Temple Beth Torah

• Religious School Registration 2008-2009 NOW AVAILABLE - June 5, 2008
• Member Photo Roster Appointments -
• Job Annoucement Hebrew School Teachers - June 22, 2008
• A tzedakah - May 28, 2008
• The Temple Needs Your Help - Volunteers are needed

Baruchim Habaim (Welcome) to all returning and new families. The education committee, teachers, and Director of Education look forward to sharing a year of Jewish learning and living with you and your children. For those of you who are not 100% sure if you will be attending our educational programs, I invite you to try us out. We seek to create a dynamic and meaningful Jewish environment in which we learn and practice our sacred heritage. We have programs for toddlers through adults. Please contact our Director of Education for more information, tbteducation@sbcglobal.net

Daily Preschool (License Facility #010213705)

Temple Beth Torah offers a daily Preschool program, entitled Gan Sameach (meaning happy garden). Gan Sameach offers an enriching half-day developmental preschool program and supplemental daycare for children 2 to 6 years of age. Gan Sameach is a developmentally appropriate environment where children are encouraged to explore and develop their curiosity through play and challenging experiences. Director Beth Miller, along with our Rabbi and Educator, play an integral part in the Preschool. While the school nurtures a Jewish identity, we are open to all faiths. For more information about Gan Sameach, please contact Director, Beth Miller at (510) 651-5833. To read reviews of our program, please see http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=21431108

Tot Shabbat

Temple Beth Torah's Tot Shabbat is a parent participation program for children 19 months to 3 years old. Parents and children meet certain Friday mornings from 9:30 - 11:15am for a positive play experience in a group setting. Toddlers are encouraged to participate in structured activities including: arts and crafts, music, story time, playground activities and various Shabbat preparation and celebration activities. Within a warm and caringe environment, adults have the opportunity to develop a support system (both inside and outside the classroom) while the children engage in a variety of age-appropriate creative Jewish experiences.

Tot Shabbat consists of three 6-week sessions. Pre-registration is required for each session, and occurs on a first come/first served basis, with a class limit of 10 children (plus their parents). This program is open to Members and Non-Members.

Religious School

Pre-K through Seventh Grade Sundays 9:30-12:15
Temple Beth Torah Religious School serves children in pre-kindergarten through seventh grade, and meets on Sunday mornings 9:30-12:15. Our curriculum includes the study of Torah and sacred texts, holidays and rituals, mitzvot, prayer, Jewish music, God and spirituality, Israel and world Jewry, ethics and values, lifecycle, Jewish history and identity. Our students engage in mitzvot and Jewish values, including tzedakah. For each class session, students are encouraged to bring tzedakah; at the end of the year our students decide where they want to donate the class tzedakah. We encourage you to help your child fulfill this mitzvah.

NEW THIS YEAR: Our youngest class will be a combined pre-kindergarten/kindergarten class taught by Cheryl Cohen. Students who are set to begin kindergarten in September 2007 or 2008 may enroll. The younger students will remain in the class for two years. Students will discover and experience Jewish holidays, rituals, and values through stories, art, games, music, and more.

Hebrew School

Third through Seventh Grade Tuesdays 4-6pm
NEW THIS YEAR: HEBREW SCHOOL BEGINS IN THIRD GRADE. Many Reform congregations are beginning Hebrew School at this age. Adding an extra year of study will enable our students to learn more Hebrew, including conversational skills in the upper grades.

Our Hebrew School program serves students in third through seventh grades. Hebrew instruction is held on Tuesdays from 4-6pm and during a portion of school on Sundays. Third and fourth graders develop their Hebrew decoding and reading skills and build a base of Hebrew vocabulary and Jewish concepts. In fifth through seventh grades, students learn to read and chant blessings, prayers, Torah and Haftorah trope. They study prayer vocabulary, the structure of Shabbat services, and the theology and Jewish concepts associated with Jewish prayer. Weekly homework and home practice enables students to retain Hebrew.

