his sons. Jacob dies and is embalmed. Joseph affirms to his brothers that he has forgiven them for their misdeeds. Ending the Book of Genesis, Joseph dies.
- 📖 Learn about modern interpretations of eating food in a holy way
- 📖 Discuss the idea of personal blessings in Judaism and then craft your own
- 🌱📖 Unpack different motivators for fighting injustice
- 📖 Host a Shabbat meal focused on blessings and how to bless each kind of food.
- 📖 Host a program learning about Jewish mourning/burial practices or volunteer at your local Jewish cemetery.
- 🧿 Learn about and make yahrzeit candles (Jewish memorial candles) with this Jewish Candle Making program.
Saturday, January 11th: Parashat Shemot – “Names”
A new Pharaoh of Egypt enslaves the Israelites, then demands that all Israelite baby boys be killed at birth. Baby Moses’ mother sets him afloat in a basket on the Nile where he is saved by Pharaoh’s daughter. As an adult, Moses kills an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating an Israelite slave, flees to Midian and marries Zipporah — but after encountering God at a burning bush he returns to Egypt to free the Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh refuses to the let the Israelites go and God promises to punish him.
- 📖 Host a “learn about your name” deep-dive
- 📖 Explore what Moses and Tzipporah can teach us about interfaith relationships
- 🧿 Host a game night featuring Codenames: Jewish Edition
- 🧿 This is the first parashah in the second book of the Torah! In honor of starting a new book of Torah consider hosting a PhotTO(RAH)graphy: exploring Torah through photography event on Parashat Shemot.
- 🧿 Get familiar with the book of Exodus with a Prince of Egypt movie night!
Saturday, January 18th: Parashat Va’era – “I Appeared”
In this Torah portion, God tells Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh to demand freedom for the Israelites. Pharaoh refuses, and God unleashes plagues on the Egyptians. Pharaoh promises to free the Israelites, but God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. Through Moses and Aaron, God brings plagues on the Egyptians, and Pharaoh repeatedly refuses to allow the Israelites to leave.
- 🌱📖 Learn about the 10 biblical plagues and their modern climate equivalents.
- 🌱 Use resources from Dayenu – A Jewish Call to Climate Action to inspire programming that explores the climate crisis as a Jewish issue.
- 📖 Host a discussion about the concept of free will in Jewish tradition
Saturday, January 25th: Parashat Bo – “Come”
God sends the eighth and ninth plagues, locusts and darkness, but Pharaoh still refuses to free the Israelite slaves. God tells Moses that the 10th plague will be killing all the firstborn Egyptians. God commands each Israelite home to slaughter a lamb and spread the blood on their doorposts, in order to protect their firstborns. After the death of the firstborns, Pharaoh demands that the Israelites leave.
- 📖🌱 Learn about the mixed history of the term “erev rav” in a program including education about other terms with complicated histories
- 🧿 Inspired by the plague of darkness, host a black light Shabbat with glow-in-the-dark decor
- 📖🌱 Learn about the Jewish theology of border-crossing
- 📖 Consider hosting a mezuzah-making event using the ready-to-go program Signs Upon Our Doorposts to explore the tradition of marking our doorposts in the modern day. Reach out to your JLS for Torah passages directly from Parashat Bo.
Saturday, January 31st: Parashat Beshalach – “When He Let Go” / Shabbat Shirah – “Shabbat of Song”
Pharaoh changes his mind about freeing the Israelites and chases after them. God splits the sea and Moses leads the Israelites through it, while the Egyptians drown. Miriam leads all the Israelite women in song and dance to celebrate. Soon after, the Israelites begin to complain about life in the desert. The Israelites battle the Amalekites and win.
- 📖 Inspired by the story of the Amalekites, host a “Nemesis Shabbat” where everyone can share what (or who) they’re battling these days
- 📖🫂 In honor of Miriam’s leadership, reflect on Jewish women’s prayer practices or explore historical examples of women’s prayer leadership
- 🧿 Host a make-and-sip where you put together and paint your own tambourines
- 🧿📖 In honor of Shabbat Shirah, host a bonfire singalong
- 🌱 Consider hosting a song circle using songs from Rising Tides, Rising Voices to educate participants on Dayenu, a Jewish call to climate action.
- 🧿 Host an open mic night or a concert with a local Jewish musician!
- 🧿 Host an Israeli folk dancing night or join one in your community.
