Our eleventh graders spend their first year post-Confirmation continuing to strengthen their own Jewish identities, while also focusing on discovering their roles in our greater Jewish community and the world.
Classes are not scheduled on conflicting evenings, so eleventh graders can choose to enroll in any or all of the following offerings for the 2023-2024 year:
Hot Topic Tuesdays with Rabbi Musnitsky
Learn how to see current-day conflicts, events, politics, and history-in-the-making through a Jewish lens, guided by Rabbi Musnitsky. Includes dinner; 6:30-8:00PM one Tuesday per month. (10/17, 11/14, 12/12, 1/9, 2/13, 3/12 and 4/9)
Chai Holidays
Who can get enough of our Jewish Holidays? Join Lynn Anne for project-based exploration of all sorts of Jewish holidays, from the most popular to the most obscure. We’ll cook, we’ll create beautiful and meaningful Judaica, we’ll put together part of this year’s THS Purim celebration(!) – and we’ll have fun doing it! You’ll also be introduced to surprising stories about some of our holidays that we do not share with the little ones. This course meets from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM one Thursday per month. (9/28, 10/26, 11/30, 12/21, 1/25, 2/29, 3/21 and 4/25)
Confirmation is open to any 11th Grade student who has not been confirmed. The highlight of this experience is the socializing, learning and travel. Rabbi Musnitsky looks forward to teaching and exploring together the challenge of addressing modern day issues and Jewish Adulthood, leading to a meaningful Confirmation experience capped by a special service honoring our Confirmands. Includes dinner; 6:30-8:00PM one Wednesday night per month.
(10/11, 11/1, 12/6, 1/3, 2/7, 3/6, 4/10, 5/8 (Rehearsal) and 5/17 (Service))
TEEN ENGAGEMENT
THS Teen Travel
We are excited to be able to offer new off-campus opportunities to our teens this year! Day trips for grades 8-12 include events such as seeing a Broadway play together or visiting cultural events in our area or nearby cities.
We also offer extended-weekend travel each year for students in grades 10 and up. Every other year, this is an opportunity to attend the L’Taken Social Justice Seminar in Washington, D.C. Details about this year’s exciting trip will be available soon! Students enrolled in Chai School receive special pricing for all teen trips.
Madrichim Program
Students in grades 9-12 can apply for a paid position as one of our JSchool madrichim (teaching aides) on Sunday mornings during the school year. Students who have never served as madrichim are encouraged to apply at this link: https://www.templeharshalom.org/learning/new-madrichim-application/ and returning madrichim should use the placement form here: https://www.templeharshalom.org/learning/returning-madrichim-placement-form/
Shul of Rock Teen Band with Nicole Drasin
Sing or play your favorite instrument in our Shul of Rock Teen Band! Band rehearses approximately two Wednesday nights per month, and performs at select services and events throughout the year.
Special Events
Over the course of the year, Temple Har Shalom hosts special events or guest speakers that will be meaningful for our teens to attend. Last year, THS teens and their families attended our gallery exhibit of photography from the American Society for Yad Vashem, and got to hear from Fred Biermann, who survived the Holocaust as a child and went on to fight for Israel in the early days of its founding. Invitations to these events will go out as they are scheduled.
More Information
Chai School is open to Temple Har Shalom members in good standing. We never want finances to prevent anyone from joining our community contact us if you have any questions.
Should you want any further details about school, programs, or enrollment information, please reach out to our Director of Congregational Education, Lynn Anne Cutler, at lynnannec@templeharshalom.org, Director of Religious School & Youth, Heather Schweizer, at heathers@templeharshalom.org, or Education Administrator, Amy Greenbaum, at amyg@templeharshalom.org or give us a call at (732) 356-8777.
What are our students saying?
“Over the past three years, we have been able to speak about a variety of different current events, including but not limited to, the January 6th insurrection, the war in Ukraine, and even pop culture events like the 2022 Oscar-winning fight scene from Will Smith and Chris Rock…My personal favorite part of these pizza-party/therapy sessions was how we somehow manage to relate every single event to Torah or a principle of Judaism. It never ceases to amaze me how Rabbi and Cantor can take the stories that we tell them about our personal life and give them greater meaning. It reinforces the fact that I am, in fact, here, and so were my grievances and joys…” – A.K.
