Religious School

About Our School

At MJCBY’s Religious School we take great pride in creating a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment, in which students are valued, respected, and engaged in relevant, exciting and meaningful activities within a supportive community.

Our comprehensive curriculum ensures that each child is guided as an individual in their Jewish educational journey. We work with each student in preparation for their Bar/Bat/Bnai Mitzvah, and to help them gain the skills, understanding, and appreciation for active participation in religious services, practices and values.

Our warm, caring and experienced teachers and staff facilitate many experiential learning opportunities individually, in pairs, groups, and among families, aimed at creating positive experiences, memories and connections to our school, synagogue, and greater Jewish community.

We begin in our youngest grades with a very hands-on, multi-sensory introduction of Hebrew letters, Holiday art projects, as well as stories, songs and games that teach these subjects at an age-appropriate level. As our student’s progress, we introduce a variety of more advanced and developmentally appropriate learning modalities for Hebrew language and prayer, and expand and deepen our understanding of Jewish history, holidays and ethics. Our curriculum follows a spiral model, in which students are introduced to concepts (such as Jewish holidays throughout the year), with ever deepening layers of complexity as they move through Kindergarten - Grade 7 at our school.

MJCBY’s Religious school does not just begin with kindergarten and end with 7th grade - there are a plethora of ways to get involved from the youngest of ages, through our Advanced Learning Programs for Teens, and beyond.

MJCBY’s Religious school students and their families have many opportunities for social action, as well as an exciting array of extra curricular community programming. MJCBY’s Religious School students graduate as empowered Jewish Americans who are inspired to contribute to society with the gifts and responsibility of their Jewish identity.

Schedule & Curriculum

• Kindergarten - Grade 2 / Sundays 9:30 - 11:45 AM
• Grades 3 - 7 / Sundays 9:30 - 11:45 AM and Wednesdays 4:30 - 6:30 PM
• Grades 8 - 12 / Mondays once per month 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Over the course of their years at Religious School, our students are taught:

• Jewish history broadly and in depth
• Jewish values and ethics
• Hebrew reading and writing
• Weekday and Holiday Prayers
• Jewish Holiday Practices and Traditions
• Chanting of the Torah and more

Subjects That We Teach

• Aleph Bet (Alphabet): First and foremost, students are to master the building blocks of the language of our ancestors that connect us with our fellow Jews across the world and across time.
• Ivrit (Hebrew): Students have the opportunity to learn some basic conversational Hebrew, of which we encourage them to learn more in further education, and pragmatically we put our prime focus here on the fluid reading of the Hebrew of our Tefillot and Torah.
• Tefillot (Prayers): Throughout their Religious School education, students are to learn their prayers, not just what to say and what to sing, but also origins, meanings, and purposes behind various prayers. Students learn prayers not just to lead and to participate with as they work towards becoming Bnai Mitzvah but to be able to be genuinely active members of the adult Jewish community as Bnai Mitzvah for the rest of their adult lives.
• Torah (Bible: As the Torah is our guidebook to life, it is important for students to learn to read Torah, to analyze Torah, and to glean lessons from Torah. During their finite Religious School education, students may not learn every bit of Torah, but if they genuinely learn how to learn Torah then that will help them to be able to well continue learning and loving Torah throughout their adult Jewish lives.
• Zechira (Remembrance): It has been said time and time again that we must never forget. We must remember – zachor. We learn our history for the sake of remembrance. Remembrance, Zechira, is why we learn history. “Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.”
• Mitzvot (Commandments): As our guidebook to life, the Torah teaches us the do’s and don’ts of life. Learning Mitzvot, commandments, from the Torah is an important part of our Jewish education as our children work towards becoming Jewish adults. Focus is especially on the commandments that most apply to their lives – from daily life to life cycle events – from our relationship with each other to our relationship with G-d.
• Chagim (Holidays): As we progress through the calendar of our Religious School year, students learn, progressing in more detail each year, about each of the Chagim, holidays and holy days. Summer Chagim are covered earlier in the year so as not to miss learning about them. Students learn what the holidays are, when the holidays are, why the holidays are, and how the holidays are celebrated. It is especially meaningful for students to learn the differences between Halachah (what is commanded) and Minchag (what is tradition).
• Yisrael (Israel): Yisrael is our homeland. It is the land of our ancestors, and we believe strongly in the importance of its existence as a Jewish country today. We aim to instill in our students a love and commitment to Yisrael.

Family Education

We believe strongly in the importance of communication and partnership with our parents throughout the school year. Our teachers, parents / caregivers, and director are a team working together for the optimal success of each of our students.

On select Sunday mornings throughout the school year, families are invited to special Family Education Programs where we enjoy coming together as a school community to explore ourJewish heritage together with the children.

For more information, please send an email to Miriam Loew, our Director of Education.

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