Every Child Deserves to Feel at Home in Shul

There is nothing more heartwarming than watching  a parent daven with their child in shul. A father   sitting with their son, showing them where to find  the davening siddur. A mother holding her daughter   as they sit together in shul. It's beautiful. But  what happens if there is no mother to sit with her   daughter? What happens if there is no father  to sit with his son? There are many divorced,   widowed people in our community who have  children on the other side of the mechitza,   and their child not only has no one to sit  with but they come to shul, they feel lost,   they don't know where to go, often times they  simply don't come back. They simply don't want   to have anything to do with the shul where they  don't feel welcomed, where they don't feel like   they really belong. Kol Echad, a program of the  OU, recently launched Makom Kavuah. Makom Kavuah   is a toolkit that is given to any shul that would  like to sign up, to guide them through, to help   them set up a very simple program to ensure that  no child will ever be sitting alone. To make sure   that they have a mentor, they have an adult who  is responsible, who is trained, who is capable,   who can lovingly sit with a child in shul to  make sure that they feel like they belong,   that they feel like they have a place, they  feel like they have a connection to Judaism,   they feel like they have a place and a  connection to the community. If you would   like to participate in Makom Kavuah, you can  have the leaders of your community reach out   to the OU to get the toolkit and be set up  and participate in this beautiful initiative.