KoREH News

A Culture of Family Learning at KRRS

The fall has arrived, which can only mean one thing: THE START OF THE KOL RINAH RELIGIOUS SCHOOL YEAR! We are so excited to start the year with incredible new additions to our curriculum and a few new faces who will be helping our students grow and learn in new ways.

One of our new additions will be Gal Roberman, a ShinShin who will be joining us as well as Congregation Shaare Emeth. Shinshinim are teen emissaries from Israel, who partner with the Israeli government and local Jewish Federations around the country to their Jewish communities. They have just graduated from high school and have delayed their army service in order to travel to St. Louis and serve in our community for a year on a volunteer basis. The Shinshinim will teach about Israel and Israeli culture in our community at various congregations. This year, Gal will also be helping to assist and train our KRRS staff in some of the fundamentals of an experience-based, hands-on approach to learning Hebrew. We will be using games, activities, stories, drama, and art to build a common, working Hebrew vocabulary for our families.

In addition, we will be opening up out Religious School to whole family learning. Our parents will have the chance to join us each week for Havdallah to start our Sunday, followed by a course of learning designed specifically for them. Together, we will learn more about how Judaism tackles big questions, how we join together throughout the year, and how we can build and strengthen our Jewish homes and our connections with our community. We also want a chance for parents to not only be a real part of their children’s Jewish life and education, but to expand the ways in which they, as individuals, connect Jewishly as well. 

Our Shabbat experiences are evolving as well. This year, our MifgaShabbat program will be featuring a different grade level (from Kindergarten through 5th grade) as the Spotlight Leaders. Children in these grades, both KRRS students and any other members of our congregational family, will be invited to be leaders at this Shabbat experience. They will be able to show off what they have learned, from prayers and Torah readings to leading activities and hands on experiences. They will also be our prayer leaders for Kiddush and HaMotzi when our MifgaShabbat joins our younger kids at Tot Shabbat and Rhythm N’Ruach. We want to shine a light on how bright and incredible all of the children at Kol Rinah are, and give them the chance each Shabbat to really make their Jewish experience an important part of their lives. All children are encouraged to come to our Tot Shabbat, Rhythm N’Ruach, and MifgaShabbat experiences in order to add their ruach and energy into the community.

Throughout the year, I will be inviting each of you to come and see what we do in the Religions School and to give me feedback about some of our exciting learning initiatives. I hope you will take me up on the offer, make a connection with our students, and help us expand and improve our program. Here’s to another incredible year of Kol Rinah Religious School!