Congregation Mishkan Israel defines Jewish education as a preparation for the
experience of living a Jewish life. The religious education programming is an integral part
of the CMI community. Its goal is to help families ensure the continuity of and commitment
to our Jewish religion, culture and heritage and identity. Our religious school seeks to nurture in
its students a growing understanding of Torah, mitzvot, Hebrew, social responsibility,
traditions, prayer, ethics and Israel -- all to foster comfort and pride in belonging to the
Jewish community.
Tot ShabbatClick here for a schedule of this year's Tot Shabbats.
Nursery School
The Mishkan Israel Nursery School offers classes for Parents and Toddlers, infants to 4 year old children as well as a
kindergarten readiness class for 5 year olds.
Director Bec Luty and her professional, experienced staff guide
young children in hands-on, experiential learning activities that includes an
introduction to Jewish themes and holidays. Enrollment is non-sectarian.
Part day (see below) and full day (7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.) options are available for 2, 3, or 5 days a week. Intersessions are offered during school vacations. There also is summer camp for June through the start of school in September.
For part day, children can stay for lunch-bunch from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. The extremely popular optional enrichment programs, which include music, science, Spanish, dance and cooking, are offered each day 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
| Class | Day | Part-Day | Full-Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parents/Toddlers | Wednesdays | 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. | |
| infants-5 year olds | Monday - Friday | 9:00 - 12:00 noon | 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. |
For registration forms, click here.
Click here for Nursery School News.
The mission of the Religious School is to instill students with strong Jewish identities, knowledge
of Hebrew language and prayer, a connection to the State of Israel, a sense of social responsibility and
respect for all people, and a life-long love of Jewish learning. This is accomplished through
a professionally supported Religious School by focusing on youth, adult and family education,
as well as on social action, community involvement, youth groups, and tzedakah, and through
living Torah in the tradition of the Reform movement.Children from pre-school through seventh grade meet on Sunday mornings from 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Fourth through seventh graders also attend School on Tuesdays from 4-5:30 p.m. Pre-school through third grade students participate in storytelling, art and music activities as well as mitzvah projects which familiarize them with their Jewish heritage, the Jewish holiday cycle, Bible stories, the Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew numbers, and the Hebrew prayer curriculum. Fourth through seventh grade students participate in a more rigorous Hebrew program which prepares them to lead the congregation on the occasion of their becoming b'nei mitzvah. Additionally, the fourth and fifth grade curricula include specific study of texts from the Torah, Israel, and lifecycle. Sixth graders study Jewish values and heroes. Seventh graders follow Jewish history from the Middle Ages through the Holocaust to modern day Israel and American Jewry.
Attending services is an important aspect of the religious development of young people, and we particularly encourage students and their families to join us for the monthly Family Shabbat Service, which generally is held on the third Friday of each month during the school year. Each month, students from a particular grade participate on the bimah during the Shabbat Family Service.
For registration forms, click here.
Click here for Religious School News.
CMI High offers a hands-on approach to learning. Classes meet Sunday afternoons 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. This year, Rabbi Brockman will lead a course on "Six Modern Social Issues," exploring such topics as capital punishment, interfaith relations, universal health care, and the environment. Rabbi Adler will lead a course that explores Judaism's perspective on food and the environment. Confirmation is for our tenth graders, who study with the Rabbis and Cantor. To start, the class shares in the opportunity to talk with their peers and with the Rabbis about Jewish ideas and values in the new millennium. Later in the course, the class will develop a special theme for their confirmation and prepare a Shavuot service that reflects their thinking about that theme. It will express their sense of Judaism at this point in their lives.
For information about the ongoing classes, click here.
For further information, call the synagogue office at (203) 288-3877 or e-mail us at congregation@snet.net.