Yachad

The 2011-12 school year has begun! If you have any questions about joining, please contact Sarah Jacobs Patulo at 718-768-3814, ext. 100 for more information. The full schedule and fees are on our registration form. Click here to view or download the 2011-12 registration form now.

Click here to view or download a presentation about Yachad.

For information about the 2012-13 school year, we invite you to join us for one of the following upcoming events:

Yachad Open House for Prospective Students and Families
Saturday May 5 9:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
in the Rotunda at 271 Garfield Place.
Sample day–come try Yachad for the day! Join for bagels, services, and see our Kindergarten-6th grade programs in action! Kids welcome to try a sample class while parents join an information session. Please let us know names and grades of children trying the program by emailing Sarah Jacobs Patulo at spatulo@cbebk.org.

Yachad Jewish Education Information Sessions for Parents of Prospective Yachad Students
Thursday May 10 9:15-10:00 Parent Breakfast
in the Social Hall
Come enjoy breakfast with Program Directors and parents of current Yachad students.

Monday May 14, 7:30-8:15 Parent Wine and Cheese
in the Rotunda
Come and enjoy wine and cheese with Program Directors and parents of current Yachad students

CBE’s Jewish education programming, Yachad (together), includes music and prayer, dancing, storytelling, art projects, Hebrew instruction, active opportunities for learning and questioning, and lots of fun. Designed to enrich, excite and empower, it features children engaged in age-appropriate education with their peers, as well as families coming together to learn and participate as they explore ideas, identity, ritual and meaning.

Yachad programming and curriculum are developed around six core concepts:

1. Torah: Text and Narrative
2. Avodah: Mitzvah, Tefila (Prayer) and Ritual
3. G’milut Chasadim V’derekh Eretz: Acts of Lovingkindness, Jewish Values and World Citizenship
4. Israel: Land, People and Culture
5. Ruach V’Khavanah: God and Spirtuality
6. Ivrit: Hebrew and Jewish Language

Yachad evolves as your child evolves:
As children grow, the curriculum grows with them. In kindergarten, we offer two programs: Kindergarten, which meets weekly, or Ganeinu, a family program meeting twice a month. All K-first grade programs meet on Shabbat mornings. Second grade meets once a week, on Mondays or Saturday mornings. Beginning in third grade, a student is expected to attend Yachad two times a week. Our unique schedule design allows families to choose either two weekdays or one Shabbat and one weekday. Whether families choose weekday or Shabbat program, children participate in Limmud (Jewish studies), Ivrit (Hebrew), Family Tefila (worship), and Ruach (arts, culture, sport or text-based electives). Our Hebrew curriculum focuses on mastery of phonetic Hebrew decoding, comfort with Jewish prayer and basic Jewish texts, and exposure to whole-language Modern Hebrew.

Jewish Learning through Living:
In grades K-4, portions of our curriculum are built around home observances. After children learn about the significance of specific Jewish events or activities, Yachad staff helps families prepare to host or visit the homes of others for experiences like sukkah building, Friday night or Shabbat lunch rituals, havdalah, preparations for Passover, etc.

This opportunity for real-life learning and for community building is the heart of Yachad.

Hebrew learning and fluency:
At CBE Yachad, we seek to develop “Jewish and Hebrew cultural fluency” and a comfort with Modern Hebrew fluency. This “cultural fluency” includes learning to decode Hebrew and to read and participate in tefilot in most liberal/progressive congregations. We are one of the only supplemental Hebrew schools in the country to use the Tal Am Hebrew curriculum, a whole-language Hebrew immersion program used in Jewish Day Schools.

Shabbat B’Yachad and Gan Shabbat: Worship and learning:
An essential element of Yachad is our vibrant family Shabbat celebration and learning. The hallmark of our Saturday morning Yachad programming is integrating communal prayer with parallel learning tracks for children, adults and families together. We begin Shabbat morning as one community with a family-friendly Shabbat service during which parents and children share in traditional liturgy and a Torah service and we celebrate B’nai Mitzvah, baby namings and other life-cycle events. We also offer “Gan Shabbat,” a special opportunity for 4- to 7-year-olds to sing, move and learn to pray together with their parents. After a festive kiddush, students go to their classrooms. Adults have the opportunity to remain in Shabbat mode after the service, too, and are invited to stay to study Torah in a group setting, take an adult enrichment seminar or parenting class, or join another Minyan- in progress. Of course, they may also leave and return at pick-up time.

