Torah School

Rabbi Zusha used to say:  “When I die and come before the heavenly court, if they ask me, ‘Zusha, why were you not Abraham?’  I’ll say that I didn’t have Abraham’s intellectual abilities.  If they say, ‘Why were you not Moses?’  I’ll say I didn’t have Moses’ leadership abilities.  For every such question, I’ll have an answer.  But if they say, ‘Zusha, why were you not Zusha?’ for that, I’ll have no answer.”

At the Congregation B’nai Shalom Torah School we commit to helping your child find their own Jewish voice. Jewish learning is a collage of community, worship, and celebration.  Jewish learning is a living, breathing thing, full of connection, relevance, and momentum.  The B’nai Shalom Torah School provides children with a variety of meaningful, formal and informal Jewish experiences.  These experiences empower each child to develop a special relationship with Judaism through knowledge of tradition, history, culture and community.

Principal Objectives

Jewish learning does not happen in a vacuum, just as two students never learn in the same way.  We strive to provide stimulating programs for all our students and families.  We instill in our children with pride, love, and lifelong commitment to Jewish culture, principles, and ethics.  Our boutique program allows the teachers, Rabbis and Hazzan to truly know all students, as well as their unique talents and needs. To achieve that goal, our curricula and programming enables our students to accomplish four principal objectives:

1. Understand and take pride in the culture, history and traditions of the Jewish people.
2. Participate with confidence in daily, Shabbat, and holiday services, possessing sufficient knowledge of siddur Hebrew for the prayers to be meaningful.
3. Put our Jewish ethical principles into practice in the context of family, congregation, and community, including acts of Tikkun Olam (making the world a better place to live).
4. Develop a thoughtful relationship and personal connection with the State of Israel, its people and land.

Hebrew, Prayer and Bar/Bat Mitzvah

We work hard to insure that our students go beyond just memorizing prayer.  By exposing them to both modern and biblical Hebrew, we work towards high levels of language proficiency and appreciation.  Students learn that Hebrew is not just the language of Jewish history but a thriving language in modern times.  In addition, we use narrative so that by Bar or Bat Mitzvah age, students can lead a service from the siddur (prayer book), read from and familiarize the meanings and spiritual nature of Torah and Tefillah (prayer) adding to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience. 

Culture and Arts: Chuggim (electives)

Jewish arts and culture are an important part of each child’s learning experience.  Beginning in 3rd grade, students have the opportunity to participate in free choice experiential and cultural electives.  They will have an in-depth, experiential exploration of Jewish cultural activities, such as Israeli Dance, art, cooking, sports, drama, band, newspaper, and video.

For the 2011/2012 Torah School calendar click here.