Crossing The River
Crossing the River (CTR) is our 2-year pre-B’nai Mitzvah (middle school) preparatory class. This program is a culmination of everything your child has learned in Living a Jewish Life and Hebrew Havurot. The basic understanding achieved in these earlier programs set the foundation for upon which the teacher builds when teaching Crossing the River.
In order to become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah in the Nevei Kodesh community your child must complete 2 years of Jewish education including the two year Crossing the River program.
In the first year (CTR 1), students study what it means to be a Jewish adult. They learn about the privileges and responsibilities of being a Jewish adult in the world as a whole and more specifically within Beit Sefer Chadash. They discuss what responsibilities they feel they want to take on and which ones they aren’t quite ready for. We encourage our students to make their own decisions, but we want each decision to be grounded in knowledge and understanding. A second component of our CTR I program is tikkun olam (social action). The students will learn the Jewish view of tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam along with how to create their own mitzvah project (which they must do during their b’nai mitzvah training). By the end of the school year each student will have chosen an organization they want to help, begun to think about what type of project they would like to do, and asked for a commitment from their parents to help them throughout the process.
In the second year (CTR II) students deepen their Jewish identity as they study Torah, searching for Torah’s contemporary meaning and relevancy to today’s world. They will learn the art of drash, a form of debate and sacred controversy which is fundamental to Jewish being; how do we consider and respect the many gleaming facets of an idea – even when they are in seeming contradiction to one another?
CTR Adventure is a part of CTR I and CTR II. CTR Adventure is comprised of three hikes or overnights throughout the year. On these adventures, students are encouraged to seek deeper understanding of themselves and their community as they face physical challenges together. It provides students opportunities for growing close as a group, developing peer bonds as they explore issues of their own leadership and personal depth. This is an opportunity for students to get to know his or her peers outside of the classroom and develop a community that will support him or her through the next steps into Jewish adulthood. CTR Adventure is led by the very talented Raj Seymour, who has years of experience in outdoor education, as well as Jewish outdoor education. COME TO OUR FIRST ADVENTURE , AUG. 30!
Once a month, during the student's class, a parent class is held. These are lectures/discussions by different experts in town, including Rabbi Tirzah.
Each year, we have a “Dinner with the Rabbi”. This year we are also adding Shabbat services to our curriculum. Students will attend a Shabbat service with his/her class and help lead part of the service. Also, students who want to participate in Bayit Katan (our family education program) who are 12 and older may still do so by attending the adult portion of the program.
For more information contact our school director, Jodi Basch, at (303) 325-7835 or jodi@neveikodesh.org
Additional links to Jewish family education