Jr. Chai (Grade 7) is a unique year in our educational program, as students make the transition to Wednesday night classes, while meeting with clergy to learn Torah, Haftarah and more in preparation for leading their B‘nai Mitzvah services during the course of the year.
Seventh graders meet for class on Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00pm. Hebrew instruction includes some review of prior year prayers, but also focuses on learning new prayers for Jewish life. A cornerstone prayer of this school year is a prayer they may never be asked to lead, but which they will use throughout their entire life: the Mourner’s Kaddish. In Judaic studies, they transition to more mature subject matter. Seventh graders learn about the Holocaust, including how and why Jews fought to maintain their identities and practices when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, as well as the many ways Jews resisted and fought back – a critical but often overlooked aspect of Holocaust studies. Students also take a higher-level look at the modern day country of Israel, including not only our connections to Israel as American Jews, but also some of the (often complicated) relationships Israel has with other countries and communities in the middle east and around the world.
