School of Jewish Life and Learning
Train up a child in the way he/she should go and even when he/she is old he/she will not depart from it.
–Proverbs 22:6
Our School of Jewish Life and Learning serves kids from preschool through 12th grade, with age-appropriate curricula blending the arts with academics, as well as experiential and traditional learning.
Learn below about our goals, program highlights, and curriculum.
See our faculty and leadership page to learn about our outstanding team of Jewish educators.
Our goals
Our goals align with those of the Union for Reform Judaism for Reform Jewish Education.
- Create an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students
- Encourage life-long learning
- Foster Jewish identity
- Celebrate the joy of Jewish tradition
- Instill a connection with the global Jewish community and the land of Israel
- Experiential enrichment electives
All of our students choose hands-on electives and, most importantly, each elective is attended by students in multiple grades simultaneously. Through activities such as cooking, singing, meditation, stitching, poetry, improv theater and more, students explore multiple avenues to Jewish identity and become part of a learning community that crosses age groups.
- Family programs
Our school year is marked by family programs that establish strong bonds between our Jewish experience in the temple, the school, and the home.
- ShinShinim
We foster relationships and mutual learning among our students and Israeli youths through the ShinShinim program, administered locally by the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester. ShinShinim are Israeli high school graduates selected as cultural ambassadors, who can bring to diaspora youth a lively, personal, first-hand, and modern view of Israeli society.
Curriculum Overview
Although children may start in our school at any age, we offer an introduction to Jewish life to children as young as preschool, based on the idea that Judaism is an identity and a way of life that infuses and enlivens play, music, and other creative activities we do together.
From our pre-K "Sprouts" program through the 7th grade, children are introduced in age-appropriate ways to the six elements that are the basis of our curriculum:
- Torah
- Mitzvot and Middot (Commandments and Virtues)
- Holidays
- Peoplehood
- Israel
- Hebrew
Although children are introduced to Hebrew letters and basic words in pre-K through 2nd grade, "formal" Hebrew study begins in the 3rd grade. The goal for our Hebrew study is to read, understand, and recite the major prayers of Shabbat in preparation to lead the congregation as a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah.
- Learn more about Sprouts.
- Learn more about K–7th grade.
Our post-b'nai mitzvah programs include a two-year Kesher cycle, culminating in Confirmation; and Bogrim for 11th and 12th graders.
- Learn more our programs for post-b'nai mitzvah teens.
Wed, April 21 2021
9 Iyar 5781
Useful information
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all classes and programs are currently held on Zoom.
Sundays, 9:30 am
Zoom #823 9956 6403
Sunday sessions for Sprouts–7th grade begin with a schoolwide t'filaton (short service) that parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Meeting Times
- Sprouts
- We are not offering our pre-K program in 2020–21.
- K-2nd grades
Sundays, 9:30–11 am - 3rd grade
Sundays, 9:30–11:30 am
4th-7th grades
Sundays, 9:30–11:30 am - Wednesdays, 4:30–5:30 pm
8th-10th grades (Kesher)
Sundays, 11 am–12 noon
11th-12th grades (Bogrim)
One Sunday per month,
11 am–12 noon
Resources for parents and families
New to Judaism, Reform Judaism, or just a little rusty?
Since family participation in your children's Jewish education is strongly encouraged (essential, in fact, to instilling a lasting Jewish identity!), we invite you to take part in Temple Sinai's Adult Education programs.
We also recommend:
ReformJudaism.org, the URJ's education site, offering a rich overview of beliefs and practices, sacred texts, life and culture in Israel and throughout the global Jewish community, as well as Torah study, all through a Reform lens. The site also includes links to courses and podcasts.
And My Jewish Learning, containing overviews of many, many topics in Jewish history, liturgy, practices, and cultures around the globe. Suited for people of all backgrounds and levels of knowledge, My Jewish Learning is part of the nonprofit, nondenominational North American Jewish media organization 70 Faces Media.
