For 13-year-old Emma Berk, eight years at Lynbrook’s Temple Am Echad religious school have meant more than learning Hebrew, studying Jewish traditions and preparing for her bat mitzvah. They have helped her build friendships, gain confidence and think about how she will carry what she has learned into the future.
“I have learned so much during my time at Temple Am Echad; it’s hard to talk about just one,” Berk said. “Something that really comes to mind is learning the importance of handing down my knowledge and traditions to younger generations.”
Helping children develop their own connection to Judaism is at the heart of Temple Am Echad’s approach to religious education. Cantor Elana Bell, the temple’s cantorial soloist and new religious school director, said that means going beyond learning Hebrew or preparing for a b’nai mitzvah, the Jewish coming-of-age milestone.
“The ultimate goal of the religious school, in my opinion, is to not only teach kids the nuts and bolts of Judaism, how to read the alef-bet and Torah, but how to take the values of Judaism and use them to be a good person in the world,” Bell said.
Bell joined Temple Am Echad last year, tutoring b’nai mitzvah students and teaching seventh grade in addition to serving as cantorial soloist. She became religious school director this July.
Stephanie Brizard, a newly elected member of the temple’s board of directors and co-chair of its religious school committee, has also experienced the program as a parent. Her oldest daughter began attending in 2015 after friends encouraged her to join and celebrated her bat mitzvah this past March.
Brizard said the school gives children a foundation in Jewish traditions while allowing families to find their own ways of observing them.
“Not everyone’s Passover will look exactly the same,” she said. “We learn Torah and how to apply and put a spin on it to make it your own and keep the traditions and customs that make Judaism what it is.”
For Ben Wertheimer, 13, who will begin eighth grade at Oceanside Middle School in September, that personal connection developed over his years at Temple Am Echad. Before religious school, he said, Judaism did not hold much meaning for him because he knew little about it.
Now, after learning Hebrew and exploring Jewish holidays, heritage and culture, he sees the experience differently.
“I can look back on and see that it was a crucial part of my Jewish life for the future,” Ben said.
Bell said Temple Am Echad welcomes families with different levels of religious observance, including interfaith families and those who may not practice many traditions at home. Children can learn what traditions mean and experience them without an expectation that every family observe Judaism identically.
“We hope the religious school is a place where they can learn and participate in traditions without judgment,” Bell said. “It’s more the values we want them to take throughout life.”
This year, Temple Am Echad is bringing back the ShalomLearning curriculum, which organizes lessons around seven Jewish values. Students will learn prayers, history and Hebrew while exploring how those values apply to their lives, with music, art and holiday activities incorporated into the program.
For Berk, sharing those experiences with other Jewish children has been one of the most meaningful parts.
“One of the things I enjoy the most about being part of a religious school and spending time with other Jewish kids is that we all share a special bond with each other since we all have had similar learning journeys,” she said.
Those shared journeys become particularly meaningful as students prepare for their bar or bat mitzvahs. Ben said learning unfamiliar melodies, words and prayers was challenging, but his teachers patiently guided him through the process.
“I really did put in effort to make this special day in my Jewish life one to never forget,” he said.
His mother, Jordana Wertheimer, said seeing that work come together during his bar mitzvah was a proud moment for the family.
“Watching him stand on the bimah with such confidence in both his Hebrew readings and understanding of his Torah portion was more than we could have imagined,” she said. “We owe this to the wonderful guidance of the Rabbi and religious school program at Temple Am Echad.”
Berk similarly credited the program with giving her the confidence to learn the material and lead her bat mitzvah service.
But Temple Am Echad’s leaders do not want those milestones to mark the end of students’ Jewish education. Bell said one of her priorities is keeping older students involved through discussion-based programming for eighth-graders and up and opportunities for teens to assist younger classes.
Berk already hopes to do just that. Since becoming a bat mitzvah, she continues to attend services and community activities when she can and wants to help younger students reach the milestone themselves.
“Hopefully this year I will be able to help the younger classes achieve their B’nai Mitzvah goals,” Berk said.
Ben, meanwhile, said he would tell younger students that religious school will introduce them to people who can “guide and support” them as they grow.
For Bell, there is no single way students must carry Judaism with them once they leave religious school. Instead, she hopes they leave with the knowledge and experiences to determine what it will mean in their own lives.
“Whatever role Judaism plays in their life, I hope they know they have a welcoming community waiting for them,” Bell said.
For more information about temple Am Echad's Religious School program, reach out to the VP of membership, Janna Trevers-Meyer at janna@am-echad.org, or visit the website at www.am-echad.org.
