Jewish Culture School provides a broad hands-on approach to Jewish life and learning focusing on history, music, literature and ethics. JCS students cook, sing, dance and engage in lively discussions of the lessons of Jewish history. They also participate in Secular Humanistic holiday celebrations and learn cultural ways of celebrating at home. We derive progressive social messages from our studies of Jewish history and express those messages in our songs and our community service projects.
This year, our focus is on Jewish history through art. We will learn about an artist and do a project based on their style. Then we’ll learn a little Hebrew or Yiddish, sing, and cook a Jewish dish from the area.
JCS culminates in a Secular Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony in which the students demonstrate what they have learned. The Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation, consisting of a series of projects including community service, is aimed at making connections between Jewish life and the every-day interests of the students. Projects are chosen in consultation with parents, teachers, mentors and the students to reflect those interests.
JCS usually meets twice a month, on Sunday mornings from 10:30 to 12:30 in Castro Valley. Parents are welcome to attend, but we’ll put you to work helping with the cooking!
The school welcomes children from dual-cultural households and those from non-traditional families. We make a special effort to integrate the child’s full heritage into the Sunday School and Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience.
If you are interest in joining, please call us at (925) 485-1049 or email JCS@Tri-ValleyCulturalJews.org. We’ll send you some forms and a fee schedule. Scholarships granted upon request.
Click here for the TVCJ / Jewish Culture School enrollment form. Please note that joining TVCJ as a member family is a prerequisite for enrolling in Jewish Culture School.
JCS schedule for the 2019/20 school year:
September 8 and 15
October 13 and 27
November 10 and 24
December 8 and 22
January 5 and 19
February 2 and 16
March 1, 15, and 29
April 19
May 3 and 31
June 7
