Congregation Shaaray Tefila is committed to providing a developmentally appropriate Jewish educational program, within a nurturing and friendly environment. Our goals are to help create within our students, a strong, positive Jewish identity, to transmit Jewish values, knowledge and beliefs and to implant within them a lifelong love for and commitment to Jewish education.  We consider the home and the synagogue to be partners in the educational process of the students.

 

ADULT EDUCATION

 

There are numerous programs for the enrichment and education of our adult members. The Rabbi oversees classes in beginner and advanced Hebrew conducted by the Rebbetzin, Mrs. Ilana Marmon. The Rabbi holds classes of Jewish interest through the Cosmopolitan Club, which meets on Thursdays from 1-2:30 PM. The Rabbi participates in Spiritual Journey Classes, founded by Hadassah Women's Organization, and held after Shabbat services, once each month.

 

RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

 

The Synagogue maintains an excellent Jewish education program for its youth beginning in Kindergarten and culminating in the Tenth Grade with Confirmation. Preparation for Bar/Bat Mitzvah include individual study with the Rabbi.

 

The religious school is jointly supported by the Temple Beth El and Congregation Shaaray Tefila. There is a modest registration fee for each child plus additional charges for books and supplies as required.

 

Both Hebrew and general studies classes are conducted Sunday mornings at Temple Beth El and on Wednesday evenings at Congregation Shaaray Tefila. The school program begins shortly after Labor Day and follows the public school vacation calendar, terminating with Confirmation ceremonies at Shavuot in May.

 

Beginning with Kindergarten and continuing through Second Grade, the program consists of an introduction to the Bible stories and the fundamentals of holiday and festival celebrations presented in a learning-by-doing situation. Beginning in Grade Three and continuing through Grade Ten a more formal program is followed including Hebrew, ancient and modern Jewish history, ethics, philosophy, and current events as they relate to Jewish people. Special cultural enrichment is provided through assemblies and electives, including music, dance, Jewish cooking, art, literature, drama and the Holocaust. Additional instruction is provided for Bar & Bat Mitzvah students at no additional charge.

 

The teaching staff consists of concerned and knowledgeable members of the Jewish Community who receive a modest salary. Formal communication with the parents is maintained by report cards and/or parent conferences at least twice a year.

 

SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

 

Spiritual Journey/Life and Times: The Joy of Being Jewish

Following Shabbat morning services once a month, where our "Golden Girls" perform the Musaf service, a spiritual workshop is conducted at luncheon. Our motif is the Hadassah Life and Times Program, to which we have added a "Generation to Generation Inspirational Sharing". This means that our last year's Rosh Chodesh young adults group will be present at these monthly study sessions to listen to our older generation describing their memories of the Life and Times topics and they will discuss them together. The goal, of course, is to "pass the torch" and the "joy" to the younger generation.

 

ROSH CHODESH/ NEW MOON YOUNG ADULTS GROUP

 

This club, formed recently, consists of fifteen young adults in our community and outlying areas, who are between the ages of twenty and forty five, male and female, single and married.

The goal of the club is threefold: 1) To enable young Jewish people in our community to get together socially several times a year, 2) To meet once a month at someone's home to plan the children's monthly activity and to discuss, in a group, current problems  they are willing to share. 3) To hold children's activities once a month on a Sunday, after Hebrew School, at the synagogue or on a filed trip, including luncheon.

 

THE CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS

 

The children's programs are sponsored by the Rosh Chodesh / New Moon Young Adults Club, and the synagogue. They include 1) Al Galgalim Training Wheels and Wheeling On groups once a month, for the holiday of that month, 2) Family Erev Shabbat services once a month where there will be a Shabbat dinner, services will be designed for the children, and children will show off their products of Al Galgalim groups, such as their own baked challot.