The Role of Kehillat Shabbat

1. 5^th Grade Kehillat Shabbat

Students learn Torah and Haftarah trope and study the Haftarah parasha of the week and its connections to the Torah portion.  In T’fillah, students daven Shabbat Shacharit and are introduced to the Torah services.   The Beth Jacob Congregation Shabbat Service and trope CD is given to 5^th grade students.

2. 6^th Grade Kehillat Shabbat

Students continue to review and polish Haftarah trope, Torah trope, Shacharit, Torah Services.  The Musaf service is introduced at this time.  Students practice their skills using their own B’nai Mitzvah Parshiot. In T’fillah, they take turns leading parts of the service.

3. 7^th Grade Kehillat Shabbat

Students join Beth Jacob’s Shabbat T’fillot through the Torah reading and then meet as a class to discuss current events and ethics from a Jewish perspective. On weeks when there is a B’nai Mitzvah at Beth Jacob, students sit as a class during services.

4. Beyond B’nai Mitzvah

Beth Jacob Congregation will ask post B’nai Mitzvah students to daven services or read Torah in the synagogue on an ongoing basis.  In addition, students are encouraged to read Torah at a friend’s B’nai Mitzvah that takes place after their own. Eighth graders are encouraged to participate in “Shalshelet,” our ongoing educational enrichment and skill enhancement program. The Shalshelet curriculum engages students in discussion of Jewish life after B’nai Mitzvah; a major thematic idea and goal is to keep students comfortable coming to and being in the synagogue.  Students use the weekly parasha and various tefillot as springboards for discussion of life issues.  Shalshelet also includes a teacher-training component, helping our 8th-grade students prepare to become teaching assistants in the Shabbat Enrichment program.  Students practice their skills in active listening, quick response, and service leading.

Shalshelet meets every other week on Shabbat mornings; students spend part of the morning in services with their families and then meet as a group for the other half of the morning to learn together.