#jewished

[progressivejudaism]

What did you wish you learned more of in Religious School, Youth Group, or Jewish Camp when you were a child?

And do you have access to learning about these things now?

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Jewish Ed - Love it, Don’t Leave It!

This Sunday, we begin our second school year and we're thrilled to be able to share our new approach to Jewish Education with our families. Once again this year we will be holding several of our "Family Kabbalat Shabbat & Pot Luck Dairy Dinner. If you would like to know when these are so that you may attend, please send us your email address to: [email protected] and we will send out a copy of our calendar right away! In this wonderful Jewish Community of North Broward, you have varied choices of educational opportunities for you and your family. While we hope you choose our program, we would prefer to know you chose a different, rather than not provide your family with a Jewish educational experience at all.  There are numerous synagogues and temples, as well independent organizations similar to ours. However, the bottom line should be to provide your family with some manner of a Jewish education. Do not let them miss out on learning about their rich heritage. Almost every educational program will be willing to work with you financially, so that you won't find that to be an impediment. Help your family enjoy the richness of our history and heritage. You will be glad you did.

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First Year Down!

Well, we just finished our inaugural year at the Center for Jewish Family Education. It seems like it was only yesterday that we made the decision to undertake this endeavor to demonstrate that Jewish Education can be fruitful, exciting and fun. Ruth and I extend our sincere appreciation to all the families that supported our efforts this year. Without your love and support, we would not be where we are. As you are well aware, Jewish education has been and will continue to be the passion of our professional lives. And over the past forty years, we have seen it evolve into many forms, some good and some not so good.Just as synagogue and temple memberships have taken a severe loss in the past 5-10 years, so has the importance of, and dedication to, Jewish education. Too many temples focused on using the school simply to generate a revenue without the same dedication to the quality of the curriculum and staff. Moreover, for those families who are unable to carry a "standard" level of dues and education, they are often turned away. We knew there had to be a better way. When you enroll your child in the Center, there are no dues or building funds (although my house needs a few repairs!) We have set our tuition and Bar/Bat Mitzvah fee at a comfortable and realistic level and still will work with ANY family that needs financial help! As we did last year, any students enrolled between now and Labor Day are entitled to a 15% discount!Our goal is to make Jewish education relevant to both our students and their families. We make it fun with hands-on learning and expanding the learning environment outside of the "four walls." We also added four Family Kabbalat & Dairy Pot-Luck Dinners this past year which everyone enjoyed. And for the coming year, they are already on the school calendar.If you would like to learn more about our programs at The Center for Jewish Family Education, please send us a Facebook Message or an email to info@thecenterforjewishfamilylearning,org.Have a safe and enjoyable summer.Steve Greene & Ruth Schreiber-Greene  

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Join Us This Sunday Morning!!

Good Monday morning! A new week starts with more good news. Our Open House for The Center For Jewish Family Learning is this Sunday, August 23rd from 10:00 AM - 12 Noon. If you are looking for a comfortable atmosphere for your children to learn all the fun and excitement of being Jewish, with NO DUES - NO BUILDING FUNDS - then we are the place for you. And to add to the celebration, we are offering "Early Bird" discounts on book fees, tuition and Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutorial!! Additionally, payment plans are available for EVERYONE! The Center offers an excellent curriculum with hands on experiences, teachers who have spent a lifetime in Jewish education and a new, fun environment that children will enjoy. For further information send an email to us at [email protected] and we’ll get right back to you! See you on Sunday!

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We want Our Kids to Learn About Jewish Life, but...

There is a relatively new dilemma facing many Jewish families all across the country. They’re in the late 20′s to early 40′s. They have one, two, maybe three children, a mortgage, insurance, car payments, taxes, etc. Their parents keep “cheppying” them to send the kids to Religious School. However, all the temples and synagogues in their area have fee structures that are beyond their means, Starting with a family dues of $1,500/year, 5-year building fund of $2,000/yr and Religious School tuition of nearly $3,000, there’s no way for them to put it all together. What can they do?

I speak from both sides of the “synagogue table.” I have served as a teacher, Educational Director, Ritual Director and Executive Director of several synagogues. Additionally, I’ve been a member of the board, a vice-president and President of a synagogue. My wife has been a Judaics teacher in both day schools and afternoon religious schools. She has been the educational director at a synagogue. Believe me, we know of what we speak.

My wife’s position as the educational director at a local temple was truncated. They were looking to add a cantor to the professional clergy, but the only way to afford it was combining the cantor’s job with the educator’s job. OK, so be it. Although we each have over 40 years of experience, we weren’t ready to hang up the “Gone Fishing’“sign quite yet.

We tried to think what we could do to keep doing what we have loved to do for so many years. We have always had private students for tutoring, especially those who wanted to prepare for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. So why not follow through to the next level.

We would continue to teach in our home. There would be no dues and no building fund. Just a reasonable tuition that could be adjusted as necessary and paid off over time. And so, The Center for Jewish Family Learning, Inc. was created (http://www.thecenterforjewishfamilylearning.org). With little overhead other than some books and refreshments, we could offer these families, who for whatever reason did not affiliate with a synagogue, the chance for both their children and themselves to learn about Jewish life and living.

Besides enrolling students in grades K-7 and providing them a rich curriculum with Hebrew language, Israel, Current Events, History, Torah and more, we will also offer tutoring for Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Adult Education. The Center will be a place where a family will be able to learn as a family.

Now please do not look at this as our recommendation for families not to join a temple or synagogue. We feel, especially at this time, that affiliation is still the best way for a Jewish household to interact and become part of their local Jewish community. Unfortunately though, we are in a very serious dip in the sine wave of how people of all faiths, feel close to religion and houses of worship. My wife and I have worked too hard, for too many years, to say that no one needs a temple or synagogue any more. But the fact is, affiliation rates are very, very low. So what are we supposed to do? Just turn away and service the members and leave the rest to their own designs? No, we cannot abandon them.

For with every child we teach, with every Bar or Bat Mitzvah, with each of the 6-10 adults who attend a class on Jewish Ethics or “Torah in Hollywood,”, we have a unique opportunity to instill a little flame of “Yiddishkeit” (being Jewish) in each one. And that flame is simply too important to squander.

So, we open our door and reach out, just like we do at the Seder, when we invite Elijah the prophet in. Except in our case, we’re inviting anyone hungry for Jewish knowledge in to partake of our “table” of Jewish life.