Posted on September 1, 2017 by Sarah Gluck and Lisa Friedman
Welcome back to all! We hope you had a good summer. We are so excited about the new program year and look forward to seeing you when Religious School opens on Sunday, September 10 and throughout the year.
Each year on opening day, we begin with a conversation. We ask you to imagine your child at 18, leaving home and stepping into adulthood. What do you want your Jewish young adult to know, to feel, to do? What do you dream about for your child? What is your vision of the Jewish life you hope your child will lead? These are big, aspirational questions that are meant to get us all thinking about our hopes and dreams for the future. Then we get down to what we can do in practical terms right now to help make that vision a reality.
Throughout your child’s years at Temple Beth-El, your child will experience formal and informal learning both inside and outside of the classroom, on field trips and retreats, in youth activities, at Jewish summer camp, and more. Your child will be with you each year for learning and conversation in family education workshops. Together, you will observe Shabbat and holy days at home and at temple with your community. You and your child will engage with critical issues of social justice and volunteer to help others. Opportunities for experiencing Jewish music, art, theater, and other forms of culture will abound. All of these experiences throughout your child’s years at Temple Beth-El will help develop a strong and integrated Jewish identity in that 18-year-old young adult we ask you to imagine.
Knowing, feeling, and doing means acquiring knowledge, connecting with it on an emotional level, and putting it into practice in life. Our annual and ongoing hope and dream is that all our students will take their learning seriously, experience the joy it can bring, and integrate it into their lives. In other words, learn it, love it, live it!
We look forward seeing you on Sunday, September 10, as we embark on another exciting journey together through the Jewish year.
Shanah tovah u-m’tukah. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and sweet New Year 5778!
Sarah Gluck and Lisa Friedman
Originally published in the September-October 2017 issue of the Shofar. For more, visit the Shofar archives.
