Educational Principles
Our vision is that all children, from our tots through our teens, will be engaged in age- and developmentally appropriate learning. We will realize this through formal and informal, experiential, classroom-based, synagogue-based, and home-based programming.
Our pedagogical approach is informed by basic principles of Reconstructionist Judaism:
- Understanding Judaism as a civilization with an evolving religious core
- Affirming a theology that is both traditional and humanist, and which rejects Jewish triumphalism
- Transmitting our Jewish sacred mythology with reverence, while integrating contemporary knowledge
and understanding
- Focusing on connections, keeping community at the center of all that we do.
These are the guiding principles of Limmud@AdatShalom, our Education Program.
Jewish Identity Formation
- Being a Jewish person in the modern world
- Being a Jewish American (and other identities)
- Finding meaning in and being part of a Jewish community
- Understanding/developing a relationship with Israel
- Learning Jewish history, ancient through modern
Jewish Religious Skill Building
- Prayer and basic Torah proficiency
- Basic Hebrew Vocabulary
- Rituals, at synagogue and at home
- Holidays and lifecycle transitions
Jewish Values
- Uniquely Jewish values
- Universal and multi-faith values
- Understanding and engaging with mitzvot
- Cultivating a commitment to justice and service
Creation Care
- Embracing a moral and Jewish obligation to care for the planet
- Greening our approach to social, racial, and economic justice in Jewish thought and action
