Curriculum & Course Descriptions
Education Programs at Congregation Beth Or
K-12th grade education at Congregation Beth Or develops Judaic and Hebrew knowledge, and we divide the school into three major categories:
Keren (K-3rd grades) |
Eych (4th-6th grades) |
Yedah (7th-12th grades) |
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Keren means a foundation, and our youngest students will study the WHAT of Judaism, the foundational knowledge that goes into being educated Jews. |
Eych is Hebrew for HOW, and students put their knowledge into action to learn how we are Jewish, through topics like Torah, Israel, Jewish Values, Prayer/worship, and God. |
Yedah means knowledge, and these students examine the WHY of Judaism in classes on Jewish living for maturing, young adult Jews. |
Our classes at Congregation Beth Or focus on hands-on learning, where students discover the information they need with the guidance and expertise of their teachers. Each class culminates in a project of some kind, a durable representation that encompasses student learning. With this program, Congregation Beth Or becomes the KEY to your child’s Jewish education!
Keren (K-3rd grades)
By the end of Keren, students will be able to:
- Retell basic Bible stories
- Express a core Jewish vocabulary
- Identify Jewish holidays and their related customs and ritual items
- Describe Israel as a modern and an ancient land
- Practice a range Jewish customs appropriate to their families
- Demonstrate comfort in the synagogue
Kindergarten through 2nd Grade
Our youngest learners come to class only on Sunday mornings.
Register for Sunday:
- Sunday In Person (9:30am - 11am) OR Sunday Virtual (9:30am - 11am)
Kindergarten | Yehudi (The Jewish Me): Our youngest learners begin their Jewish journey with how to use “all of themselves” in celebrating Jewish life. They focus on what it means to be Jewish using our senses, including taste, fragrance, movement, music, feeling, and joy.
1st Grade | Bayit (Home): Our 1st grade focuses on the idea of “home” and how it acts as the center of Jewish life. Students will explore the importance and influence of the Jewish home over time, from Jewish home and family life in the Bible to their own Jewish home of today. Additionally, these students will discover the synagogue as a spiritual home for Jews and Judaism.
2nd Grade | Kehillah (Community): Our 2nd graders focus on the important Jewish task of building a kehillah kedoshah (holy community) and the ways the Jewish community has anchored our people throughout the ages. They will uncover the key Jewish values that support efforts to create and strengthen our connections to and responsibility for one another.
3rd Grade
Hebrew education begins in earnest in 3rd grade, so an extra learning session is added.
CHOOSE: Register for Sunday School
- Sunday In Person (9:30am - 11am) OR Sunday Virtual (9:30am - 11am)
AND: Register for Hebrew
- Sunday In Person (11:15am - 12:45pm) OR Monday In Person (4:30pm - 6pm) OR Tuesday In Person (4:30pm - 6pm) OR Mid Week Virtual Hebrew (Day of week/time to come)
Sippurim (Stories): 3rd graders discover the stories of our people. Using key foundational moments found in the Bible, these students will work to begin uncovering the messages found in Torah, how they have changed over time, and the role they play in shaping contemporary Jewish life.
Hebrew: Our Hebrew program incorporates both a phonics and a whole-language approach toward Hebrew literacy. By teaching sound decoding and word recognition in context, students gain important skills for reading Hebrew. 3rd grade focuses on basic Hebrew literacy. Students use the Siddur, technology, and primary sources to build a prayer vocabulary, explore prayer meaning, and work towards prayer fluency.
Eych (4th-6th grades)
Students in Eych take trimester-long classes that focus on Torah, Israel, Jewish Values, Prayer/worship, and God. By the end of Eych, students will be able to:
- Arrange Jewish sacred texts by timeframe and type
- Experiment with difference approaches to understanding God
- Differentiate between prayers within a prayer service
- Relate key concepts about Israel with clarity
- Outline Jewish values and beliefs
4th through 6th Grade
Students in 4th-6th grade continue to come two sessions a week.
