Program features:

Kitot (Classes)

One Sunday per month from October – April (7 classes total)

Kitot are 2.5 hours in length, and each class includes the following:

Weekend Shabbaton Retreats

Two retreats per year, in the Fall and Spring 

• Shabbatons start with a Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday night in the Bay Area. Retreats offer all of the Camp magic and tie in course learnings and activities.

Mitzvah Projects

• All students in the second year of our program are supported in carrying out a Mitzvah project, where they dedicate at least 18 hours of work to addressing an issue they see in their community or in the larger world.
• During the first year of the program, we invite a panel of past students and organizations to provide resources for students to think about what kind of mitzvah project they want to do.
• We provide continual support, resources, and check-ins for students throughout the year to ensure they stay on track and have everything they need.

Family Engagement and Learning

• New Family Orientation in September (for incoming families/Year 1 students)
• Back to School Night in September (for returning families/Year 2 students)
• Monthly Kabbalat Shabbat Family services offered in-person and online
• 5 – 7 parents learning sessions per year, covering topics ranging from simcha planning to writing a blessing for your child to queer and trans inclusion in Jewish text and community
• Self-directed learning/curated bibliography with resources and lending library

Simcha Support & Mentorship

• Our goal is to empower you as a family to take ownership of this rite of passage and to develop a simcha (celebration) that is a unique reflection of your child, your family and your connection to Judaism
• Our team is available to support both with the visioning and logistics of preparing for your child’s simcha, including:
  • Brainstorming ways to incorporate your family into the simcha and to make this rite of passage your own, whether it be a traditional Saturday morning service or your own alternative approach to honoring the transition into adulthood
  • Providing materials/Judaica for the simcha, such as a Torah, prayer books, and kippot*
  • Helping connect you with our extensive network of service leaders, song leaders, and Hebrew tutors
• We train mentors from the child’s life to help them write their d’var Torah (teaching from a text of Torah) for their simcha.
  • Mentors can be family members (aunts, uncles, cousins, older siblings, parents), camp counselors, school or music teachers, coaches, etc… 

*Because this is a “choose your own adventure” process, all hired service leaders/song leaders/tutors/venues etc. are at full cost to the family

Student Experience

Year 1

Year one consists of seven, once-a-month classes designed to familiarize students with the seven blessings that form the backbone of a typical, Tawonga-style T’fillah service (Saturday morning prayer service):

These classes are framed by two, overnight Shabbaton weekend retreats, where all of the students in our program gather among the redwoods to build community through camp-style games and activities, experience a “mock Mitzvah” service, and experience a screen-free Shabbat together in nature.

Year 2

Year two students continue to review the T’fillah service over the course of our 7, once-a-month classes and learn a number of new blessings for the Torah portion of the Saturday morning service. Academically, we also begin to take a deeper dive into the Torah and the myriad ways we as a Jewish people relate to this holy document: students learn about the Torah as a physical document with a multitude of rules, prescriptions and guidelines; a historical document that details the stories of the Jewish people; and as a text kept alive through wrestling and debate.

All Year two students also complete a Mitzvah Project, where they find a meaningful way to engage with their community and to take action in a way that betters the world. As students prepare for their Bar, Bat or B’nai Mitzvah services, we offer a unique approach to D’var Torah mentorship where we train a mentor from within the student’s family or community to support them in the crafting of their D’var Torah teaching or speech. Year 2 is also when our team works directly with each family to support them and their student in taking ownership over the visioning for their Bar, Bat or B’nai Mitzvah. We then work with each family to help connect them with our extensive network of service leaders, song leaders and Hebrew tutors to help bring those unique visions to life.