Info Needed: Growing up Jewish, Hebrew school, youth organizations, etc.

Well, there are two types of Hebrew school. There's Sunday school, which is for younger kids--I'm guessing it's pretty much like Christian Sunday school. You go for an hour or two every Sunday morning, learn about holidays, Biblical figures, sing songs, etc. (Saturday is Shabbat, which is why Sunday mornings.) Older kids go to Hebrew school, which is pretty much Bar/Bat Mitzvah prep--you learn the Hebrew alphabet, pronounciation, some basic language, prayers, etc. and you probably get/learn the Haftorah and Torah portions you'll read at your Bar/Bat Mitzvah (someone else will know for sure--I was Bat Mitzvah'd in Israel, so the "procedure" is a little different). If I remember correctly, Hebrew school typically meets after school one or two days a week, not the weekends.

Parents' level of religion/involvement in a synagogue has no relation to whether a child "can" attend. I think its pretty typical in the US for parents who are secular Jews to join a temple just so that their children can go to Hebrew school. My parents are certainly not deep "believers"--they celebrated major holidays, like Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah, but more because these were the traditions they grew up with than because of some deeply held faith--and all of their children attended Hebrew school.

Most Jewish youth groups are run out of synagogues. I was a member of one in high school, and it met once a week, after school. Activites vary pretty widely--mine was community-service oriented, so we would do stuff like planning food drives. We also organized some social activities--apple-picking trips, things like that. It's all a little fuzzy now, to be honest!

In any event, I hope this is helpful!

Hi! I'm not Jewish, so I don't feel fit to answer these questions, as I don't have firsthand experience on the subject, but I do love Jewish culture. It's long been a fascination of mine, so some books that may be of interest to you to read before you start writing are: The Chosen by Chaim Potok and Girl Meets God by Lauren F. Winner. Anything by Lauren Winner is excellent. She has several books about Jewish customs and culture. Also, Anita Diamant is a great resource.

Best of luck to you, and I'd love to read that story!

I'm Jewish but I never attended Hebrew school, rather I attended a private Jewish school through elementary school and on into high school. I can do my best to help based on friends and, well, general knowledge that come from growing up in a Jewish household.

What is Hebrew school? When does it usually take place outside of 'regular' school?
There are really two sorts of Hebrew School. There's the first kind, which is for students in elementary school which teaches biblical studies and general Jewish [i]halacha[/i] (law). The second kind is usually for older kids, boys around 12 and girls around 11. This kind usually focuses on Bar/Bat Mitzvah lessons. Hebrew school is usually once a week after school or on Sunday mornings.

Can a child whose parents are wishy-washy on going to Synagogue join Hebrew/Jewish classes/school?
Yes. Many children who attend Hebrew school are not religious at home and may or may not attend synagogue regularly.

How does a Jewish youth organization usually form, meet and what are some of the activities they do?
I'm not sure as to how they form, but you might want to look into organizations such as NCSY (National Conference of Synagogue Youth) and USY (United Synagogue Youth). One common sort of outing is called a [i]Shabbaton[/i] which is often a trip that runs from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning. Shabbaton come from the Hebrew term for Sabbath (Shabbat).

If you have any questions for me, feel free to drop me a line XD

I went to Hebrew school, was bat mitzvah'd, but grew up in a fairly secular family. Here's my experience:

1. Hebrew school: Both my brother and I had to go to Hebrew school, which was at 9 AM on Sunday mornings. There was a brief (30-45 min) service in the temple every week, and then we split up into our classes. They were organized by grade. In my 5th grade class, we studied Jewish history and learned about the various tribes of Israel, that sort of thing. In my brother's 3rd grade class, they learned about famous Jewish figures and talked about basic tenets of Judaism. In 6th grade, though (age 11), I began studying for my bat mitzvah. Since it takes 2 years of study and most girls have their bat mitzvahs between 12.5 and 13 years old, we started at 10 or 11, depending on when your birthday was. Then Hebrew school was just about memorizing the prayers and melodies, learning our Torah and Haftorah portions, and (eventually) writing our speeches.

2. Parents: Absolutely. My father isn't Jewish, refuses to go to services, and my mother generally goes only for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and the anniversaries of family members' deaths. You just have to be a member of a congregation to attend Hebrew school, which means you pay for your membership. There's no attendance requirement.

3. Jewish youth groups: It would really depend on the group. Usually your Hebrew school would be affiliated with a Jewish youth group, and there'd be a B'nai B'rith chapter in any major city (although especially on the East and West Coast). They'd probably meet once a week. The type of activities would vary widely - you'd probably have a lot of chaperoned parties (though that's more for the older set), Torah discussion groups, social activism activities (planting trees, advocating for peace, etc.), and some focus on going to Israel. I know BBYO (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization) offers free trips to Israel for its alumni, but a non-affiliated youth group might have some fundraising activities if they wanted to take a group trip to Israel.

Hope that helps!

Thank you everyone ~ so, so, much! This is going to come in handy down the line with these books I am writing. I'm sure I'll have questions in the near future too :)

This totally depends on the type of synagogue the parents join and where it is.

