Worship Schedule
Education
The OJC maintains a growing nursery school, a vibrant Religious School, Youth programs as well as a thriving Ongoing Education program.
Our Nursery School Program
Our Religious School Program
Our Youth Program
Ongoing Education at the Orangetown Jewish Center
Religious School Video Gallery
The OJC is always filled with our youth – at family services on the first Friday of the month, singing Adon Olam on the bima on Shabbat mornings, performing in our Purim shpiel, practicing in our youth choir, attending our Religious School and Family Education programs.
The core of Youth activities is built on our participation in the national youth programs of the Conservative movement – KADIMAH (Middle School) and UNITED SYNAGOGUE YOUTH (High School). Fourth and fifth graders at the OJC prepare for these programs in RUACH which meets monthly for social, educational and community service activities.
At the center of these activities is our award-winning program, Na’aseh (which means “Let’s do it!”). Na’aseh/USY (and Kadimah for Grade 8) is an integrated youth program of socializing, informal learning, community service and leadership training. It’s Youth Group and Hebrew High rolled into one great program. It’s everything you would do at a USY Kinnus (Shabbat week-end convention) but spread out over a four-session module. We meet on three consecutive Tuesday evenings from 6:30 – 8:30 (with pizza and soda for dinner) followed by a Sunday to complete the module with a social action project. Some of our popular modules have included God Talk, Responses to Poverty, Jewish Understandings of Disabilities, Interfaith Dialogues, Healthy Self and Healthy Relationships, Community Commitment, and Israel. Youth Director Sharon Rappaport facilitates each program and is joined most of the sessions by one or both of the Rabbis.
Our USY chapter was recognized during May 2007 as CHAPTER OF THE YEAR by the Metropolitan New York region of United Synagogue. We are so proud of our youth director Sharon Rappaport and of our teens who have done such a tremendous job in leading and supporting our programs. We look forward to expanding on our successes and gaining even greater support from our teens and parents.
“Our youth group chapter has created a community within a community where our teens can learn to appreciate Jewish values and traditions in the context of an informal education setting. Our chapter comprised a community this year that exhibited the ideals we pursue as a synagogue, that transformed its participants, and that nourished our larger community by its example. . . . For that I am most proud. I have no doubt that we are a chapter of excellence.”
Rabbi Craig Scheff
“It is my pleasure to be able to tell you that our youth group has had another outstanding year (2006-2007). They came off hosting a successful Koach Spring Kinnus and a well-attended Encampment into a very strong programmatic year. The team of professionals at the OJC, including our youth director and clergy, has helped to motivate the youth to reach their potential. Our expectations were not just met but surpassed. They grew. They went. They did. They created. They donated. They led. They learned. They raised. They shared. They ate. They laughed. They cried. They love USY. It is evident that through its teen and adult leadership they have set new guidelines. We are proud of all their accomplishments. Although last year we revamped our program with resounding success, we know that this year we have moved to the next level and believe that you should recognize OJC as a Chapter of Excellence, a model for others.”
Sharon Rappaport
Youth Director and USY Advisor
Ongoing Education at the Orangetown Jewish Center
Jewish tradition teaches us that the world stands on three things: Torah study, prayer and loving acts of kindness. While we practice all of these values at the OJC, Torah study is at the core of what we do, leading us to more connections, more action, and more commitment.
For our Jewish community, learning is never complete, but is always ONGOING. Our synagogue offers a wide variety of topics, formats and times. There is truly something for every congregant to begin or continue a lifetime of learning. Whether you choose a weekly Torah study group, a monthly Ethics course or five minutes of law codes at the end of the Thursday morning minyan, OJC is the place for you to live a life of Torah!
5768 (2007- 2008)
Ongoing Education – Summer 2008
