Youth Learning Curriculum and Teachers
Our Sunday School teaches cultural Jewish literacy for secular Jews.
We encourage our children to value their Jewish identity and to be independent thinkers. Each grade explores Jewish holidays, history, culture and creativity through a Humanistic approach to life. We give our children the freedom and responsibility to decide what is relevant and meaningful to them.
Our school provides a non-theistic Jewish education for students whose families identify as Culturally Jewish, Just Jewish, Jew-ish, Jewish and . . . , Half-Jewish, Interfaith, Jews by Choice, Multicultural, Not Religious, Secular, Humanistic, Atheist, and/or Agnostic.
Our Youth Learning programs are on Sunday mornings. They include weekly Sunday School class for First Grade through Ninth Grade Confirmation, monthly adult-tot programs for ages 0-2 and 3-6 with an adult, and family holiday and cultural events.
Families can try out our Sunday School by visiting their grade’s class for the day with no expectation of a commitment. We also welcome everyone to join our family holiday and cultural celebrations.
1st/2nd/3rd Grade is a three-year rotating curriculum covering Jewish holidays, life cycle celebrations, Bible stories and folk tales through storytelling, games, and arts & crafts projects. Guest teachers in Jewish art, music and language regularly provide special enrichment. Our youngest students begin to experience the rhythm and flow of Jewish life through our Humanistic approach, and discover what NEW traditions they and their family can create. They also get to lead a Shabbat or life cycle demonstration for the whole school on a Sunday morning!
Curriculum A (2023-2024): Reading Jewish Stories, Creating Jewish Stories
Curriculum B (2024-2025): Jewish Culture Through the Arts
Curriculum C (2025-2026): Measuring Jewish Time: Life Cycle and Holidays
4th/5th Grade is a two-year rotating curriculum during which students deepen their familiarity with Jewish culture and history as well as gain a deeper understanding of Jewish life cycle celebrations. This is accompanied by a study of basic principles of Humanistic Judaism as well as common themes in more traditional, theistic Judaism. Students will see how these concepts are similar/different to one another. Students will learn about their own family histories as well as those of their classmates as they explore the Jewish immigrant experience. They will also take a closer look at symbols in secular and Jewish life, as well as develop a deeper understanding of their own identity and how that connects to those who came before them. Students also co-create a Shabbat celebration with their teacher in order to lead at a Friday night service in the late winter/early spring.
Curriculum A (2024-2025): Symbols/Identity/Immigration
Curriculum B (2025-2026): Life Cycle and Humanistic Judaism/Jewish Values
6th/7th Grade is a two-year rotating curriculum covering the history of Jews in America, Israel and the Holocaust, and how this history shaped the modern Jewish experience. In all three areas, students explore how political developments impact society, the ethical and unethical uses of power, and the importance of community and personal responsibility. To understand where we are today, we need to learn how we got here. With their teacher, the class co-creates a Shabbat celebration related to their learning for a Friday night service in the spring.
Curriculum A (2024-2025): History of Jews in America/Israel
Curriculum B (2025-2026): Identity/Holocaust
8th/9th Grade Confirmation Class is a two-year curriculum packed with field trips to other synagogues, churches, mosques and temples. Students explore Comparative Judaism and Comparative Religion while developing their own personal philosophies and codes of ethics. The class culminates with our Confirmation service where the students present their views on Judaism, religion and ethics.
Curriculum A (2024-2025): “Loose” Religions
Curriculum B (2025-2026): “Tight” Religions
Aleya Schwartz (Adult Tot) was unaware of Humanistic Judaism until she and her husband spotted the sign for Kol Hadash while driving on Route 22. Since joining in 2015, she has been active as the Chair of our Values in Action Committee and as a member of our Connections Committee. Lynn is a veteran educator with more than 35 years of experience. Her most recent teaching position was a music instructor for area preschools. With grandchildren ages 3, 4, and 6 years, Lynn is a perfect fit to be our Adult Tot Aide. She enjoys meeting new little friends and their grown-ups.
Lynn Miller (Adult Tot) was unaware of Humanistic Judaism until she and her husband spotted the sign for Kol Hadash while driving on Route 22. Since joining in 2015, she has been active as the Chair of our Values in Action Committee and as a member of our Connections Committee. Lynn is a veteran educator with more than 35 years of experience. Her most recent teaching position was a music instructor for area preschools. With grandchildren ages 3, 4, and 6 years, Lynn is a perfect fit to be our Adult Tot Aide. She enjoys meeting new little friends and their grown-ups.
