About Gesher
Gesher is a collaborative educational initiative forged by Beth El Temple and Chisuk Emuna Congregation to create a life-long Jewish learning community offering a wide variety of creative educational opportunities for students, parents and families, and adult learners.
About the Religious School
The Gesher religious school engages students and families in an educational environment which is challenging, caring, and fun. We help prepare our students with the core knowledge and skill to begin to discover their own paths to an authentic lifelong relationship with God, Torah, Israel, and the Jewish people. We seek to enable our students to appreciate the diversity within the Jewish community and community at-large, and to respond to contemporary social issues from a Jewish perspective.
Programs
Gesher offers a wide variety of dynamic educational opportunities for students in grades Pre-K – 7 from Beth El Temple and Chisuk Emuna Congregation. Gesher engages parents and other family members in learning along with their children in family education programs and Shabbat and Jewish holiday programming throughout the year. Below you can find information about some of our special opportunities and programs, beyond our regularly-scheduled Sunday morning religious school classes:
Better Together
Gesher is proud to have been selected to participate in a national program connecting Jewish teens and seniors through programming and activities to create meaningful relationships with each other. Better Together embodies the Jewish value of honoring the elderly, a mitzvah that brings generations closer to their Jewish roots. Gesher Better Together facilitates intergenerational gatherings and relationships with our congregations’ seniors and 6th and 7th grade students. This special program meets over Shabbat, holidays and special events throughout the year. Better Together is staffed by Gesher teacher Lynne Harlacher and is funded by a generous, multi-year grant.
Gesher Gan
Joyful exploration of holidays through art, food and song and introduction to alef bet lessons for grades Pre-K and K monthly on Sunday mornings.
Gesher Religious School Hebrew Reading and Tefilah Tutoring
Private, weekday tutoring; conveniently held via Zoom with targeted, customized 1:1 Hebrew and prayer instruction. Hebrew reading accuracy and personal connection to Jewish prayers are our goals.
Gesher B’nai Mitzvah Tutoring
Weekly, hour-long individual tutoring sessions to learn cantillation for Torah reading, Haftarah chanting, and prayer leading with year-round accessibility and support for students. Additional support is also available as needed for family members to adequately prepare for b’nai mitzvah, including family workshops.
Gesher Shabbat and Holiday Programming
We hold regular Gesher Family Shabbat services and holiday programs at both Beth El Temple and Chisuk Emuna Congregation. Our Pray & Play program also meets on Shabbat (see below).
Pray & Play
Monthly Shabbat program with beloved Gesher teacher Jodie Raffensperger for children under the age of seven.
Shamor V’Zakhor
Holocaust education program, with a core goal of building community among our 7th grade students from Gesher, Ohev Sholom Religious School, and the Silver Academy. Coursework centered on Holocaust education and Shabbat, with skilled instruction from dedicated staff, community leaders, and rabbis. Program highlights include a Shabbaton, a bus trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial, participation in ceremonies at the Harrisburg Holocaust Monument, and the opening ceremony of the Reading of the Names program. The group also submits essays for the Schwab Holocaust Essay contest. This program is generously funded through the Jewish Community Foundation of Central PA Lipsett Philanthropic Fund.
Better Together
Gesher is proud to have been selected to participate in a national program connecting Jewish teens and seniors through programming and activities to create meaningful relationships with each other. Better Together embodies the Jewish value of honoring the elderly, a mitzvah that brings generations closer to their Jewish roots. Gesher Better Together facilitates intergenerational gatherings and relationships with our congregations’ seniors and 6th and 7th grade students. This special program meets over Shabbat, holidays and special events throughout the year. Better Together is staffed by Gesher teacher Lynne Harlacher and is funded by a generous, multi-year grant.
Gesher Gan
Joyful exploration of holidays through art, food and song and introduction to alef bet lessons for grades Pre-K and K monthly on Sunday mornings.
Gesher Religious School Hebrew Reading and Tefilah Tutoring
Private, weekday tutoring; conveniently held via Zoom with targeted, customized 1:1 Hebrew and prayer instruction. Hebrew reading accuracy and personal connection to Jewish prayers are our goals.
Gesher B’nai Mitzvah Tutoring
Weekly, hour-long individual tutoring sessions to learn cantillation for Torah reading, Haftarah chanting, and prayer leading with year-round accessibility and support for students. Additional support is also available as needed for family members to adequately prepare for b’nai mitzvah, including family workshops.
Gesher Shabbat and Holiday Programming
We hold regular Gesher Family Shabbat services and holiday programs at both Beth El Temple and Chisuk Emuna Congregation. Our Pray & Play program also meets on Shabbat (see below).
Pray & Play
Monthly Shabbat program with beloved Gesher teacher Jodie Raffensperger for children under the age of seven.
Shamor V’Zakhor
Holocaust education program, with a core goal of building community among our 7th grade students from Gesher, Ohev Sholom Religious School, and the Silver Academy. Coursework centered on Holocaust education and Shabbat, with skilled instruction from dedicated staff, community leaders, and rabbis. Program highlights include a Shabbaton, a bus trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial, participation in ceremonies at the Harrisburg Holocaust Monument, and the opening ceremony of the Reading of the Names program. The group also submits essays for the Schwab Holocaust Essay contest. This program is generously funded through the Jewish Community Foundation of Central PA Lipsett Philanthropic Fund.
