The dynamics among students, parents, and teachers is what makes Beth Am Shalom’s religious school a special place, according to Education Director Joshua Inzelbuch.
“It’s very important to keep Judaism alive and to have the parents participate,” he told The Jewish Journal.
The 100-student large kindergarten through 9th grade religious school of the Reform Lakewood synagogue focuses on Hebrew language, Israel studies, and Jewish history and values.
Inzelbuch cited the close ties between the religious school and the Jewish Federation of Ocean County.
“We are also appreciative of the financial support the federation gives us in its yearly allocations,” he noted.
In kindergarten through 2nd grade, held on Sunday mornings, students learn the basics of the Hebrew language, concentrating on how to pronounce the letters. The young students also hear about biblical heroes as a way to introduce them to Judaism. In 3rd grade, held twice a week on Sundays and Tuesdays, the focus on heroes continues, but formal reading practice of Hebrew begins. In the 4th and 5th grades, also held twice a week, students continue their studies of Hebrew, though at a more intensive level, and dive into the Prophets and Writings.
In the 6th and 7th grades, students prepare for their bar and bat mitzvahs, through learning the prayers for Friday night and Saturday morning services as well as training to chant their respective Torah and haftarah portions. In 6th grade, held twice weekly, students focus specifically on the Jewish lifecycle and American Jewish history. In grade 7, which meets on Sundays, the curriculum centers on the Holocaust and the historical development of the modern synagogue.
A focus on Israel, however, runs throughout all the grades as the students get deeper into the subject matter as they get older.
Also central to the curriculum are “hands-on” activities like an Israel trip simulation, where students imagine visiting the Jewish state or a family history project in which they trace their ancestors’ pasts.
The school also hosts field trips, including one to the Jewish museum where they get exposure to different streams of Judaism, which Inzelbuch added is important in a town such as Lakewood, with its large Orthodox population.
Inzelbuch, who in addition to his duties at Beth Am Shalom teaches 6th grade at the Ella G. Clarke School in Lakewood, said that all the school’s teachers are certified and are committed to the students and their development.
Among the goals of the school, he said, is to “make sure as the kids get older they understand that they can live Jewish lives in a secular world; that the two can blend together very well.”