Temple Judea is committed to providing our 8-12th grade students a fun and engaging way to continue their Jewish education in a way that will inspire a personal connection to Judaism. Students who attend Wednesday learning will meet for dinner at the Temple from 6-6:30pm, followed by grade-appropriate learning designed to help our teens explore how to put their Jewish values to work in the real world.
Part movie club, part discussion, learners will combine Disney movies and Jewish texts to ask questions at the intersection of Jewish values and the human experience. Some themes will include bravery and fear, (inner) beauty, love, death, and uniqueness. Students will also consider how to reconcile Walt Disney's documented antisemitism and racism with the admirable values found in the legacy of his work. Plus, much, much, much more! Culminating with a separate (but subsidized!) trip to Disneyland, this class is sure to make mensches with imagination.
Passionate teens will have a forum to discuss sensitive issues with the support of their peers, our experienced educator, and the Jewish tradition itself. Sample topics include: love and sexuality, mental health, antisemitism, big questions about God and purpose, politics, and more. We will examine the ways that ancient texts are in conversation with issues that spark interest with Jewish teens. This class is sue to inspire fervent discussion and will engage teens on ways they can use Jewish values to create a better world.
We are extremely excited to announce a partnership with American Jewish University (AJU) that will allow our 10th-12th grade students to take classes that will earn them college credit! The course will be worth 3 general education credits, which students can apply to their intended college or university. These courses have a strict attendance requirement. Classes will be held on JTJ Wednesday evenings from 6:30 - 8 pm at Temple Judea. After free registration through Temple Judea enrollment, we will provide a direct link to AJU for registration and tuition payment (and financial assistance requests), which are handled directly through AJU.
In this class, taught predominantly by Rabbi Rosenstein, students will engage with some of the more complicated texts in our tradition - those which either show sides of our biblical ancestors in a less than positive way, or stories which include content that is seemingly contradictory to our current connection to our tradition. Students will begin by learning about our tradition of storytelling, documentary hypothesis and ensuring that all voices are represented and heard. The ultimate goal is for students to develop the ability to find meaning in all of the parts of our tradition (even and maybe even most importantly, the complicated ones) and for them to continue to sharpen their skills at reading and interpreting Jewish texts.
Our Confirmation program supports our post-B'nei Mitzvah teens as they begin making Jewish choices for themselves. Students can become eligible to become Confirmands between 10th and 12th grade, as long as they have actively participated in at least three programs from 8th grade onward. We celebrate these students and their Jewish journeys at a peer-led Shabbat service on June 1. Confirmands will meet periodically to learn in community (dates TBD) during the Spring semester.