Curriculum
In each grade, we focus on developmentally appropriate learning in eight content areas:
Sacred Text
We help to build our students’ connection to and love of the Torah, select prophets, historical books, megillot, and rabbinic text. Multi-modal learning allows students to choose between traditional modes of study, art, drama, and other forms of creative expression, building curiosity around and passion for the texts.
Hebrew
Our students learn Hebrew in the context of meaningful prayer, mostly in private tutoring sessions. A love for Hebrew is developed in the lower grades through movement and song, progressing to increasing familiarity with the aleph-bet through multi-modal learning. Fluency and vocabulary are gained through interactions with sacred texts, in the context of an integrated curriculum. Students apply their skills and lead our congregations in prayer throughout the year during 6 Joint Family Shabbat Services.
Prayer, God, & Spirituality
Our school works to create an environment where students can develop a rich, personal relationship with prayer, God, and their sense of spirituality. We encourage student discussion of tough moral and ethical questions, in the context of the Jewish tradition. Students learn rituals, traditional prayers, and songs, as well as methods for spiritual seeking and advanced prayer leading skills in the upper grades.
The Jewish Calendar
From learning the symbols and foods of the holidays in the early grades, to engaging in historical and social analysis of holiday observance throughout the Diaspora and Israel in the upper grades, our students develop a rich appreciation of the Jewish calendar. We love celebrating the holidays, and we are also invested in studying the intellectual, historical, traditional, and spiritual richness of the calendar.
Jewish History
Students at our school engage in Jewish History from a personal, familial, and global perspective. As students grow they will learn about Jewish History from Mishna to modernity, with additional focuses on Biblical history, American Jewish history and our relationship to Israel, Shamor V'Zakhor: lessons in the history of anti-Semitism and Holocaust education and the uplifting power and responsibility of being part of a community which has sustained us as a people.
Israel
Developing an understanding of Israel’s history and culture is an important part of students’ developing relationships with Israel. Our students’ education on the state of Israel provides a rich and nuanced backdrop for the development of advocacy skills in the upper grades, giving our young people the tools and the confidence they need to discuss Israel with their peers. Students engage with, learn with, and build lasting relationships with Israeli Shinshins.
Mitzvot and Values
We explore mitzvot and values through study and action. Throughout the year our students partner with our Better Together seniors to help actively serve our community in meaningful ways. Kashrut, prayer obligations, and Shabbat observance are also important elements of our curriculum, as are other ways the mitzvot tie to care of the self and care of others.
Contemporary Jewish Life
From lifecycle events to current events through a Jewish lens to contemporary Jewish communities around the world, our students learn about the richness of Jewish life today, as well as the meaningful ways our tradition helps to frame crucial events in each Jew’s life, from birth to death.
Sacred Text
We help to build our students’ connection to and love of the Torah, select prophets, historical books, megillot, and rabbinic text. Multi-modal learning allows students to choose between traditional modes of study, art, drama, and other forms of creative expression, building curiosity around and passion for the texts.
Hebrew
Our students learn Hebrew in the context of meaningful prayer, mostly in private tutoring sessions. A love for Hebrew is developed in the lower grades through movement and song, progressing to increasing familiarity with the aleph-bet through multi-modal learning. Fluency and vocabulary are gained through interactions with sacred texts, in the context of an integrated curriculum. Students apply their skills and lead our congregations in prayer throughout the year during 6 Joint Family Shabbat Services.
Prayer, God, & Spirituality
Our school works to create an environment where students can develop a rich, personal relationship with prayer, God, and their sense of spirituality. We encourage student discussion of tough moral and ethical questions, in the context of the Jewish tradition. Students learn rituals, traditional prayers, and songs, as well as methods for spiritual seeking and advanced prayer leading skills in the upper grades.
The Jewish Calendar
From learning the symbols and foods of the holidays in the early grades, to engaging in historical and social analysis of holiday observance throughout the Diaspora and Israel in the upper grades, our students develop a rich appreciation of the Jewish calendar. We love celebrating the holidays, and we are also invested in studying the intellectual, historical, traditional, and spiritual richness of the calendar.
Jewish History
Students at our school engage in Jewish History from a personal, familial, and global perspective. As students grow they will learn about Jewish History from Mishna to modernity, with additional focuses on Biblical history, American Jewish history and our relationship to Israel, Shamor V'Zakhor: lessons in the history of anti-Semitism and Holocaust education and the uplifting power and responsibility of being part of a community which has sustained us as a people.
Israel
Developing an understanding of Israel’s history and culture is an important part of students’ developing relationships with Israel. Our students’ education on the state of Israel provides a rich and nuanced backdrop for the development of advocacy skills in the upper grades, giving our young people the tools and the confidence they need to discuss Israel with their peers. Students engage with, learn with, and build lasting relationships with Israeli Shinshins.
Mitzvot and Values
We explore mitzvot and values through study and action. Throughout the year our students partner with our Better Together seniors to help actively serve our community in meaningful ways. Kashrut, prayer obligations, and Shabbat observance are also important elements of our curriculum, as are other ways the mitzvot tie to care of the self and care of others.
Contemporary Jewish Life
From lifecycle events to current events through a Jewish lens to contemporary Jewish communities around the world, our students learn about the richness of Jewish life today, as well as the meaningful ways our tradition helps to frame crucial events in each Jew’s life, from birth to death.