There are a lot of great Hebrew schools in the Delaware Valley, but none are quite like that of Congregation Beth Am Israel. At the synagogue in Penn Valley, students are not constrained by artificial walls — literally, said Beth Am Israel Executive Director Rabbi Micah Weiss.
“Our program is called Jewish by nature. It’s an all-outdoor religious school program. Our congregation is situated on woodlands, which is the classroom for our religious school. It’s a relatively new program that we launched coming out of the pandemic, and it’s an Earth-based nature program that is centered around nature education, but is grounded in Torah and Jewish values. It’s a fun, creative and child-centered experience, where we do the usual synagogue and Jewish education work, but in a natural setting,” Weiss said.
The program has a little more than 40 students, and it has grown each of the last few years since it was introduced.
“A common thing is that Hebrew school can be kind of an experience you don’t want to come to,” Weiss said. “Our kids jump out of the car at drop off and are delighted to see their friends and to run around in the woods and do small group learning, and get to go through the seasons and the Jewish holidays connected to the Earth … I’m honestly not used to so little eye rolling about Hebrew school!”
The students come on Thursdays and Saturdays and are separated into four or five different classes based on age. From there, they have some familiar activities — like learning the Hebrew alphabet — and some that are more free and open than typical Hebrew schools. Even for the classic lessons, though, activities are more fun.
“Instead of being in an air-conditioned classroom, they’re sitting on stumps or logs and learning about concepts in Jewish life and Jewish values, using whatever we can from the Earth as the classroom and the teaching points,” Weiss said.
