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.
In a world of black and white, whenever we talk about Israel it is centered on “The Conflict”, or politics, or wrapped up in a teen’s experience of antisemitism. But there is so much more to our Jewish homeland than war, or the right and left. Join us for an Israeli culture class where we can learn about Israel through food, music, dance, movies & TV, and innovation. Through this class we will get a real taste of Israeli culture. Open to 8th-9th grade students.
How many times have you watched some TV Show and realized there was Judaism behind it? Whether through full series like “The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel” or “Nobody Wants This” to stand-alone episodes from “Orange is the New Black” or “Grey’s Anatomy,” Judaism is everywhere. Together we will dive into the world of scripted media or contemporary news to discover the ways that Jews and Judaism is portrayed. Open to 8th-9th grade students.
We are excited to extend our partnership with American Jewish University (AJU) that allows our 10th-12th grade students to take classes that earn college credit! The course will be worth 3 general education credits, which students can apply to their intended college or university. 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, students will engage with some of the more complicated texts in our tradition - those which positive way, or 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. In short, these are our “spicier” stories. Students will begin by learning about our tradition of storytelling, with the ultimate goal for students to develop the ability to find meaning in all parts of our tradition even and maybe even most importantly, the .complicated ones.
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.
