Mission and Course Info
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2023-2024 Calendar 2023-2024 Beit No'ar Calendar
The Rabbi Joseph & Rosalie Gitin Religious School of Temple Emanu-El exists to provide an educational setting based on Reform principles that instill a positive sense of Jewish culture, values, knowledge, and identity among its students. The Religious School provides:
- A student-centered environment within which students understand Jewish values and develop Jewish identity and connection with other Jews.
- A balance of academic and experiential learning of Jewish tradition, rituals, and holidays.
- Knowledge and experience of t’fillah (prayer) as it relates to both communal and individual worship.
- Knowledge and exposure to the Hebrew language, with emphasis on its use in prayer.
- Knowledge of and exposure to the culture and current issues in the State of Israel as well as affirmation of our historic bond to the land of Israel.
- Activities which promote critical thinking to facilitate making educated and moral Jewish choices.
- Opportunities to further the causes of justice, peace, and freedom by pursuing mishpat (justice), tzedek (righteousness) and chesed (acts of loving-kindness).
- Occasions for all family members and students to learn, experience, and play together as a team.
- Opportunities for families to participate in the life of the synagogue, which include celebrating Shabbat
PROGRAM SUMMARY 2023-2024
Religious School: Our RS program offers an integrated curriculum whereby Hebrew and Judaic Studies are offered for children of all ages throughout the school year, as well as offering our students the opportunity to choose Chuggim (electives) that supplement their classroom experiences. Bonim (K/1) and Giborim (2) attend classes taught on Sunday mornings from 9:30am-12:30pm, while Giborim (3), Mechina (4), Shoshanim (5), and Shomrim (6/7) students attend classes on Sunday mornings (9:30am-12:30pm) and **one additional ½ hour private, 1 on 1 weekday Hebrew session (to be done via online platform). We also offer a special B’nai Mitzvah preparatory class for those students who will be celebrating their B’nai Mitzvah Ceremony during the calendar year of their B’nai Mitzvah. Several core components of our program are studied each year, with increasing depth, based on the student’s grade and growing level of understanding. In addition, each class has a specific subject appropriate to the grade level. (See below for specifics.) The Hebrew curriculum focuses on prayerbook Hebrew (reading and meaning) and is taught by increasing exposure to letters, vowel sounds, reading and understanding prayer vocabulary, as well as prayer chanting. It is augmented with studying Hebrew words and the blessings associated with Jewish holidays and life-cycle events. T’fillah (worship), a central part of our Hebrew studies, is incorporated into our Sunday morning offering. All students lead either a Family Shabbat Friday Night service, or a Saturday Morning Minyan. One of the added benefits expressed by many of our students of being a part of Temple Emanu-El’s Religious School program throughout the years is the sense of community that is created. Students progress through the curriculum with the same children each year and share the common experience of learning about Judaism and learning about their role in the broader Jewish community. As they transition to adulthood, their values, friendships, and support are firmly grounded.
Bonim (K/1) – Religious School begins in the Kindergarten class, where students enrich their understanding of the Jewish holidays and the meaning of t’fillah (prayer). In addition, they are introduced to the world of Torah, mitzvot, ritual practices, tzedakah, and Jewish ethical values. Kindergarten has a special focus on Shabbat. (To enroll in our Kindergarten class, students must be five years-old by September 1, 2023.) Bonim is a combination class with 1st grade students.
Giborim (2/3), Mechina (4), Shoshanim (5), and Shomrim (6/7) - As the students grow and mature, they will revisit some of the same topics each year, with an increasing depth of understanding. Additionally, each grade will focus on a particular subject that is appropriate to their age level. For example, Giborim concentrates on the 10 Commandments; Shoshanim spends the year focusing on Jewish life cycle events and rituals from brit (covenant) to burial; and Shomrim concentrates on the changing self as they approach the age of becoming B’nai Mitzvah.
B’nai Mitzvah Preparatory Class Wednesday 5:00pm – 6:15pm - To become B’nai Mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El, students must be concurrently enrolled in our Religious School program and the B’nai Mitzvah preparatory class during the year of their B’nai Mitzvah. This class meets for approximately two thirds of the school year. The Rabbi will send a syllabus to students before the first class meets. Four mandatory parent sessions, which meet on Saturdays, take place during the course of this program. For further information, please contact the Rabbi at rabbimagat@templesanjose.org.
**Torah School: Private 1 on 1, ½ hour online sessions: Our Torah School is our mid-week Hebrew intensive program intended to provide an opportunity for students in Giborim (3), Mechina (4), Shoshanim (5), and Shomrim (6/7) to explore prayer, vocabulary, Jewish texts, and spoken Hebrew in private, individual sessions. Hebrew instructors begin their work with the students based on their Hebrew competency and allow them to work at their own pace over the course of the 4 years prior to their 7th grade year. Torah School lessons are included in the cost of tuition.
**Wednesday Ulpan 5:00pm - 6:15pm: Generally, this is a 2x per month in-person Hebrew session: We value the power of community, and as a supplement to the students’ Torah School Curriculum, each student gathers on site in small groups to feel the connection one receives by being physically together. The students are grouped together based on their individual Hebrew ability for 1 hour, 2x per month. During the last 15 minutes of the Wednesday session, the Torah School students are joined by the B’nai Mitzvah students to pray together in a peer-led short Mincha service. See the RS calendar for the exact dates.
***Fall Kallah Retreat: Our students in Grades 3-5 will be attending the Fall Kallah held at URJ Camp Newman on the weekend of November 10-12, 2023. The students will have the opportunity to experience what it is like to be part of Camp Newman for a weekend with students from the greater SF Bay Area. Tuition for the retreat is included in the RS tuition.
Beit No’ar: Grades 8-9 Sunday mornings (11:30am-12:30pm) and Grades 11-12 (12:30pm-1:30pm), and Wednesday evenings (6:30pm-8:00pm)
Keeping our youth involved in active Jewish learning after B’nai Mitzvah has always been a challenge. We offer an exciting educational program for students in eighth grade and above:
8th/9th graders: Our 8th/9th grade students will be part of a 2-year curriculum that focuses on Jewish leadership, using case studies from both the Tanach and modern Israeli history, as a way to help the students understand who they are as leaders.
Confirmation (Grade 10): This course, taught by Rabbi Dana Magat and Cantor Leah Shafritz, explores the essence of what it means to be a Reform Jew. Confirmation students explore the depths of Judaism. The class culminates with the students writing and leading a prayer service that expresses their hopes, fears, and discoveries. This service takes place on Erev Shavuot after a year of meaningful study with the clergy. A Confirmation syllabus and course schedule will be passed out during the first class. *Please note that the tuition listed on the rate sheet does not include the flight to Los Angeles for the annual Confirmation retreat.
11th/12th graders: Our 11th/12th grade students will concentrate on aspects of what it means to be a Jewish adult and how do they handle issues related to being Jewish as they head off to college.
Wednesdays are EESY: Each Wednesday from 6:30pm-8pm, our Beit No’ar students will eat, converse, plan, socialize, and work together as they build a social cohort that strengthens our Senior NFTY Youth Group, EESY (Emanu-El Senior Youth).
Tuition for each student enrolled in Beit No’ar includes the cost of dinners on Wednesday evenings, class on Sunday mornings (with the 11th/12th grade cohort receiving lunch), membership in EESY and NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth), and attending one regional NFTY weekend retreat.
