Our Programs
Nitzanim
Nitzanim is our program for 4-year-olds. Nitzanim meet on Sunday mornings monthly from 9:30-10:30. The program is designed to share the fun of Sunday school with those of us too young to be in our K-7 program. In each session of Nitzanim, we learn about a different Jewish holiday (including Shabbat!).
Sunday school
Grades K-7 meet weekly on Sundays 9:30 – 12:00.
On a typical Sunday we have two sessions – Hebrew and Judaica. Between those two sessions, the entire school meets in the social hall for snack*, a short recess, and music time. We learn new songs from prayers, and Jewish camp music in Hebrew and English. Sometimes, we learn Israeli dancing or do a drama workshop. Following the second session, we come back together and spend this time with parents for the end of the day community prayer, tefillah.
* During the pandemic we have our snacks in the shul yard weather permitting.
Communal practices
We request that students wear some sort of hat, kippah, or head covering during school hours, the choice of which is up to the student, as long it is respectful. We wear a head covering to remind us that we are coming into a sacred space, and it reminds us to be our best selves while we are under the synagogue roof.
We ask that parents plan to join their kids at the synagogue at 11:45 every Sunday for a 15-minute family service and community time at the end of Hebrew School.
Families are strongly encouraged to come to our monthly Kabbalat Shabbat + potluck (dates listed on the TBB calendar page).
Nitzanim is our program for 4-year-olds. Nitzanim meet on Sunday mornings monthly from 9:30-10:30. The program is designed to share the fun of Sunday school with those of us too young to be in our K-7 program. In each session of Nitzanim, we learn about a different Jewish holiday (including Shabbat!).
Sunday school
Grades K-7 meet weekly on Sundays 9:30 – 12:00.
On a typical Sunday we have two sessions – Hebrew and Judaica. Between those two sessions, the entire school meets in the social hall for snack*, a short recess, and music time. We learn new songs from prayers, and Jewish camp music in Hebrew and English. Sometimes, we learn Israeli dancing or do a drama workshop. Following the second session, we come back together and spend this time with parents for the end of the day community prayer, tefillah.
* During the pandemic we have our snacks in the shul yard weather permitting.
Communal practices
We request that students wear some sort of hat, kippah, or head covering during school hours, the choice of which is up to the student, as long it is respectful. We wear a head covering to remind us that we are coming into a sacred space, and it reminds us to be our best selves while we are under the synagogue roof.
We ask that parents plan to join their kids at the synagogue at 11:45 every Sunday for a 15-minute family service and community time at the end of Hebrew School.
Families are strongly encouraged to come to our monthly Kabbalat Shabbat + potluck (dates listed on the TBB calendar page).
Congregation B’nai Brith’s Children’s School
Curriculum Overview
2023-2024
Our curriculum is a spiral curriculum, in which study subjects rotate so every student has a chance to engage with all themes of study. The topics below are the ones covered this year.
Curriculum Overview
2023-2024
Our curriculum is a spiral curriculum, in which study subjects rotate so every student has a chance to engage with all themes of study. The topics below are the ones covered this year.
Kindergarten/ 1st Grade:
The Basics: who we are and what we do!!
Our K/1 curriculum introduces students to basic elements of Jewish learning and practice. We will explore the topics of Shabbat, holiday ritual and narrative, berachot/ blessings over food and experience, and learn some basic Hebrew. We will introduce students to basic Torah narratives characters and themes through a progression of Torah stories. Together, we will sing, make art, move our bodies and play games as we learn what it means to be Jewish.
2nd/ 3rd Grades:
People of the Book: The Torah and why we are so big on learning
The 2nd/3rd grade curriculum introduces the structure and significance of the first five books of the Torah and how a Torah scroll is structured. We focus on the book of Bereishit/Genesis. Through the key stories in Genesis we will be building Jewish literacy and learn how to think about the Torah as one text with many layers of meaning and interpretation. We will bring in midrashim (rabbinic interpretations of the text) and create our own. A secondary focus will be an introduction to Jewish theology: who is God and how we think about God.