Secular Celebrations and Remembrances
Sober January
- 📖🧿🌱 Consider hosting an intentionally Sober Shabbat using OneTable’s guide
- 🧿 Refresh your hosting skills with these tips on hospitality for sober guests
- 📖 Host a Seven Species Mocktail Hour
January 2 (Fri): National Buffet Day
- 📖 Take a field trip to the largest buffet within driving distance and challenge attendees to try one food for every blessing
- 📖 Discuss the Jewish value of shmirat ha-guf
January 4 (Sun): World Braille Day
- 🫂What is Braille? Braille was invented by Louis Braille in France in the 1820s. Braille is a tactile system that uses a pattern of six raised dots to represent letters, numbers, music notes, mathematical, and scientific symbols. Braille is utilized by those who are Blind/vision impaired. Create the alphabet in Braille during a program. Invite an educator to speak about the vision impaired community and how Braille has been impactful.
January 5 (Mon): National Screenwriters Day
- 🧿 Host a Jewish writing group! Contact your JLS/JE for inspo on Jewish writing prompts.
January 6 (Tues): National Bean Day
- 🧿 Make cholent and learn about its role in different Jewish communities! https://oukosher.org/recipes/vegetarian-cholent/
- 🌱 Make Bean Soup Jars for a local community center, food pantry, etc.
January 7 (Wed): Hebrew Language Day
- 🧿 Play a Hebrew-language version of your favorite board game
January 11 (Sun): National Milk Day & National Vision Board Day
- 📖 Host a milk-tasting party (soy, oat, almond, cow, goat, camel…) while exploring different Jewish stories about milk
- 🧿 Host a vision board making night with this Jewish vision board making program or pull inspo from this Elul reflection journaling program.
January 13 (Tue): Korean American Day
- 📖 Order in or eat out at a local restaurant and learn about the Jewish community of Korea
January 14 (Wed): Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day
- 📖 Take a trip to your local deli and learn about the history of Jewish kosher and kosher-style delis
- 📖 While you’re at the deli, host a pickle program with a Jewish twist or host a pickling event and add a Jewish learning element with this source sheet on Pickles and the Jewish People. Kosher dills pickling and Jewish People MH.docx Wanna Play Pickleball – MH.docx
- 🌱 Host a sandwich-making party for a local foodbank or to give to unhoused people in your community
- 🧿 Learn about proto-Rabbi Hillel and enjoy his namesake sandwich while discussing his greatest mic-drops
January 15 (Thu): National Bagel Day
- 📖 Learn about the Jewish history of bagels while enjoying a nosh
January 16 (Fri): National Religious Freedom Day
- 🧿🫂 Host an interfaith Shabbat meal with another local faith community.
- 📖🌱 Host an MLK Weekend Shabbat with this guide co-written by Repair the World, the Religious Action Center, OneTable, and Gather
January 19 (Mon): Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- 🌱 Inspired by the collaborative work of MLK and Abraham Joshua Heschel pursue opportunities for interfaith volunteer work in your community.
- 🌱📖 Read an excerpt from “The Stolen Beam,” an essay by a South Dakotan Jew reckoning with her family’s history or listen to the audio essay.
- 🌱📖 Explore this “I Have a Dream” Talmud page connecting MLK’s famous speech to sources in Jewish wisdom
- 🧿 🫂 Listen to and discuss an episode or two of Wholly Jewish, a podcast featuring Jews of Color.
- 📖🌱 Compare and contrast these paired quotes from MLK and Jewish tradition
- 📖🌱 Engage with this guided text study on Jewish social justice
- 🫂 Make one of Michael Twitty (a Black and Jewish cook) dishes and discuss its cultural significance. Michael blends his Black and Jewish sides of his identity often through cuisine. Food is something we can all have together, and making recipes with intention can fuse a wonderfully informative and delicious program. See website for more information.
January 20 (Tue): Cheese Lovers’ Day
- 📖 Learn about kosher food practices with this ready to go wine and cheese tasting program that explores the kashrut and ritual practices surrounding wine and cheese.
January 25 (Sun): Ziyarat al-Nabi Al-Khadir
- 🫂 Learn about the Druze community through this Druze holiday which is nationally recognized in Israel
January 26 (Mon): Green Juice Day
- 📖 Make your own green juices and green smoothies while learning about Jewish traditions relating to veggies, health, and wellness
- 📖 Take a trip to a local juice shop while learning about the symbolism of the color green in Judaism
January 31 (Sat): Hot Chocolate Day
- 📖 An edible tour through the Jewish history of chocolate
- 🌱 Host a tasting & learning program focused on fair-trade chocolate
January 31 (Sat): Inspire Your Heart with Art Day
- 🧿 Host a Jewish art making event using Jewish texts with this ready to go Torah Inspired Art Making program.
- 🧿 Host a candle making night with this Jewish Candle Making Program!
- 🧿 Inspire your heart with Judaica with this Kiddush Cup Making Program.
Compiled by Annie Prusky with contributions by Adena Walker, Adira Rosen, and Jessica Herrmann, and Rabbi Shari Shamah
