Jewish Learning Center 2011

Click here to download the Jewish Learning Center Registration Form for 2011

Welcome to our 13th year at Shir Hayam’s Jewish Learning Center! We are excited to tell you about what we have planned, and hope that you will join us for another year of engaging and meaningful Jewish learning. Please mark your calendars with our first two gatherings of this school year:

Sunday September 11th: A New Beginning Bagel Bonanza featuring a delicious bagel potluck, spiritual preparation for the High Holidays, and time for our community to join as one to honor the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Please bring a brunch dish, bagels or a bagel topping to share. 10 am – 12:30 pm at the Rosenkotz’s yurt on Coyote Farm Lane.

Sunday October 16th: Our first day of regular classes for preschool – 7th grade students, 10 am – 12:30 pm at the Lifespan Center, 11290 Sunrise Drive.

This year in our traditional Shir Hayam spiral curriculum brings us to the 20th Century Jewish experience, and we will invite the entire Shir Hayam congregation to join us for our fall trimester Roots Fair; winter trimester meditations on tolerance, diversity, and the Holocaust; and spring trimester celebration of the creation of the modern state of Israel, in all its complexity. In addition to our exploration of the 20th century Jewish experience, we will group our students for additional study as follows:

Our Preschool and Kindergarten students will explore their own connections to Jewish life through play, music, arts, stories, and holiday celebrations.

Our 1st and 2nd grade students will work together to explore these concepts:

• I am part of the ongoing story of Torah and the Jewish people. My own Jewish acts help me discover the beauty and order of sacred time, and my own place in the Jewish story.
• The Torah teaches me how to be part of the Jewish people. Jewish stories, celebrations, and rituals help me understand and express my relationship with God.

Our 3rd and 4th grade students will work together to explore these concepts:

• The laws and rules found in the Torah help us live a life filled with holy moments. Through avodah (the sacred work of connecting with God, community, and self), we can make our lives and the world more kadosh (holy).

• As Am Yisrael (the people of Israel, the people who wrestle with, and draw near to, God), we have a responsibility to work towards becoming holy by observing the brit (covenant) with God. Keva and Kavanah, the fixed order of worship and the personal intention we bring to prayer, are complementary aspects of Jewish worship, combining to help us make sacred connections.

Our 5th and 6th grade students will work together to explore these concepts:

• The prophets were focused on reminding the Jewish people how God wants us to live, and their messages are at the heart of progressive Judaism. The practice of prayer can help us grow through personal reflection, can increase our connection to the Jewish people, and can strengthen our relationship with God.
• Studying Jewish texts allows us to explore our relationship with God and reflect on the ways God is continuously revealed to others and to ourselves. Avodah is the work we do, by exploring our personal and communal role in Revelation, to find sacred connection to God, community, and self.

Our 7th grade b’nei mitzvah year students will begin to try on their adult skins and make alterations so that their new skin fits. This year will bridge them from childhood to Jewish adulthood, and support them as they find their footing as sons and daughters of the mitzvot (commandments).

Our post-b’nei mitzvah students will be supported as they define their roles in our congregation and larger community through socializing, good food, Tikkun Olam, and unhurried discussions of the topics they are wrestling with.

Please see link above for the registration form and tuition and scholarship information. In addition to the basic tuition, we anticipate a materials fee of between $35 – $50. Please return your completed registration form by August 31st, or call one of the Jewish Learning Center Committee members to place your child(ren) in one of our exciting programs.

L’Shalom, The Shir Hayam Jewish Learning Center Committee
~ Rebecca Rockefeller, rebeccarockefeller@gmail.com, 206.842.8525 ~ Lisa Weiss, lisa@kidzilla.com, 206.780.0268 ~ Cay Vandervelde, sternkids@msn.com, 206.842.9865 ~ Jon Garfunkel ~ Craig Jacobrown ~ Eric Stevens ~ Tom Schaeffer ~ Julie Rosenblatt