Jewish Family Life and Learning (JFLL)
Click here for quick links to request info or registration forms.
Rabbi Nadia Gold, our Director of Family Engagement, is always eager to speak with our current and prospective JFLL families and WES members at large. Make an appointment with ngold [at] westendsynagogue.org (Nadia) to learn more about our unique brand of Jewish education.
JFLL blends individual choice with experiential and whole family learning.
Our innovative, "whole family" approach to Jewish education, Jewish Family Life and Learning (JFLL), is a major departure from your parents' Hebrew School, and is making a big impression on kids and parents alike.
Our progressive educational approach encourages learners of all ages to make personal meaning from all our activities, and our JFLL program seeks to synergize classroom learning with a vibrant Jewish family life.
We believe that children's time in our classes and programs must be just as enjoyable as their best experiences in secular school, as well as their favorite extracurricular activities.
JFLL Weekday Classes, Tuesdays 4-6 PM
Each JFLL weekday session consists of three elements:
OPENING ASSEMBLY
We begin each session in community as all students gather for an engaging opening experience, which could be an Israeli hip hop video, a story, or a hands-on group project.
The Opening
Assembly serves as a set induction for the day's lessons and is an opportunity for kids of all ages to bond through shared experience.
JUDAICS
Through the lens of the synagogue-wide theme of the year, students engage in learning through art, drama, music, creative writing, debates, group projects and more. We favor an interactive learning model, so that classroom activities are more like camp than school.
HEBREW
Using the Hevruta method of study, students of similar skill sets and learning styles work in pairs or small groups, at their own pace. Students in 4th-7th grades apply their reading skills to learn Tefilah (prayer) and the basic vocabulary essential to Jewish literacy.
JFLL Family Shabbat Programming
Aliyah B'Yachad (monthly) for families with 5-7 grade students:
On the last Saturday morning each month, from 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM, Rabbi Marc meets on the lower level to learn with our 5th - 7th grade students and their parents. From 11:00 AM to 12:15 PM, families will continue learning together upstairs in the Sanctuary with other WES members. Families will participate in a short introduction to the Torah portion, an abbreviated Torah service, and then an interactive study session for adults and the 5th-7th graders.
These monthly sessions in the sanctuary, "Pray What you Mean, Mean What You Pray," will be designed to demystify the prayers of the Shabbat morning service and help parents and children find personal meaning in them.
Followed by a Kiddush lunch.
Shirat Shabbat for families with K-4th grade students at 11:15AM:
Every Saturday morning from 11:15-12:15, join us for a “camp style” musical Shabbat experience for 5-10 year olds and parents, featuring Landon Braverman — an age-appropriate, informal, accessible service designed to learn Shabbat melodies through the magic of song. Join Landon Braverman, Rabbi Nadia Gold, and talented Jewish educator/musicians for a musical celebration of Shabbat for K-4th graders! Then join the WES community for a festive kiddush luncheon. Visitors always welcome! (more about Landon Braverman, below)
Read more about Shirat Shabbat...
"First Friday at 6" for all families, first Friday of each month, 6 pm
Catch the beat at our musical Kabbalat Shabbat service for all ages led by Rabbi Marc Margolius and Hazzan Ayelet Porzecanski — then join us for a delicious, communal potluck Shabbat dinner!
Tot Shabbat for ages 0-4 with parents
Our Tot Shabbat Service was carefully crafted by clergy, early childhood experts and professional Jewish educators, bringing a wealth of spiritual, liturgical and pedagogical knowledge to the process.
The result is a Service – comprised of child friendly melodies and activities – that directly parallels the Siddur; making it equally resonant for parents steeped in Jewish tradition or for those new to Shabbat prayer.
KEF KIDS for PRE-K to 2nd Graders
Kef Kids meets two Saturdays a month, from 2:00-3:30pm at West End Synagogue
Read more about Kef Kids ...
Landon Braverman,
JFLL/Kef Kids Music Teacher and Shirat Shabbat Songleader
He will also be teaching music from time to time during JFLL Tuesday evenings and Kef Kids. Besides having a love for Judaism and Jewish music, Landon is an accomplished New York City based composer, originally from Vancouver, Canada. With bookwriter/lyricist collaborator Derek P. Hassler, he has created the new musicals QUEEN OF THE WEST (winner of Best Score and Best Musical at the Manhattan Theatre Mission), PICTURE PERFECT (Prospect Theatre Company), and CHOICES (various off-Broadway, Top 10 Finalist Ken Davenport Short Play Competition). Their most recent project, THE WHITE ROSE, was workshopped at Millikin University and will be developed with New York Theatre Barn throughout the year. T Landon is the Co-Founding Artistic Director of the Canadian Musical Theatre Writers Collective (www.cmtwc.com), a national organization devoted to supporting and promoting the work of new writers at home and abroad. Landon holds a B.A. and B.Mus. from Mount Allison University, and an M.F.A. from New York University's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (Tisch). He is a proud member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild.
Special guests from Israel!
We would also like to give a warm welcome to Ido, our new Shinshin. Ido is a representative from The Jewish Agency/UJA who have come to teach our students all about Israel. Ido will be working every Tuesday during JFLL and will also be present for some of our Kef Kids classes and special chagim.
YES, I WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE WES JFLL PROGRAM. (school [at] westendsynagogue.org (email request))
REGISTRATION FORMS FOR THE 2016-17 SCHOOL YEAR.
(PDF forms may be filled in by hand or on your computer before printing. Please sign and return by mail or in person.)
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