Philosophy of Education
Congregation Beth Israel offers a multi-faceted Jewish educational program, serving our entire congregational family as well as welcoming all other interested Jewish Austinites. Whether the focus is on four-year olds entering a synagogue class for their very first year of formal Jewish education, or on our beloved Second Sixty program bringing ongoing Jewish learning to our elder members, CBI believes that the mission of our education program is to help all members of our congregation learn about Judaism. Our focus reaches far beyond Bnei Mitzvah – the Jewish rite of passage when Jewish boys and girls are called to Torah at age thirteen.
Youth Education
We have designed a program that will nurture learners at every level. The goal of all of our education programs is to produce devoted Jews, who are committed to life-long learning—searching and questioning, studying Torah, participating in the Jewish community, striving to master Hebrew language, devoted to the observance of the Jewish calendar as well as the Jewish life cycle. We take seriously the responsibility of education that is itself Jewish in nature — challenging, respectful, memorable, relevant, and, of course, fun.
The best way to conceive of education at Beth Israel is in visual terms. Picture inviting a brand-new student to taste honey from the page of her first Hebrew text, entering the magical world of Jewish studies, and there you have the heart of education at Beth Israel. Study in our congregation is meant to be sweet. CBI continuously encourages each student to learn, stretch, and grow in all kinds of new, challenging, meaningful, Jewish ways.
Our children stay involved in Jewish education, even after they get their driver’s licenses. Students actually consider our high school program ‘cool’ to join. Designed to provide each student the opportunity for personal study and connection with each of our educators, cantors, and rabbis, Beth Israel’s unique programming, encourages a deep and meaningful bond that makes the synagogue more than just another place to visit. CBI teens have the chance to learn with clergy and staff with whom they developed shared, dynamic history. Beth Israel teachers and youth advisors immediately draw in new students who may have joined Beth Israel later on – after relocating to Austin or completing Jewish day school.
Our clergy and educators begin getting to know most of Beth Israel’s children when they are enrolled in the Child Development Center (CDC - our preschool), attending our Tot Shabbat morning services and/or First Friday Family Shabbat services and dinners, as well as our Sunday morning prekindergarten and kindergarten classes.
Student-teacher relationships carry forward through the years, as our children grow into young people surrounded by Beth Israel staff who have supported their Jewish education and personal development. When our middle school and high school students begin to question their identity and place in the world our teachers, educators, and clergy are in classrooms ready to join in the discovery and rediscovery of what Judaism offers. Our students find Jewish role models and counselors - our clergy, educators, teachers, and madrichim—readily available to guide them in the development of strong Jewish identities. Our kids have a secure place in the world right here at CBI.
All Jews are responsible for one another.
Synagogue Subsidized Education
At Congregation Beth Israel we believe that all congregants act as one family in support of each student’s learning. Regardless of whether a child is four years old and entering prekindergarten, twelve years old and preparing to become B’nei Mitzvah, or fifteen and working toward Confirmation, there is NO TUITION for education at Beth Israel. All children of members in good standing (Returned Annual Commitment Forms) are eligible for enrollment in our education programs. Congregants of Beth Israel are dedicated to creating a vibrant Jewish future by raising knowledgeable, practicing Jewish students to become adults equally dedicated to the Jewish community. While we don’t charge tuition to pay for each student’s education, we do expect each family to pay a materials fee when they register students. If a family cannot pay the materials fee, a written note attached to the registration forms in place of a check can waive the fee.
Student-Centered Learning
All kinds of learners are welcome at Beth Israel. We design our programs to meet the needs of students using the most progressive techniques available in the Jewish world as well as in the field of education in general. Our teachers will receive support and training to help them tailor their teaching to the minds and hearts of different kinds of learners. All children, regardless of learning style or special need, deserve a superb Jewish education, and at Congregation Beth Israel it is our goal to bring this level of learning to each student in our program.
Kehillah - Community
As an education department, parents, teachers, clergy, and educators take seriously the responsibility of helping each student form life-long attachments to the Jewish world at large. We support our students interests and affiliations with numerous Jewish communities, for example: our own outstanding youth group - the fantastic ATT, Austin Temple Teens; on a regional, national, and global level through the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY); through CBI camperships for URJ Greene Family Camp (the Reform Movement’s nearby summer camp), as well as through the promotion and scholarship funding of Reform Jewish summer trips to Israel. Congregation Beth Israel devotes itself to ensuring that our youth experience the full breadth of Jewish life—far beyond the borders of Austin, Texas.
At Beth Israel we celebrate with together as well as mourn together. As parents and teachers we recognize the importance of raising Jewish children who not only receive gifts from the community, but also bring their own gifts for the community.
Tikkun Olam – Repairing what is broken in our world
A child’s first act of Tikkun Olam is learning to say that s/he is sorry for hurting another child. Learning to become a person who strives to repair what is broken starts with learning to see ourselves as individuals with the power to make right what we have done wrong. Once our children learn a sense of personal responsibility, we can then help them build a sense of the responsibility for repairing the broader world around us.
Just as a young child would never be allowed to break his toys, we teach our older students that they must never be allowed to forget that the world is in a state of broken-ness. The earth must be healed and protected. Homes must be rebuilt and provided to all. Social justice must be found and protected. We are Jews, and this is our sacred responsibility.
At Congregation Beth Israel we are in a unique position to teach Tikkun Olam to our children – informally as well as formally. Our synagogue e-bulletins as well as our hallways are filled with opportunities to donate time to Tikkun Olam efforts during our weekly routines. Additionally, our classes, youth groups, and formal synagogue trips offer young people a chance to join Tikkun Olam efforts while also enjoying the company of their Jewish peers.
Tzedakah – Righteous Giving
Every Sunday school morning at every Reform synagogue in the country, children troop into class with Tzedakah (money to donate) in their pockets or clutched in their hands. At Beth Israel we want our students to ask themselves: Why are we collecting this money? In the course of a year kindergarteners may raise money for an Alzheimer’s Respite Program in Smith Auditorium as well as an older class raising funds to donate to survivors of terror attacks in Israel across the world. Tzedakah is one of the obvious lessons in any religious school, but do our students really learn it? At CBI we work hard to make Tzedakah a routine with a sense of purpose. We teach the lesson of Tzedakah – righteous giving in every class, in every grade, during every year. Our students collect Tzedakah in their formal education classes and vote to allocate their class Tzedakah collection to worthy Tzedakah organizations.
From the beginning, each learner at Beth Israel is surrounded by lessons of Tzedakah. As early as a Jewish child’s baby naming ceremony, the community welcomes the baby by donating Tzedakah - Jews are obligated to donate their money to righteous organizations - in his or her honor. Throughout the life of a congregant, Tzedakah is part of each community gathering – for celebrations, memorials, and every type of event in between.
Tefillah – Prayer/Worship
The siddur (prayer book) is the guide to Judaism - our values and our history. Tefillah links all Jews across time and space. Our ancestors spoke, sang, and chanted these Hebrew words. Today, Jews all over the world pray for peace in all the languages of modern times. By praying at Beth Israel on Shabbat as well as during school sessions, our students learn Judaism’s most important lessons.
Our students learn tefillah by experience, by decoding the Hebrew words, by interpreting the values our siddur illustrates, as well as learning the order and history of the Jewish worship service.
Learning Tefillah is an important aspect of our youth education program. When our students feel at home in Jewish prayer services, they will feel comfortable in services at Beth Israel; at Jewish summer camps; during Jewish trips across America, Europe, and Israel; at Hillel when they are in college; as well as any Jewish community they join during their adulthood.