Irene Chase (1st/2nd/3rd Grade) joined Kol Hadash in 2002 after being unaffiliated her whole life. A member promised "this won't drive you crazy." Irene achieved her goal of getting her 3 kids b'mitzvahed and confirmed. Along the way Irene has worked in the Kol Hadash office, taught 2/3 grade, retired from Sunday School to spend her Sundays with coffee and the New York Times, and is excited to return to teach this year.
Michelle Fishman (1st/2nd/3rd Grade) has been the Rabbi of Kol Hadash since 2004, and both of his children went through the Kol Hadash Youth Learning program from adult-tot through Confirmation and have served as classroom aides. He holds degrees in Jewish Studies from Yale University (BA) and the University of Michigan (PhD), and rabbinic ordination from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, where he now serves as Dean for North America. Learn more about Rabbi Chalom.
Karen Jackson (4th/5th Grade) and her late husband joined Kol Hadash in 2013, and she has been a Sunday School teacher since 2018. Karen grew up in Reform Judaism. She has a BA in Psychology and an MAT in Elementary Education. When not preparing for Sunday School, she is usually buried in children’s books as an Educational Services Representative with PaperPie (formerly Usborne Books & More). Karen’s two daughters both attended Sunday School through Confirmation; her older daughter is now a junior in college, and her younger daughter, a sophomore in high school, is a classroom aide this year in the 1st/2nd/3rd grade class.
Janet Century (6th/7th Grade) grew up attending both Conservative and Reform synagogues, and discovered Humanistic Judaism online in 2005 while choosing verbiage for her Jewish marriage certificate at ketubah.com. Janet has completed all three years of Kol Hadash’s Adult Education course and enjoys learning along with her students. She is proud to have been a part of her niece and nephew’s B Mitzvah at Kol Halaskah, a Humanistic congregation in North Carolina. Janet is a Dentist, competes in Agility with her dogs, and does pilates and yoga in her free time.
Rabbi Adam Chalom (8th/9th Grade Confirmation, B Mitzvah Tutor, and 6th Grade B Mitzvah Prep Class) has been the Rabbi of Kol Hadash since 2004, and both of his children went through the Kol Hadash Youth Learning program from adult-tot through Confirmation and have served as classroom aides. He holds degrees in Jewish Studies from Yale University (BA) and the University of Michigan (PhD), and rabbinic ordination from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, where he now serves as Dean for North America. Learn more about Rabbi Chalom.
B Mitzvah Program
Our innovative B Mitzvah (a gender-inclusive term covering Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah) program includes individual Hebrew learning, a B Mitzvah Prep Class with our Rabbi, and personalized choices for Mitzvah presentation and the service itself. Learn more about our B Mitzvah Program.
B Mitzvah Prep Class
A Hebrew class that meets one day a week cannot produce fluency in a foreign language. Yet positive experiences and focused attention on reasonable targets can bear fruit. There are four straightforward objectives for our Mitzvah Prep class:
- Maintain and enhance students’ reading ability in Hebrew in preparation for their B Mitzvah presentations.
- Expand their understanding of Hebrew as a living language through basic conversation, simple vocabulary, even a little introductory grammar.
- Understand the history and development of the B Mitzvah, from Jewish legal concept to modern egalitarian celebration, including our distinct approach.
- Deepen their understanding of Humanistic Judaism in the context of both comparative Jewish practice and personal philosophy.
Ellen Apley (B Mitzvah Coordinator and Music Director) grew up as a Humanistic Jew and has been singing at Kol Hadash services since its founding, becoming music director in 2014. Ellen has a BA in Psychology and an MA in Learning Disabilities. She runs Kroft Educational Therapy and her two sons completed the Kol Hadash Youth Learning program from Adult-Tot through Confirmation and serving as classroom aides.
Mara Heichman (Hebrew Tutor) has been a B Mitzvah Tutor since 2000 for a variety of congregations in the Chicagoland area. She was raised in a Conservative congregation and was the first girl to have a Saturday morning Bat Mitzvah at that congregation, which helped create a more egalitarian community. Mara is also a Certified Professional Coach, mom to two 20-somethings and an avid fan of all things nature/animals!
Ilana Shaffer (Youth Education Director) has been a member of Kol Hadash since 2013 and Youth Education Director as of 2019. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and has held positions in marketing communications, event planning, and non-profit management. Ilana grew up in a traditional Jewish household in Oklahoma City, OK, and Atlanta, GA, but had an “aha!” moment when she learned about Humanistic Judaism. Ilana’s daughter completed Sunday School through Confirmation and served as a class aide, and her son is in his final year of Confirmation class.