Our 7th grade Yachad students study in a special program focusing on mitzvah, social action and Jewish identity led by our Yachad teachers, in conjunction with our clergy. This program meets on Tuesdays from 5:30 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. and includes a light dinner. It is also expected that students will participate in our B’nai Mitzvah program, including Family Education programs, regular meetings with their trope (cantillation) tutor and sessions with the clergy. For questions about 7th grade curriculum, please email Associate Director of Yachad Lena Eson Roe at lesonroe@cbebk.org. For questions about B’nai Mitzvah education, tutoring or dates, please contact B’nai Mitzvah Coordinator Sarah Jacobs Patulo at spatulo@cbebk.org.

Encompassing all grades after Bar / Bat Mitzvah (8th-12th grade), this program combines Jewish learning with community building and leadership development.

Our eighth graders participate in a special program that bridges middle school and high school. Taught by Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein and Deborah Sacks, eighth graders focus on connecting their own ideas to Jewish life and culture. Eighth graders prepare for and participate in a 10-day trip to Israel.

In 9th-12th grades, students choose elective classes. Previous classes have included Jews in Comics, Jewish Dudes Who Rock, Love in the Bible, and Famous “Smack Downs” in the Talmud. In addition, many of our Academy students have helped plan our Shavuot service, staffed soup kitchens at Hebrew Union College and Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, and taken an exciting four-day trip to the Religious Action Center’s L’taken seminar in Washington, DC, where they have learned about the most important social justice issues facing us today and lobbied for them on Capitol Hill.

Academy students also participate in Brooklyn United Jewish High School, a community high school program serving hundreds of Jewish teens, held at Hannah Senesh Community Day School. There, students get a chance to study with some of the best teachers from each participating community, as well as to participate in some of the most creative Jewish programming in the New York area.

Academy is taught by clergy and Yehudit Feinstein. Academy meets on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and includes a light dinner.

For more information or if you have any question please contact Rabbi Dan Bronstein or at (718) 768-3814 x256.

Students in 9th-12th grades are eligible to apply to be Madrichim (leaders/teachers in training). Madrichim participate in a Hadracha (leadership) seminar and serve as assistant teachers-in-training in our Yachad classrooms. Closely supervised, participants develop their skills as Jewish leaders and teachers. Madrichim can receive an hourly salary or community service hours. For more information, please contact Sarah Jacobs Patulo at spatulo@cbebk.org.

Traditionally, Rosh Hodesh (Celebration of the New Moon) is a time of celebration for Jewish women. Once a month, girls in grades 6-9 are invited to participate in a special program empowering girls to explore their Jewish identity, connect to their peers and have fun in a supportive environment. This program is led by Yehudit Feinstein and Deborah Sacks. For more information, please email Yehudit at yfeinstein@cbebk.org.

Families with children kindergarten through second grade attend one day a week. Students in third through sixth grade attend two days a week. Weekday classes for 3rd – 6th grade are 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Our 7th – 8th grade students attend on Tuesdays 5:30 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. and 9th – 12th grade students participate in Academy on Tuesday evenings 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. All families are invited to participate in our Tefila (worship) experiences, which take place on Shabbat mornings, and our holiday and family celebrations.

Yachad 2011-2012 Schedule:

K and 1: Saturdays 9:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

2nd Grade: Saturdays 9:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. OR Mondays 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

3rd – 5th Grade: Thursdays 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays 9:15 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
     OR
     Mondays and Wednesdays 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

6th Grade: Tuesdays 4:00-6:00 p.m. and Saturdays 9:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
     OR
     Mondays and Tuesdays 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

7th-8th Grade: Tuesdays 5:30 – 7:45 p.m. including dinner

Academy (9th – 12th Grades): Tuesdays 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. including dinner

Shabbat B’Yachad Schedule:

9:15 – 9:30 a.m. Bagels and Brachot
Enjoy bagels, coffee and juice as well as some special community time.

9:30 – 10:45 a.m. Yachad Family Shabbat Service followed by Kiddush OR

9:30-10:30 a.m. Gan Shabbat Service followed by Kiddush
Family services geared towards 4 – 7 year olds. We join the larger Yachad service for a part of our worship.

10:40 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Kindergarten class*
10:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 1st – 6th Grades and Adult Learning

(*Note: There is an option for childcare for kindergarteners from 12:00 noon until 12:30 p.m., when older children’s classes and adult programming end.)

For more information about Yachad, please contact Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein at (718) 768-3814 x113 or Sarah Jacobs Patulo, Yachad Administrator/B’nai Mitzvah Coordinator, at (718) 768-3814 x100.

2012 Schedule
Click here to view the Yachad Parents Calendar.