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Resources

Religious School Calendar (pdf)

Parents' and Guardian's Handbook (pdf)

Designated Shabbat Schedule (pdf)


 
 

 

Overview

We are a Conservative Congregational school.  Our mandate is to teach basic values and knowledge of Judaism including:

  • Torah narratives
  • How to study a Torah text
  • Mitzvot
  • Highlights of Jewish history
  • Israel and Zionism
  • Hebrew for participation in Religious life with an introduction to contemporary Hebrew
  • Jewish arts

We are mandated to create various environments, in cooperation with other arms of the Synagogue, where Jewish children and their parents may experience and celebrate Jewish life.

 
 

 

Religious School Events

 
     
  Sunday, January 31, 10:00am  CMT hosts "A Capella Fest"  
  Sunday, February 7, 9:00am   Brotherhood World Wide Wrap

  Tallit & Tefillin Club participates

 
  Sunday, February 7, 11:00am  PTO sponsors children's book author

 SARA LAMSTEIN

 
  Sunday, March 21, 10-11:30am  Prozdor Prospective Student Day  
  Saturday, February 28 , 6:00pm  EREV PURIM - Service & Megillah Reading  
  Sunday, February 29, 10:00am  PURIM - Service & Megillah Reading  
  Sunday, February 29, 12noon-2pm  PURIM CARNIVAL  
  Sunday, March 28  PTO sponsored Model Passover Sedarim  
       
 

 

Jewish Education

Religious School Prayer
Every Tuesday during the winter months, our students gather for Ma’ariv (evening) prayers. Dr. Wolok and I, together with student volunteers, lead the school in truly joyful and musical prayer. Most of our students in Grade 4 and up can fluently serve as shlihei tsibur (prayer leaders; literally, representatives of the community) for both the Minha and Ma’ariv services. Since most of these prayers are also recited on Shabbat (ashrei, hatsi kaddish, shema, kaddish shaleim, the first four berachot of the amidah, kaddish shalem and aleinu), our students are able to apply this fluency when they attend Shabbat services with their parents. This, of course, requires students to concentrate on the correct reading and the chanting of the prayers, which are integral to the service. Part of the service may involve issues of the day, moral dilemmas, and/or the meaning of selected verses of prayer and how they apply to our students’ lives. In Grades Gimel through Vav, there is special emphasis this year on reading fluency and comprehension, and chanting the
Friday evening and Shabbat morning Kiddush. In addition, every month our pre-B’nei Mitzvah and their parents join Rabbi Haber at our Tallit and Tefillin Club, sponsored by the Brotherhood. I urge all parents to support their children’s spiritual growth, and encourage family participation at the musical Mishkan Shabbat Services on Friday evenings,
January 22 and March 19, at 6:15pm.

Enrichment for Students and Parents

In celebration of Tu B’Shvat, we will host a regional ACAPPELLA CONCERT for children and parents on Sunday, January 31. Students and parents from synagogues and schools throughout the Greater Boston areas will enjoy the colorful and inspiring music performed by Jewish high school and college students. There will be a minimal contribution for adults, and $1.00 contribution for children, to support various Jewish tsedakah programs. Following
the concert, our students will receive packages of fruit from Israel, sponsored by our PTO.

On Sunday, February 7, following the World Wide Wrap, at 11:00am, our PTO invites Nursery School through Grade 1 families to a program featuring Sarah Lamstein, a local Jewish children’s book author.


Sunday, March 21 is Prozdor Prospective Student Day (10-11:30am. I encourage all Grade Vav students and their parents to attend this introduction to Boston’s most successful teen Jewish education program. For over ten years, our Religious School has had the highest percentage of graduates go on to Prozdor of Hebrew College to continue their
Jewish studies. One out of every three students in the Tuesday Prozdor sessions is a graduate of Mishkan Tefila. No one can say that at Mishkan Tefila Jewish learning stops after Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Keep our school on its winning streak!

Purim and Passover
Purim begins on Saturday evening, February 27, with the Megillah Reading. Later that evening, the PTO invites volunteers to help set-up and prepare for our annual Purim Carnival, which will be held following Religious School Classes on Sunday, February 28. The carnival is a highlight of the year for our children, and a major fundraiser for our PTO who work so hard and give so much to our students and school. To volunteer, please contact PTO Co-Presidents Melissa Donovan at MelissaD@yahool.com or Jan Fleischman at jeif2@aol.com.

On PURIM (Sunday morning, February 28), beginning at 10:00am, we will have morning service and the Megillah Reading for the entire Religious School, synagogue members and the greater community. The morning will include a costume parade at 11:30am, and the formal opening of the Purim Carnival at 12:00 noon.


On Sunday, March 28, our students will participate in PTO sponsored Model Passover sedarim with will participate in PTO sponsored Model Passover sedarim with presentations by each class. These programs are intended to prepare our students for full participation in their family Sedarim.

My best wishes for involvement in Torah and Mitzvot over the coming months.

Dr. Stephen Simons, Director of Education


 

 
     
  300 Hammond Pond Parkway, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 617.332.7770