Children's Education

Registration Form

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Background and Orientation of Kol Shalom, Community for Humanistic Judaism?
Why Jewish Education?
Why Humanistic Jewish Education?
What Classes are Offered?
What are the Class Dates and Location for 2010-2011?
What is Taught in the Pre-school, Aleph and Bet classes?
What is Taught in the Mitzvah Classes?
What are Parent Responsibilities?
What are the Costs of Classes? Is Membership Required?
What Personnel are Involved with the Kol Shalom Children's Education Program?
Who Do I Contact for Further Information?

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What is the Background and Orientation of Kol Shalom, Community for Humanistic Judaism?
Kol Shalom has been affiliated with the Society for Humanistic Judaism since 1993. Humanistic Jewish communities and congregations carry on Jewish traditions, culture, education and identity from a humanistic perspective (see Philosophy). We have an office and meeting space in Hillsdale. Our classes, larger shabbats and Sunday Forums meet at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. For Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, we meet at the West Hills Unitarian Fellowship.
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Why Jewish Education?
In our transient society, having roots is more important than ever.  Who are we?  From what people and traditions did we come? Answers to these questions give us a valuable anchor.  The Jewish people have a 3,000-year heritage, one which has profoundly contributed to society.

Advances made by Jews in science, law, medicine, and the humanities have been disproportionate to the size of the Jewish population.   Jewish education allows us to pass along this estimable heritage to our children. In doing so we help to ground them as they mature and ensure that this valuable tradition will continue beyond us for the betterment of the world.
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Why Humanistic Jewish Education?
We want our students to have a great Jewish experience; one in which they not only learn and meet other Jewish kids, but also one which they enjoy.

Although proud of our Jewish heritage,  many of us are not comfortable with the God-language of traditional Jewish observances.  Humanistic Jews believe that the core of Judaism stems from its people, values, history and culture rather than from a deity.  Whether there is a higher intelligence guiding the universe or not, we believe humans do not have access to any "divine revelation."  We believe in the humanistic values so evident in our history, without reference to supernaturalism.

With this philosophy as our basis, our educational goal is to present a full spectrum of Jewish traditions, culture, ethics and history, including the role of God in traditional Jewish belief.  We do not teach prayers to God, the Bible as God-given, or laws and ethics as God-given. The Bible is part of our tremendous body of literature; the stories are the legends of our history and culture. Since many of our families are intercultural and given our philosophy we neither proselytize nor claim to have the only valid belief system.

We emphasize the noble humanistic values of justice, fairness and personal ethical responsibility which are not only  evident in Jewish tradition from the early prophets such as Jeremiah and Isaiah, but also displayed by Jews throughout history.

Whether as adults our students choose a humanistic or a more traditional orientation, children completing our program will have a solid background in rich, remarkable heritage of the Jewish people.
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What Classes are Offered?
For the 2009-2010 school year we have an aleph (ages 5-7), bet (ages 8-11),  first year mitzvah class (ages 11-12) and a second year mitzvah class (ages 12-13). Our classes are small; pre-mitzvah classes are usually under 12 in size and mitzvah classes usually 5 or fewer students.
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What are the Class Dates and Location for 2010-2011?
Pre-school, aleph and bet classes meet twice a month, generally first and third Sundays from 10:00 AM - noon at Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy in SW Portland.  The first year mitzvah class meets once a month at the same location with some additional independent activities between meetings. The second year mitzvah class meets at the Kol Shalom Center, 1509 SW Sunset Blvd., Suite 2H (first half of year) and Suite 1 (second half of year).  Parents are encouraged to have students attend all classes.  The schedule for the year is as follows:

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What is Taught in the Pre-school, Aleph and Bet classes?

Aleph Class Syllabus
Bet Class Syllabus

These classes emphasize a variety of age appropriate hands on activities relating to Jewish holidays, music, culture, history and traditions.  We also explore values and ethics, literature, art, drama, and introductory Hebrew.  In addition, each year we focus on a particular topic such as mitzvot, Israel or Shabbat.  There are many crafts activities for the younger children.

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Many of our students participate actively in our Kol Shalom holiday celebrations.  From the earliest classes we teach and model humanistic and Jewish values that promote a commitment to social justice, ethical living and community service.  We create an environment that fosters pride in our Jewish connection.  While we are a Jewish organization, we are sensitive to the fact that many of our members are intercultural families. 
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What is Taught in the Mitzvah Classes?

First Year Mitzvah Syllabus
Overview of Full Mitzvah Program Requirements (13 Steps)

The Kol Shalom Mitzvah program involves two years of classes and activities. During the first year class is held once per month. There are also outside activities which might include visiting other congregational services, the Jewish Museum, a Jewish themed film, or the Holocaust Memorial.  The same schedule applies to the second year. The first year class curriculum covers the history of the Jewish people from early Biblical times up to the creation of the state of Israel. Jewish traditions and customs are studied as well as some Yiddish vocabulary. The second year class focuses on more in depth studies of important people and episodes in Jewish history, ethics, community service and preparation for the mitzvah ceremony, the latter produced and presented by the family. Sometimes parents will join together for joint ceremonies with more than one child while other parents choose to have individual ceremonies. Kol Shalom has resources to help parents create an appropriate mitzvah ceremony.  We can provide music and speakers but this requires that the child has successfully completed the requirements of the Kol Shalom Mitzvah Program.  
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What are Parent Responsibilities?
Due to the limited amount of class time, the chief responsibility for parents is to clear their children's  schedules so that they can attend all classes and then bring them to class prepared!  Parents are welcome to stay for the Sunday Forum programs we offer on many of the class days.  The Children's Education Committee welcomes parent participation.  Parents may be called upon to help with snacks and to help with out of class activities (mitzvah program).  Parents are always welcome to stay and observe classes.
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What are the Costs of Classes?  Is Membership Required?
Membership is required for students to be in our Mitzvah Program, including classes. Membership is not required for the pre-school, aleph and bet classes.

Costs for the school year are:
Pre-School, aleph and bet classes: 

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What Personnel are Involved with the Kol Shalom Children's Education Program? 
The Children's Education Committee sets policies and does the hiring for our program.   The program itself is administered by a staff facilitator. Our teachers are generally members with teaching experience. 
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Who Do I Contact for Further Information?
More information can be obtained from our Children's Education Committee Chair, Dr. Walt Hellman (hellmanw@gmail.com; 503-648-6361. 

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