Positive Identity Education - A new Direction in Jewish Learning
B'nai El Congregation is taking the Jewish education of our children in a new direction - Positive Identity Education.
We want our children to be knowledgeable Jews, but we recognize that knowledge is not useful unless it is accompanied by a positive identity as a Jew. Therefore our Religious school and Hebrew program focuses on building a Jewish identity: learning Jewish customs and traditions and making them into personal customs and traditions, learning Jewish history as a personal experience, and learning about the Jewish community and finding one's own place within that community.
First graders hard at work
We want our students to want to come to religious school, therefore making the classes fun and interesting, while still being topical, is our top priority. The best sounds coming from our classrooms are not rote recitations of the Aleph-bet (the Hebrew Alphabet) but rather laughter, song and prayer, which are often all one and the same.
The younger children take time to play and get to know each other as they move forward in our program, building a bond that last through the years. In our middle grades the students learn Hebrew and Jewish values in a way that they can each understand, and beginning in the 2006-7 academic year will build on thier hebrew skills by helping to lead our weekly all-school service. Our oldest students get time to socialize and at the same time discuss some of the most important ways in which Judaism impacts thier lives.
Youngsters in the Yaldenu program learn a new song with Rachel Plotkin
The B'nai El Religious and Hebrew Program is open to the community: members of B'nai El and others who desire a postive Jewish education for thier children. Please contact our Religious School Director Rabbi Lynn Goldstein or Rabbi Plotkin for more information about our educational program.
Confirmation class relaxing in the library
Send mail to info@bnaiel.org with questions or comments about this web site.
