The Educational Ministry has succumbed to pressure from the anti-religious Secular Forum and will institute drastic changes to a traditional kindergarten activity welcoming the Shabbat.
For more than 50 years, Israeli kindergartens both secular and religious have performed a ceremony on Friday morning pantomiming a Shabbat meal. The activity is led by a boy titled "Shabbat Father" and a girl who is the "Shabbat Mother" and includes candle lighting and the singing of Shabbat songs alongside a traditional Shabbat meal.
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