We kindle Sabbath light, drink the wine, and eat hallah , all with the appropriate blessings. We do introduce the children to Jewish worship, and yet the service is not meant to stimulate adults intellectually or to appeal to grown-up spirituality. Some very young infants can sleep through the main service, but most of the TOT Shabbat kids go to the nursery. In doing so, they show their children that they take Judaism seriously for themselves. We do not practice exclusively pediatric Judaism at Temple Beth-El.
Jewish worship is a serious, adult endeavor.
That conviction brings me back to Rabbi Thaler, who loves to hear babies crying during his sermon. I do not. Some of our congregants have told Rabbi Stahl and me that they also do not appreciate noisy children, or noisy adults, which may even be a bigger problem, during solemn portions of our worship service. They tell us that synagogues have traditionally been filled with the joyful sounds of children. They charge that Reform Temples put too much emphasis on decorum, while more traditional synagogues are more welcoming to families.