Teen Midrasha Tri-City/Tri-Valley

"Teen Midrasha provides Jewish learning to 8th-12th grade students in the East Bay in a supplementary setting. It offers a broad range of interesting and challenging courses to students with a strong Jewish background and to those with little former training or knowledge - classes ranging from Talmud and Hebrew to Jewish films and drama. The program provides students with the skills and knowledge they will need as committed Jewish adults. Midrasha offers a larger social group of Jewish teenagers than exists at any one synagogue and the opportunity to form lasting friendships. The program provides a warm social environment in the classroom and at retreat weekends. In addition, our faculty provides our students with positive, knowledgeable role models of successful young Jewish adults who are at home in Judaism and the secular world. Midrasha is an inter-congregational school where members of all congregations feel at home. Midrasha is part of a community system of four supplementary high schools under the aegis of the Center for Jewish Living and Learning of the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay. Midrasha is a communal institution, open to nonsynagogue members as well as those affiliated. For more information about TEEN MIDRASHA TRI CITY/TRI VALLEY (formally TEEN MIDRASHA FREMONT), please contact director Cathy Taylor at cathytay@gmail.com"

Adult Education

Join us on Tuesday nights from 7:15-9:15pm for our Adult Midrasha (Adult Education) programs. We have a variety of exciting classes to choose from covering such topics as Jewish arts and culture, Torah and Talmud, Jewish History, and a comprehensive "Introduction to Hebrew." For those interested and willing to commit, this year we are beginning a two-year Bar/Bat Mitzvah cycle culminating in an adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience. Students interested in participating must enroll in "Introduction to Hebrew" this year. You may enroll in this class even if you are not in the Bar/Bat Mitzvah program. Our classes are open to the whole community: members & non-members. Senior discounts (for those 55 or older) apply. For more information, contact Andrea Fleekop at (510) 656-7141.

Junior Choir

Junior Choir consists of a group of students, in 2nd-7th grades, who love to sing Jewish music. Practices are held twice a month before Religious school in the sanctuary from 8:45am - 9:30am. Junior Choir performs/leads the congregation in prayer at our Friday Evening Shabbat Family Services. Songs range from traditional Hebrew liturgy to modern English songs To register, please complete the form in this packet.

Madrichim

Be a leader at Temple Beth Torah!

If you are looking for an exciting and challenging experience, come join our elite corps of Madrichim at Temple Beth Torah. Madrichim assist teachers in the classroom on either Sunday mornings only, 9:30-12:15 (volunteer) or Tuesday afternoons 4-6pm (a few paid slots available) and Sunday mornings (volunteer). We are looking for Madrichim (in grades 8-12) who are responsible, caring, enthusiastic students, who have a love for children and Judaism, and a desire to share it with the next generation. For more information, see attached flyer.

Confirmation

Students in 10th grade can choose to participate in Confirmation as their yearlong elective course (8:25-9:15pm). Taught by Rabbi Avi M. Schulman of Temple Beth Torah and Rabbi Rick Winer of Congregation Beth Emek as well as other participating educators, confirmation studies focus on Jewish theology, ritual, and observance and includes units on pluralism, inter-religious dialogue, and the Holocaust. In the second semester, students prepare a Confirmation service, an opportunity to share their accomplishments with family, friends, and the community. A unique component of our program is our trip to Southern California for an extravaganza of seeing Jewish Los Angeles, the Museum of Tolerance, and Disneyland. For more information, contact Andrea Fleekop at (510) 656-7141.

Youth Groups

In addition to our formal education programs, many of our students participate in youth group. JOFTY is for students in grades 5-8, and Mar-Win chapter of BBYO is for high school students. Participants form strong bonds of friendship with their classmates as they ski, hike, ice-skate or just "hang out." Call the Temple office for details at (510) 656-7141.

Interfaith Couple Outreach Program

This program brings interfaith couples together to discuss issues that they face. For more information, contact the Temple office at (510) 656-7141.

Interpreted Services

All Family Services & Holiday Services are interpreted for the Deaf. Other events are available upon request. For more information, contact the Temple office at (510) 656-7141.