Registration: Timeline and Process
Wednesday, April 24th: Registration is open to current Kollel families, families who filled out the interest form, and waitlisted families.
Wednesday, May 1st: Registration is open to all NSP members.
Wednesday, May 8th: Registration is open to all interested families (participation in the program is contingent on membership at NSP; please see below).
Saturday, September 7th: First day of Kollel!
Sunday, October 20th: Registration will close following Yom Kippur. However, depending on registration numbers, certain classes might reach their cap earlier.
Participation in the program is contingent on membership at NSP. You can learn more about membership and join here or speak with a leader of NSP’s membership team by emailing membership@newsynagogueproject.org.
Kollel is geared toward rising kindergarteners (children 5+) through 7th grade, and will not have capacity this year for pre-k to participate in regular classes. Sometimes, however, younger siblings do participate in special crafts.
If you have any questions about the program or would like to learn more, please email Liora, NSP’s Education Director, at liora@newsynagogueproject.org.
Teach at Kollel
We are hiring educators for the 2024-25 school year. To apply, please email a resume (and optional: brief cover letter) to liora@newsynagogueproject.org with the subject line “Kollel application.” You can find out more here:
About the Program
NSP Kollel emphasizes living the rhythms of Jewish life, connecting to the NSP community, and taking action for justice by linking Jewish principles to applied experiences.
At Kollel, we’re teaching our children a lively, meaningful Judaism, rich with art, culture, text, big questions, deep discussion, and taking action for justice. We’ve designed a new curriculum that brings Jewish values to life through art, stories, debates, mini-strike-organizing, and more!
This year, our curriculum will be stratified by grade. The Kindergarten through 5th grade curriculum will be guided by these goals and understandings.
Kindergarten: Jewish Time & Jewish Cultures
Kindergarten will focus on Shabbat practice and the cycles of the Jewish year through ritual, art, story, and play. Students will learn early on in their Jewish journeys that Jews have lived around the world and practiced Jewish ritual in similar and different ways.
First Grade: Bereisheet (In the Beginning)
First Grade will focus on Shabbat practice, the cycles of the Jewish year, and the Creation story, as told in both Torah and through Midrash, through ritual, art, and stories. Students will consider how Torah and Jewish values can help us dream up and bring to life the world we hope to live in.
Second Grade: Mitzvot (commandments)
Second Grade will focus on Shabbat practice, the cycles of the Jewish year, and early stories from Bereisheet (Genesis) through ritual, art, and stories. They will deepen their understanding of Jewish practice by focusing on and performing mitzvot associated with Shabbat and holidays. Students will consider how mitzvot can guide us to care for the earth, and to care for one another.
Third Grade: Limud Torah (learning Torah)
Third Grade will focus on building community, deepening their understanding of the Jewish holiday cycle, and stories from the Jewish textual canon through ritual, art, story, discussion, and debate. Students will consider some of the big questions that Torah poses about justice and responsibility, and how Jewish values can be applied to issues in our world today.
Fourth-Fifth Grade: Big Questions
Fourth-Fifth Grade will focus on building community, deepening their understanding of the themes and origins of Jewish holidays, and learning about major events in Jewish history. Each unit is structured around an essential question or core concept. This class will spend much of the spring semester learning about antisemitism: its origins, what it looks like today, its connections to other systems of oppression, and how we fight it.
Sixth-Seventh Grade: Preparation for B-Mitzvah and Beyond
The Sixth-Seventh grade cohort will ground their lessons in eight areas of content and be guided by these goals and understandings in preparation for B-Mitzvah. This class studies gemilut chasadim (acts of loving-kindness), teshuvah (return or repentance), and tzedek (justice) through both personal and systemic lenses. Students engage in a year-long siddur project in which they study a selection of prayers and create personal meaning through art, poetry, and discussion.
Caregivers and community members are invited to be involved in Kollel as participants, volunteers, or leaders. Some programs will be geared directly at educating the entire family unit with the aim of supporting home-based practice and learning.
We will meet primarily on Saturday mornings between 9:30am and 12:10pm. This includes regular classroom instruction, outdoor snack time, and Hebrew instruction.
Sometimes, the entire group will be together for a field trip or extended activity.
Highlights
In 2023-24 we focused on tzedek (justice) and chesed (loving-kindness) through stories of Sarah and Avraham, did a deep dive on the Besamim (spice) tower, and more:
In 2022-23 we focused on renewal and tikkun (repair) through the story of Noah, did a deep dive on Megillat Esther (the Scroll of Esther), and more:
In 2021-22, in honor of Shmita, the biblical sabbatical cycle, we focused on renewal, the creation story, and Shabbat practice, did a deep dive on the Menorah, and more:
Hebrew at Kollel
Students in 3rd grade and above can participate in an additional 40 minutes of Hebrew instruction on Shabbat, from 11:30-12:10. Additional tuition for Hebrew learning at Kollel is $300 per child for those who can afford to pay that amount.
Students will work their way through a series of 12 units to learn decoding (sounding out Hebrew) and basic translation skills through liturgical vocabulary and excerpted stories from the Torah, Tanakh, and liturgy. The decoding curriculum will be followed by an extended liturgical curriculum which draws on the same skills and vocabulary.
