Every year, groups of students walk through our doors at Temple Sinai to learn about Judaism. They come from different places and for different reasons. Some are church groups studying other faith traditions. Some are public high school history classes. Others are world religions courses. Each group arrives with notebooks, good questions, and a certain amount of uncertainty about what they will encounter inside a synagogue.

Last week I had the privilege of welcoming the Snelling Core students from Champlain Valley Union High School. They are studying a powerful essential question: How does belief influence action? Their unit asks them to explore how religious belief shapes daily practice, community life, and moral choices in the world. As part of their place-based learning, they visit houses of worship across our region to gather real evidence, not just textbook descriptions.

I cannot believe that the end of the Religious School year has come. As I stepped into the role of Interim Education Director, I could not have imagined that the year would fly by so quickly. After 29 weeks of class over 9 months so much has happened! To give you a sense of some of what we experienced, I give you (in homage to the Harper’s Index):

Covid has changed all of us. At our religious school it first forced us online to remote Jewish learning whether we were ready or not to make that adjustment. As the pandemic progressed, this year we return to in person learning, yet we have still have had to adapt and change as public health officials mandated.

December 4th the school wrapped up our Creative and Performing Arts program with a wonderful and warm Hanukkah show featuring students from our religious school. After 8 weeks of hard work, it was thrilling to see students singing, dancing, acting, playing cello, and participating in groups that were composed of many ages of students.