Religious School (Sundays 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.)
Our Sunday morning Religious School program serves our Pre-Kindergarten (Gan Yom Rishon) through eighth grade students. We begin our morning with an all-school tefillah (prayer service) and shira (song session) before moving to class for the morning. Our schedule is filled with learning (see the curriculum and schedule pages of this website for more detailed information)—both formal and informal. Our students work in their classrooms, have music, and take chugim (activities like art, cooking, and dance). We take pride in the creative and engaging methodologies that we use to keep our students excited about attending, and we take seriously the notion of building community that we believe is so important even in the youngest generations here at Temple Beth El.
Hebrew School (Wednesdays 4:00-6:00 p.m.)
Our focus in our Hebrew school program is to prepare our students for a lifetime of Jewish learning using the Hebrew skills gained during the five years of training they receive prior to their Bar or Bat Mitzvah. We concentrate on reading, writing, comprehension, and comfort with basic Hebrew texts and prayers. Students also acquire skills needed to be adept Torah readers, which greatly increases their Hebrew fluency. Overall, the program seeks to prepare students to be fully participatory Jewish adults in their Temple Beth El worship community.
Two-day/One-day Option
Currently, Temple Beth el offers two options for third through seventh grade Hebrew School. We encourage as many families as possible to bring their children to Wednesday Hebrew school, which starts at 4:00 p.m. We recognize, however, that many families drive a great distance from around Washington to attend Temple Beth El and it is not always possible to attend Wednesday Hebrew school. Thus, we offer a Sunday Hebrew program from 9:00-10:00 a.m. for those who live greater than 15-20 miles away from the synagogue. Whether your child attends the Wednesday or Sunday program, it is imperative that they do not combine or mix-and-match the two programs throughout the year. Please contact the Religious Education office with questions about enrolling in the Sunday Hebrew program.
Hebrew High School (Sundays 5:00-8:00 p.m.)
Hebrew High School is a brand new program at Temple Beth El. Offered to ninth through twelfth graders, the program seeks to help students engage in continued formation of their own Jewish identities while exploring subjects of interest to them.
Held from five to eight on Sunday evenings, all students begin the evening with dinner, youth group and tefillah-planning meetings, and then tefillah itself (which will be student-led). Then, the study begins. Ninth and tenth graders attend required classes during the first class period, while eleventh and twelfth graders have the option of taking an elective. During the second class period, all are free to take an elective of their choosing. Should a student be signed up to be a madrich (teaching assistant) in our religious school or Hebrew school, they are required to take the "Jewish Leadership Skills" course during the second class period. Certain grades have a required number of academic electives that they must take during the course of the three-trimester school year (ninth grade: two; tenth grade: one), but all students are encouraged to take a combination of academic and non-academic electives. During the 5771 (2010-2011) school year, all grades will participate in one weekend-long trip (date to be determined) away from Temple Beth El.
Back to Religious Education page