This curriculum is designed to be in line with the values of NSP’s community: it honors the diversity of our community’s practice, offers gender-expansive language for liturgy and Nonbinary Hebrew adaptations, and emphasizes Hebrew as a rich and holy language: the language of the Torah, and of most of our blessings and prayers.
Hebrew with a 1:1 Tutor
For students in 3rd grade + who need 1:1 attention, either because of learning needs or because they are close to their B-Mitzvah date, NSP will match students with tutors according to special interests, needs, and availability. All tutors will undergo a background check. Families will be responsible for coordinating meetings with and paying their tutor. Families who register by Sunday, Sept. 10th can be matched with a tutor by Kollel’s start.
There will be a one-time $120 fee to register with an NSP tutor. This fee goes toward: 1. background checks for tutors; 2. printing; 3. paying for the tutor’s time in preparing for lessons, assessing student progress, and meeting with Liora as needed to review the student’s progress.
Please note that we have fewer in-person tutors than virtual, so tutoring may only be available online.
Goals and Understandings
Jewish Art/Culture/Song
Humor and joy are integral to our culture and traditions.
Jewish culture is alive: we draw from the past to create contemporary culture.
Hiddur Mitzvah, “beautifying the mitzvah,” is a Jewish value.
Social Justice
Values are integral to Judaism. We express our values through the choices we make, justice work and learning, and mitzvot. We choose ways to take action for justice.
Ritual
Judaism is dynamic: we activate our traditions, and express our Jewish identities in unique ways.
Jewish prayer and ritual helps us to practice gratitude and wonder, identify hopes and purpose, and connect with Divinity.
Text Study
We are active readers: text study allows us to learn and interact with our ancestors, narratives, values, and traditions. We respond, interpret, and ask questions that enable us to make personal and communal meaning, ground ourselves in tradition, and enrich our lives.
The Jewish Year
The Jewish year is full of moments and cycles that connect us to nature, Jewish history, and the larger Jewish community.
It is a mitzvah to observe Shabbat. Shabbat is holy and “set apart.” On Shabbat we focus on rest, renewal, and community.
Jewish History and World Culture
Judaism changes throughout time and space. There are many ways to “be Jewish.”
History informs Jewish life today.
Shabbat Considerations for Kollel
Shabbat is a time for resting and learning, leisure and pleasure. It is also a time to be present in the world and with one another in a sacred way, different from the rest of the week. Shabbat is central to our community life. NSP observes Shabbat as sacred. At the same time, in NSP spaces, we do not observe all of the prohibitions around Shabbat found in classical halacha (Jewish law). We expect and respect that individuals and households will decide for themselves how they will observe Shabbat in their homes.
In practice, this means that our education program will honor Shabbat as a holy time dedicated to joy, community, spiritual growth, prayer, Torah, and reflection. Teachers, NSP staff, volunteers, and service leaders will generally refrain from activities on phones and computers that often pull us away from the present moment and the people in front of us, including work communications and commercial activity. We will not be actively enforcing this practice with parents and other members of the community. If there is anything outside of this policy that we expect to happen during Shabbat, staff will be in touch with parents in advance.
We welcome:
- Singing, praying, and dancing
- Studying Torah, reading, and relaxing
- Crafting activities
- Writing
- Cooking and food preparation
- Gardening
- Musical instruments
We will avoid:
- Screens or use of devices except for use as accessibility devices, playing music, to livestream events, or amplify class or services.
- Photography, video, and audio recording on Shabbat.
- NSP business communications on Shabbat, except in cases when it is necessary to communicate with parents and members, for example: medical emergencies and last minute class cancellations.
- Commercial activity on Shabbat, including fundraising or paid entertainment. This does not include paying teachers, service leaders, or others for their services in leading Shabbat activities. It is also acceptable to make announcements about fundraisers on Shabbat while not actively fundraising.
We will do our best to accommodate the needs of students who have personal or family Shabbat observance practices that differ from this policy.
Tuition
Base tuition for Kollel is $900 per child, and $700 per additional child in a family, for those who can afford to pay that amount. Those who cannot afford full tuition are asked to pay an amount that is affordable and meaningful to you – $0, $200, $400, or $600. Those who can afford to pay more are encouraged to make an additional contribution to help keep the program accessible to all regardless of means.
Additional tuition for Hebrew learning at Kollel from 11:30-12:10 is $300 per child for those who can afford to pay that amount.
We are committed to a set of shared values that are embedded in the everyday practices and structures of our community, including justice, equity and liberation. Access to the community and its programs regardless of financial means is core to our mission and values.
The total cost of this program is estimated at $180,000. Our budget is based on an estimated tuition payment of $900/child. We expect tuition to cover roughly 50% of the total cost of this program. If you are able to make a gift in addition to tuition, or have family members who might be, please contact Lauren Spokane, Synagogue Director, at lauren@newsynagogueproject.org.
FAQ: We have a non-traditional family structure. Should we apply the sibling discount?
Answer: Yes!
Suggested Tuition Summary:
$900 per first child
+ $700 per subsequent child
+ $300 per child for 11:30-12:10 Hebrew