CHOOSE: Register for Sunday School
- Sunday In Person (9:30am - 11am) OR Sunday Virtual (9:30am - 11am)
AND: Register for Hebrew
- Sunday In Person (11:15am - 12:45pm) OR Monday In Person (4:30pm – 6pm) OR Tuesday In Person (4:30pm – 6pm) OR Mid Week Virtual Hebrew (Day of week/time to come)
4th Grade
4th grade makes learning personal by helping students explore where they come from as they explore themselves. Students learn how Judaism helps make them who they are. Students rotate through the following classes: Who Am I? An Exploration of Jewish Families and Values; Where Am I from? Understanding the American Jewish Immigrant Experience; and What Can I Do? Building Mensches through Jewish Values
5th Grade
5th grade puts learning into practice with practical applications of mitzvot in the world. Students learn how they can make the world a better place through Jewish values. In the first trimester, students study “Tzedek and Tzedakah: How to Start Making a Better World”; the next two trimesters, students put mitzvot into action, learning that “Repairing the World Begins with You.”
6th Grade
6th grade examines the holiness of bar/bat mitzvah, giving students the tools, language, and understanding that frame this next big lifecycle moment. Students learn how the bar/bat mitzvah process connects them to concepts larger than themselves—God, Israel, and Judaism.
4th through 6th Grade Hebrew
Continuing from their foundation in 3rd grade, 4th and 5th grade students work on prayer mastery and understanding. In 6th grade, students examine the meaning and structure of our liturgy, and they gain important service-leading and Torah-centric Hebrew skills. Students use the Siddur, technology, and primary sources to build a prayer vocabulary, explore prayer meaning, and work towards prayer fluency.
Yedah (7th-10th grades)
Yedah classes examine the Why of Judaism. This curriculum presents Jewish living for maturing, young adult Jews using the same categories explored in Eych: Torah, Israel, Jewish Values, Prayer/worship, and God. Our 7th-12thgrade program is also called YOBO, Youth Of Beth Or. By the end of Yedah, students will be able to:
- Participate meaningfully in Jewish worship
- Assess different approaches to Jewish tradition
- Extrapolate their own practice as adult Jews from the material they’ve studied
- Measure the value sacred texts bring to their lives
- Justify their Jewish choices from an informed perspective
- Determine their relationship to Israel
YOBO brings together components of youth group, religious school, social functions, and service projects for 7th - 12th graders through:
• Hands-on, engaging content focused on living meaningful Jewish lives
• Time to interact with friends and create social networks
• More chances to do mitzvah projects and earn service hours
How does YOBO work?
Each month, we offer
• 1-2 week-long hands-on classes on fun Jewish topics or ideas (Jewish cooking, Jewish film, Jews in sports, etc.)
• 1-3 Core sessions for 10th grade (Confirmation) and 11th/12th grade
• A mitzvah project for hands-on doing and volunteer hours
When does YOBO meet?
• YOBO meets on Sundays from 5pm -7pm (including dinner, if conditions allow).
• Sessions will be scheduled about three times a month, and students attend sessions as they are able to.
• We have two exceptions for 8th - 12th graders: Madrichim (classroom assistants) and Songleading Lab will still meet on Sunday mornings starting at 9:30am (and/or Sunday/Monday/Tuesday Hebrew school for Madrichim)
7th Grade YOBO
7th grade students return to a once-a-week study of Judaic topics.
Register for YOBO:
- Sunday Evening In Person (5pm - 7pm)
8th and 9th Grade YOBO
In 8th and 9th grades students can choose among a number of class options.
CHOOSE: Register for YOBO
- Sunday Evening In Person (5pm - 7pm)
AND/OR: Register for alternative In Person options:
- Madrichim, Songleading or Chai Notes (see descriptions below)
Madrichim (Sunday. 9:30am - 12:45am; mid week Hebrew 4:30pm - 6pm)
This YOBO class places students in Sunday school classrooms as assistant teachers, or madrichim. Madrichim report to their assigned class every Sunday during the year for their classroom duties. They may also receive further training and development in our monthly Madrichim workshop sessions from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. These workshops provide teens with information on organization, classroom management, teaching responsibilities, and leadership. Madrichim registration is based on approval from the Director of Religious School.
