Building a vibrant Jewish community for children and families

By Rabbi Ariel Boxman, Director of Lifelong Learning

What a wonderful year we had in YESh (Youth Engagement at Shalom)! We were sorry to say goodbye for the summer. Our students enjoyed a year filled with so much fun that they didn’t even realize how much they were learning.

I want to thank our teachers, madrichim (teacher assistants) and volunteers for providing an outstanding experience for every one of our students. I would also like to thank the Temple Shalom Sisterhood for the very generous annual donation they make to support our program. Both the Men’s Club and Sisterhood are committed partners of our Youth Engagement program and are always happy to help when called upon. We are grateful for everything you do for us, and we look forward to deepening our partnership in educating the next generation of committed Jews.

Cooking elective

A giant thanks goes to my assistant, Mary Flores, my right-hand woman. Mary not only takes care of all the logistics needed to run our program, but she does so with a warm smile on her face and endless amounts of patience. Mary, you are just wonderful, and I am thankful to call you my partner and friend.

Unless you have children in our YESh program, you may not know much of what goes on and what we offer. I want to take this opportunity to share some highlights of our program and shed light on the ways in which we are actively building a vibrant Jewish community for children and young families.

Kindergarten and 1st graders

YESh meets on Sunday mornings and incorporates both Judaic studies and Hebrew language education. Students in kindergarten through 7th grade participate in grade-specific Judaic classes focused on Jewish traditions, rituals and holidays.

In addition to gradelevel Judaic, students choose electives each week, based on their interests. Electives include crafts, yoga, Tikkun Olam, Hebrew Olympics, Israeli dance, cooking, guitar and choir. Students in the 3rd through 6th grades are also invited to attend Hebrew classes following the Judaic portion of the morning where they learn basic Hebrew reading skills in preparation for their B’nei Mitzvah.

Lego elective

Once students become bar/bat mitzvah, we invite them to continue their journey into Judaism by joining our Confirmation Program. Once a month, the 8th- through 10thgrade students who want to be confirmed come together for classes led by Rabbi Miller and Cantor Azu, where the topics explored include ethics, pop culture and interreligious dialogue.

In addition to confirmation, 8th- through 12th-grade students are also invited to serve as role models for the younger students, while deepening their ties to Judaism and Temple Shalom as Madrichim. Each Sunday during YESh, these students assist teachers and support the younger students by sharing their own passions and knowledge in a healthy and positive learning environment. The program has been wildly popular with our congregation’s teens, with a record number of madrichim participating this year. We look forward to welcoming even more next year.

Our youth engagement programs at Temple Shalom are essential for building Jewish community for the youngest among us as well as their families. In keeping with the One Family mission, our main goal for YESh is to provide a space in which Jewish children can create meaningful relationships with one another, our Temple and Judaism. We are proud to provide such a rich program and are grateful for all the support we are given from the congregation, Jewish Federation of Greater Naples and our Naples community.

We wish everyone a happy and safe summer!