We are Life-Long Jewish Learning!

Tot Shabbat
Please join us for Tot Shabbat the first Friday of every month at 6:30 pm at Beth Shalom. Enjoy a song filled service and story on the Bimah at the Synagogue (1801 Baynard Blvd), followed by a kiddie kiddush. Tot Shabbat is open to CBS families and community members with children ages 5 and under. The program is about an hour long. Children are welcome to attend in their pajamas. For more information, contact Jill Liebling, jill_liebling@yahoo.com, for more information, or click here to visit the new Tot Shabbat Web page.

Babysitting Co-Op and Junior Congregation
Beth Shalom comes alive on Shabbat morning with the joyful sounds of children welcomed in our holy community. Our new Babysitting Co-Op, where parents of 0-3 year olds help cover babysitting duties, allows other parents to daven in the sanctuary. Special Shabbat programming for 4-7 year olds has included Jewish Yoga for kids, Hebrew games and songs, Torah study with dolls and puppets, and art projects. Junior Congregation, led by high schoolers, is where 8-12 year olds participate with their prayers in activities, games and tefillah, prayer.

Beth Shalom Hebrew School
Starting with Halutzim, our new Sunday morning program for children ages 3, 4, & 5, through the 6th grade, our Hebrew School focuses on the fundamentals of Torah, Jewish values, Hebrew, history, and a positive Jewish identity. Our graduates are prepared to enter the world of Jewish adulthood with a set foundation that leaves them eager to participate actively in the greater Jewish world. Grades K-2 meet on Sundays from 9:15am to 12:30pm. Grades 3-6 meet on Sundays from 9:15am to 12:30pm and on Tuesdays from 4pm – 6pm. Many of our graduates continue at Gratz Delaware Hebrew High School.

Youth Groups
Our Kadima Youth Group serves the social, spiritual, and Jewish communal needs of our 6th through 8th grade members and feeds into the community-wide BBYO chapters as well as JCC youth events. Our Kadima Board plans activities and recruits new members to the ever-growing group!

Family Education
Our large Day School family population gathers with our Hebrew School families every few months, based on grade, for short, fun, engaging family education opportunities, including studying with the Rabbi, learning cool new tunes with the Hazzan, and other topics of interest, like moral ethics, with Rosh Roland.

We are also developing Family Education on a level where parents can learn with other parents while their children are engaged and active in the Hebrew School!

B'nai Mitzvah
Bar and Bat Mitzvah take place as close to the 13th birthday as possible. Candidates for B’nai Mitzvah work closely with our clergy in the year leading up to their simcha. Often, for the first time, a parent will read Torah at their child’s Bar / Bat Mitzvah. We work with each family to create and prepare a meaningful year of study including in depth study with Rabbi Beals on the meaning of the particular Torah and Haftarah portions. Students learn with Osnat David, our B'nai Mitzvah Coordinator, Torah/Haftarah Trope and the various parts of the Shabbat liturgy. There are opportunities to lead services before their actual B’nai Mitzvah. Each candidate takes on a meaningful mitzvah project. One of the wonderful traditions at Congregation Beth Shalom is that the most recent B’nai Mitzvah presents the certificate to the next candidate!

Adult Education
An Adult B’nai Mitzvah class is offered every few years. Currently, a class of nearly 20 students is preparing for their Adult B’nai Mitzvah in the spring of 2006 under the guidance of Arlene Davis. Rabbi Beals and others lead weekly Torah Study classes on a drop-in basis, covering a variety of topics including the Torah portion of the week and Jewish ethics. Other regularly held classes include Beginning Hebrew with Osnat David and Philosophy with Rabbi Beals.