Ganon Program is a preschool program for 3 year olds and 4 year olds. The students meet every Shabbat morning from 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM. Tot Shabbat is a regular part of the Ganon Program. Ganon concentrates on learning about each of the Jewish Holidays and other Jewish themes using age appropriate activities including books, arts/crafts, movement, and music/Tot Shabbat.
Kitot Gan (K), Aleph (1), and Bet (2), meet every Shabbat from 9:30AM–12:30PM. Students will attend an age-appropriate Shabbat morning service during the school day. Music and art are a regular part of the Torah School program.
- Gan curriculum concentrates on an introduction to weekly Torah and an introduction to Genesis and Exodus stories; and also includes Holidays, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, basic prayer and songs, and Hebrew in song.
- Aleph curriculum concentrates on an in-depth study of Shabbat, Tikkun Olam, and an introduction to Hebrew letters. Other topics include Holidays, Tzedakah, an introduction to mitzvot, basic prayer and songs, introduction to weekly Torah, Hebrew in song, and beginning vocabulary.
- Bet curriculum’s focus is “What is Israel?” - a love of Israel, Jewish values as told in biblical, folk, Hasidic, and rabbinic stories, and an introduction to vowels and single letter/vowel decoding. Additional studies include starting to follow prayer Hebrew, discussion of weekly Torah parsha, Haftorah, and Mitzvot.
Kitot Gimmel (3), Daled (4), and Hey (5), will focus on Judaics on Shabbat from 9:30AM–12:30PM, and on Hebrew on Wednesdays from 4:15PM– 6:15PM. Music and art are a part of our regular Torah School curriculum. Students in each of these grades will participate in age-appropriate Minyanim (services) on Shabbat and on Wednesday afternoons.
- Gimmel Judaics curriculum emphasizes Prophets and Writings as well as studying different understandings of God. The curriculum also includes Holidays, Jewish ethics, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Shabbat prayers, discussion of weekly Torah parsha/Haftorah, parts of the Tanakh, vowels, word decoding, introduction to oral Hebrew, and an introduction to Siddur.
- Daled Judaics curriculum focuses on an indepth study of Genesis and Israeli history and geography. Other facets of the curriculum include Holidays, lifecycle, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Shabbat Shacharit service, introduction to Torah chanting, prayer stories, minyan leadership, Midrash, Shabbat morning prayers, Torah, Torah chanting, and an introduction to Hebrew grammar.
- Hey Judaics curriculum utilizes the book You Be the Judge to focus on Jewish values as rooted in Torah and codified in Talmud and to develop an understanding of multiple Jewish answers to the same ethical dilemma. Jewish History: Middle Ages to Present - People who have made a difference is another significant focus of the curriculum. The remainder of the curriculum encompasses Holidays, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Shabbat Shacharit service, Torah, Torah chanting, prayer stories, minyan leadership, introduction to selected midrash, Talmud, and Kabbalat Shabbat prayers.
Kitot Vav (6), and Zayin (7), will focus on Judaics on Sundays from 10:00AM–12:30PM, and on Hebrew on Wednesdays from 4:15PM–6:15PM. Students will participate in a 30-minute Shacharit (morning) Service on Sundays, and an afternoon prayer service on Wednesdays. All students in these classes are required to attend at least six Shabbat Services of their choosing during the school year.
- Vav Judaics curriculum emphasizes the theme of “We were strangers”, the American Jewish History experience, and an indepth study of Exodus. It also includes Holidays, the Ten Commandments in-depth, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, structure of Shacharit service, major prayer themes, Torah service prayers, and modern Hebrew.
- Zayin Judaics curriculum focuses on the Holocaust and Israel. Also included is Holidays, lifecycle, B’nai Mitzvah, Mitzvot in Torah, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Holocaust, Israel, review of all prayers, Divrei Torah, Torah verses in Hebrew, and comparitive Judaism/comparitive religion.
K'nafayim (Grades 8-12), which means "wings," is an Upper School program that meets with Rabbi Fred on the first and third Wednesday evenings of the month from 6:45PM-8:30PM. The overall curriculum for post-b'nai mitzvah students is 'Hot Topics'. The proposed topics include issues that are important to teens today. The topics include, but are not limited to: comparative religion and comparative Judaism; ethical and moral issues for teens; current events, politics, social justice and the environment; Israel; and Judaism for adulthood. This year, we will be promoting two special programs lasting three days or more for both K'nafayim students and other Adat Shalom teens. From Sunday, February 17th through Wednesday, February 20th, students in grades 10-12 are encouraged to attend PANIM - The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values for students. (8th & 9th graders will be eligible when they are in 10th grade.)
Hebrew Enrichment meets two evenings a month on the second and fourth weeks when K'nafayim is not in session. The specific evening is flexible depending on what evening is best for the students and their families. This past year, the students met from 7:00-8:30PM on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings. The students will learn Hebrew Israeli-style, and they will explore Reconstructionist Jewish Values within one of Judaism's oldest and most sacred texts by studying Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Fathers) in Hebrew and English.
Adat East is a satellite Hebrew program that meets on Tuesdays for students in grades Vav (6th) and Zayin (7th), who live in the Eastern part of Montgomery County. A Gimmel (3rd) class will be offered this year with sufficient registration.
Torah School Office
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
7727 Persimmon Tree Lane
Bethesda, MD 20817
E-mail coachchava@adatshalom.net
Phone: 301-767-3333 x 105 | FAX: 301-767-3340
Shabbat Services: Saturdays, 9:30 a.m.
We are an affiliate of the
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
and part of the
Chesapeake Region of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
(CRJRF)