Students will also learn to read and decode basic Hebrew.
4th/ 5th Grades:
We are what we do – Judaism as a call to action.
The 4th/5th grade curriculum focuses on Jewish values, ethics and social justice. We will provide a Torah basis for Jewish laws regarding social and environmental justice and examine the roots of our modern values. We will read and learn about the leadership and idealism of the biblical prophets. Our primary goal is to examine the role of prophecy in the Tanakh and draw practical conclusions that will inform the students’ growing Jewish identity and sense of themselves as budding leaders. We will study modern “prophets” and Jewish justice leaders such as Abraham Joshua Heschel, Bella Abzug, and other environmental, feminist and civil rights giants. Finally, we will learn about modern tools for creating change and explore how we can be become leaders for social change. In addition to the prophecy curriculum we will look at the Jewish holidays and learn a bit about Israel through the lens of social justice values and activism.
6th/7th Grades:
Jewish Identity: You are here! (informed by the past, looking towards the future)
This year’s course of study focuses on key moments and figures in Jewish history when Jews had to rethink what it means to be Jewish in order to better adapt to their changing world. Through delving deeply into the narratives and stories of interesting people in the Jewish past, we will explore what it means to “live Jewishly.” We will discuss Jewish values, mitzvot/commandments and community organizations at different times and in different places. Our goal is to give learners literacy of key Jewish moments in history, while learning interesting stories about real people, their choices and their communities. Our study includes the 2nd Temple period, early rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewry in the Middle East and Europe, early Chasidism, early American Judaism and the creation of the state of Israel.
The Basics: who we are and what we do!!
Our K/1 curriculum introduces students to basic elements of Jewish learning and practice. We will explore the topics of Shabbat, holiday ritual and narrative, berachot/ blessings over food and experience, and learn some basic Hebrew. We will introduce students to basic Torah narratives characters and themes through a progression of Torah stories. Together, we will sing, make art, move our bodies and play games as we learn what it means to be Jewish.
2nd/ 3rd Grades:
People of the Book: The Torah and why we are so big on learning
The 2nd/3rd grade curriculum introduces the structure and significance of the first five books of the Torah and how a Torah scroll is structured. We focus on the book of Bereishit/Genesis. Through the key stories in Genesis we will be building Jewish literacy and learn how to think about the Torah as one text with many layers of meaning and interpretation. We will bring in midrashim (rabbinic interpretations of the text) and create our own. A secondary focus will be an introduction to Jewish theology: who is God and how we think about God.
Students will also learn to read and decode basic Hebrew.
4th/ 5th Grades:
We are what we do – Judaism as a call to action.
The 4th/5th grade curriculum focuses on Jewish values, ethics and social justice. We will provide a Torah basis for Jewish laws regarding social and environmental justice and examine the roots of our modern values. We will read and learn about the leadership and idealism of the biblical prophets. Our primary goal is to examine the role of prophecy in the Tanakh and draw practical conclusions that will inform the students’ growing Jewish identity and sense of themselves as budding leaders. We will study modern “prophets” and Jewish justice leaders such as Abraham Joshua Heschel, Bella Abzug, and other environmental, feminist and civil rights giants. Finally, we will learn about modern tools for creating change and explore how we can be become leaders for social change. In addition to the prophecy curriculum we will look at the Jewish holidays and learn a bit about Israel through the lens of social justice values and activism.
6th/7th Grades:
Jewish Identity: You are here! (informed by the past, looking towards the future)
This year’s course of study focuses on key moments and figures in Jewish history when Jews had to rethink what it means to be Jewish in order to better adapt to their changing world. Through delving deeply into the narratives and stories of interesting people in the Jewish past, we will explore what it means to “live Jewishly.” We will discuss Jewish values, mitzvot/commandments and community organizations at different times and in different places. Our goal is to give learners literacy of key Jewish moments in history, while learning interesting stories about real people, their choices and their communities. Our study includes the 2nd Temple period, early rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewry in the Middle East and Europe, early Chasidism, early American Judaism and the creation of the state of Israel.
