The program for ages 5 and under is supervised by two youth leaders and begins at 10:30 a.m. The program combines free play with Jewish education. The formal part of the program begins at 11:00 and consists of singing, stories and games that last approximately twenty minutes. Each week the program concludes with Kiddush and clean up.

The program for ages 6-11 is divided up into three parts. At 10:30 a.m, we begin Davening, led by the Youth Leaders that are in charge each week. The Davening includes Ashrei, Yishtabach, Shema, Shmoneh Esrei, and Aleinu, followed by Adon Olam. Following this is Parsha, this part of the program is designed to teach the weekly Parsha through question and answer, role-playing, and story-telling. The third part of the program is a game. In this part of the program we find creative and exciting ways to entertain the kids while maintaining the focus on Jewish education. The program then concludes with a youth kiddush, and the announcement of “Mensch of the Week,”- awarded to an individual who has gone out of his/her way to be kind and thoughtful towards others, and was well behaved throughout the youth program.

Youth over the age of 11 are invited to join our weekly Enriched Parsha and Discussion program. These two aspects will be divided up throughout the month, usually with the discussion aspect of the program once or twice a month, and the enriched parsha program the other times. The discussions can be about a wide range of topics, and in the past have included topics such as: The Simpsons and Jews on television, issues within medicine, Rosh Hashanah and the month of Tishrei, and good deeds. The enriched parsha program builds on what is taught to the 6-11 year-olds through different commentaries and ideas which relate to the parsha.


Our Bar/Bat Mitzvah program goes beyond preparing for the day a child turns 12 or 13, and offers educational and spiritual preparation for an informed Jewish life. Through discussions and activities like visiting a sofer to learn how a Torah scroll is written or having a Shabbat meal with the Tradburks' family, children learn about the joy of being together as a community and the beauty of celebrating Shabbat and holidays as a family.

“Why is this synagogue different from all other synagogues?”

At Kehillat Shaarei Torah we help make Judaism meaningful to our children. Our fun and education youth services for children 13 and under take place every Shabbat and Yom Tov morning . Each year, we also host special activities, including a Purim carnival, Hannukah party, Sports Day, Sukkah hop and Shavuot Youth Awards.

Kehillat Shaarei Torah has been running the Bar/Bat Mitzvah program for the last few years with great success. Rabbi Tradburks leads most of the sessions and there will be others leading some sessions as well. We meet at the shul twice a month and hope to meet the following objectives:

  • To learn something different about Judaism and being a Bar/Bat Mitzvah
  • To create a comfortable relationship with the Rabbi
  • To form a Chevrah (group) with the other kids your age.

The sessions take place on Sunday, late afternoon. Some of the Sunday topics are: Belief in G-d, Shabbat, Israel, Purim, the meaning of Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Some of the participants attend Jewish Day Schools and some do not. The level of the discussion is geared to bring out ideas that would not be covered in the Day Schools.

We encourage the participants to attend shul throughout the year and will include in our yearly schedule a special "pray and learn" session on Shabbat led by the Rabbi. There will also be a dinner or two at the home of the Rabbi so that the participants can enjoy a Shabbat meal together.

We would further encourage the participants to attend all the Seniors Home visits as a group. This promotes the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim (Visiting the Sick) and is a nice chance for the group to be involved in an activity together.
The Sunday sessions also feature a little snack of pizza to build a little social feeling.

The Sunday sessions meet from 4:30-5:30 beginning after the holidays in the fall of the year and run until June. The participants whose birthday falls in the coming calendar year would begin in the fall. For example, all whose Bar or Bat Mitzvah falls in 2007 will begin in fall of 2006.

more info