The Hebrew language has a beautiful way of saying “school”: Beit Sefer, which literally translates to House of Books. CBJ’s Beit Sefer offers a balance of Hebrew and Jewish learning, with immersive cultural activities and events that engage children of all ages and broaden their understanding of Jewish tradition and heritage.
We offer weekly Hebrew classes currently taught via Zoom, with 6th and 7th graders preparing for their Bar or Bat Mitzvot with Rabbi Mills. Sunday cultural enrichment classes will be held at CBJ and sometimes off site, led by Rabbi Mills. Activities will include community volunteering, as well as artistic, culinary, and musical components that promote learning and understanding of holiday observances as well as both modern and traditional Jewish customs.
For more information contact Rabbi Mills at beitsefer@cbjplymouth.org.
We are gearing up for a great 2023-2024 year at Beit Sefer. Here is the updated school calendar.
Here’s a recap of our Sunday school lessons on Rituals, which was is our curriculum for this year. Below is a recap of some of our classes:
Consecration
This week in Beit Sefer we learned about Consecration, when kids begin their Jewish education. The kids baked sweet treats in the shapes of Hebrew letters, a Consecration tradition. We also learned the importance of the Shema, which we say at Consecration and so many other occasions. The kids made their own mezzuzot with the Shema scroll inside. And we started class, as we have every week, with the prayer for peace and the singing of Hatikva, Israel’s national anthem.
Brit Milan and Brit Bat and Supporting Israel
Beit Sefer continued learning about rituals this week, focusing on birth rituals for boys and girls. First, as we’ve been doing every week, Rabbi Mills lead the children in a prayer for peace for Israel. Then she shared a new ritual taking place all over the world: tying a blue ribbon on a tree to support the hostages currently being held in Gaza.
The children decorated our trees with blue ribbons, which we will leave up until each hostage has been released. We welcomed long time member and mohel Dr. Joel Baron as our guest speaker, who taught the class about Brit Milah, the ceremony for boys. Then the children learned about the tradition of baby naming. They learned who they are each named for, and held ceremonies for their stuffed animals, all of whom now have beautiful Hebrew names and name certificates.
Jewish Rituals
Now that the High Holy day season is over, Beit Sefer is back in full swing. Last week the students learned more about our connection to Israel and created frames representing coexistence. Yesterday the kids continued learning about Jewish rituals, our theme for the year, by exploring different life cycle events, such as birth, b’nai mitzvot, and weddings. Take a look!