Songleading Lab (Sunday, 9:30am - 12:45am)
If you have always dreamed of being a Songleader, this is your chance to learn how to do it! Students will meet with Cantor Murley to learn songleading skills and then they will assist in teaching music classes to grades K-6. Each session will end with the students getting the chance to lead music classes ON THEIR OWN to practice what they've learned. This class will give students the confidence and skills to stand up in front of a group in any situation. It will also increase their knowledge of Jewish music. Note: This will NOT be a music instruction class, so students must already play an instrument from which they can lead a group (guitar, ukelele, piano, etc).
Chai Notes (Sunday, 5pm - 7pm)
This singing group will be open to students in grades 7-12 and will serve as an elective in our YOBO program. Chai Notes will have two hour rehearsals once a month while students are already in the building for YOBO. Chai Notes will sing more complex musical compositions along with awesome Jewish A Capella tunes, to match their growing musical tastes and abilities. This group will also share a meal with peers, providing much needed social time with friends.
10th Grade: Confirmation
Students in 10th grade spend the year learning about Judaism—history, culture, and theology—and discussing what Judaism means to them.
Register for Confirmation Class:
- Sunday Evening In Person (5pm - 7pm)
Confirmation is for our 10th grade students and meets 3 times a month on Sundays from 5pm - 7pm. Taught by Rabbi Marx and the Director of Religious School, Aaron Nielsenshultz, the class focuses on big events in Jewish history and Jewish theology. It includes several optional experiential learning trips: a social justice lobbying program to Washington, D.C., a trip to the lower East Side of New York City, and a once-in-a lifetime trip to Israel. The class culminates in the Confirmation service during Shavuot.
11th and 12th Grade YOBO
Our 11th and 12th grade classes are designed to keep students engaged in meaningful ways. There is no tuition for 11th and 12th grade.
CHOOSE: Register for YOBO
- Sunday Evening In Person (5pm - 7pm)
AND/OR: Register for Alternative In Person Options
- Madrichim, Songleading or Chai Notes (see descriptions below)
Madrichim (Sunday. 9:30am - 12:45am; mid week Hebrew 4:30pm - 6pm)
This YOBO class places students in Sunday school classrooms as assistant teachers, or madrichim. Madrichim report to their assigned class every Sunday during the year for their classroom duties. They may also receive further training and development in our monthly Madrichim workshop sessions from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. These workshops provide teens with information on organization, classroom management, teaching responsibilities, and leadership. 11th and 12th grade madrichim must apply for these paid assistant teaching slots. Please be in touch with Aaron Nielsenshultz for an application.
Songleading Lab (Sunday, 9:30am - 12:45pm)
If you have always dreamed of being a Songleader, this is your chance to learn how to do it! Students will meet with Cantor Murley to learn songleading skills and then they will assist in teaching music classes to grades K-6th. Each session will end with the students getting the chance to lead music classes ON THEIR OWN to practice what they've learned. This class will give students the confidence and skills to stand up in front of a group in any situation. It will also increase their knowledge of Jewish music. Note: This will NOT be a music instruction class, so students must already play an instrument from which they can lead a group (guitar, ukelele, piano, etc).
Chai Notes (Sunday, 5pm - 7pm)
This singing group will be open to students in grades 7-12 and will serve as an elective in our YOBO program. Chai Notes will have two hour rehearsals once a month while students are already in the building for YOBO. Chai Notes will sing more complex musical compositions along with awesome Jewish A Capella tunes, to match their growing musical tastes and abilities. This group will also share a meal with peers, providing much needed social time with friends.
Download a printable version of the Education Programs Descriptions