For instance, if the synagogue is in an area with a large amount of Jewish people, there might be resources outside of the synagogue itself. I know there are JCCs (Jewish Community Centers) around the country, but I doubt they are affiliated with any one synagogue. (That would probably be a great way for your MC to meet other types of Jews.)

Also, you have various sects of Jews. Those that come to mind are: Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Orthodox, Hasids . Though if you characterize the parents as "wishy-washy" then (in my expierience) probably be part of the Reform sect.

A lot of what I was going to say is already summed up above, so I'll try to add only new stuff:

My Hebrew school met twice a week when we were first in elementary school, once on Sunday to focus on learning about Jewish culture, history, and holidays, and once during the week to learn Hebrew. Once we were in 4th or 5th grade, we began attending three times a week: once on Sundays, and then either on Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday schedule. In addition to learning Biblical Hebrew, we began studying modern, conversational Hebrew when we were in middle school. To train for our B'nai Mitzvot (plural of Bar or Bat Mitzvah), in addition to studying in school we had private sessions with the cantor to study and practice singing the trope (spelling?) and learning the meaning of our Haftorah portions.

Once we had turned 13 and finished training for our B'nai Mitzvah, we then attended Hebrew High School, called Midrasha. This met once a week on Wednesday nights and included elective courses such as advanced Hebrew, Bible Study, Poetry, Art, etc. We attended Midrasha all through high school.

Sometimes students who had done particularly well during their preparation for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah would act as Teacher's Assistants to the younger grades, so your character might have interaction with older Jewish teens even though they would not be attending that school anymore.

I especially agreed with necoon's comments. In addition, though, in third grade, students added another day (after school, from 4 to 5:45, on wednesdays) and in fourth grade, added mondays as well, int eh same time period. Most students also hired an outside tutor to prep them for their bar/bat mitzvahs.

I went to a Jewish day school, where we learned both regular school subjects and Jewish subjects (Bible, Jewish law and thought, Hebrew language, etc.) every day. It was a community school, not affiliated with a particular synagogue or group, so there were students from every type of religious background, with parents of all types.

A girl who is interested in exploring her Judaism might experiment with keeping kosher, or keeping the Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew), or observing holidays- and depending what her parents are like, they may or may not like that.

My class met on Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings, but it was a conservative temple, so I don't know how well it would relate to your story. There was also a Shabbat service that lasted from 9:30-A time I can't remember, but not as long as the adult service, which lasted until twelve.

What is Hebrew school? When does it usually take place outside of 'regular' school?

Hebrew school varies place to place and ages. My synogauge does this:

there is a preschool like any other but with religous ties. the number of days you go rises with age

kindergarden to third grade attends Sunday morning classes for two hours. they learn the alphabet, basic words, read Jewish stories, and sing songs

third to sixth grade goes sunday morning and two days during the week (monday/wednesday or tuesday/thrusday) the first hour you learn about hebrew, the second is jewish history (different years are different subjects)

seventh grade is the same except they have Saturday morning class-services instead of Sunday morning classes. kids volunteer to lead different parts, including torah portions, or went into the synogauge if a class member was being bat/bar mitzvahed

eighth to tenth grade is Sunday evening. 1st semester you have electives (Jewish cooking, famous jews, jewish artist, ect.) that mix grades. 2nd semester grades are seperated into required classes. (jewish identity, holocaust, hebrew, ect.)

*notes: every grade has a required number of services to attend. bat/bar mitzvah lessons start 6 mo. ahead of time, generally

Can a child whose parents are wishy-washy on going to Synagogue join Hebrew/Jewish classes/school?

I guess it would depend on the Synagogue, but as long as your a member and pay the money, I don't see a problem. It's probably rare but not unheard of.

How does a Jewish youth organization usually form, meet and what are some of the activities they do?

I, personally amd in Seaboard USY (high schoolers), so that's my experience:

-i don't know how it formed
-there are seperate levels: Synagogue, chapter, region, national. meetings can be between any. (USY has some lower-levels for younger kids, those only meet at Synagogue level) generally your synagogue/chapter has meetings every few weeks (but more if there are holidays) regions have spring and fall conventions, and national meets in the winter and summer.
-they do anything from very religous to not at all. there have been dances, bowling parties, lounge nights, making things for charities (necklaces, ect.), educational dinners (staying safe ont he internet, for example), holiday parties, and normal youth group stuff at the chapter/synagogue level. Regions have weekend meetings (it's a couple states combined) with get-to-know you games at arrival, services at normal times, buffet lunches, some jewish learning, and reg. fun activities. National, i've never been to but is either like summer-camp (visitng Isreal, traveling the country) or one week of fun (winter convention)

younger groups are kind of more hectic and less fun, the idea being "get my kids outa my hair for two hours, please!"

there was another youth group I was in around bat mitzvah that I think woulfd be great for your story: "Rosh Hodesh". it means head of the month. all the girls in a synagogue at one grade level meet at the begining of every jewish month. they do a reading and an activity pretaining to that month's theme. then they get food. yum!

*yea, I know you already finished, i'm just too bored.

There is Jewish private school. It's kind of like catholic school. At my school we had a class in Hebrew language, a class on Chumash (which is the Torah, or the old testament), and for the older grades, a class in Mishnah (the oral law. God gave Moses the laws, but Moses only wrote down a few. the rest he passed down orally, but they eventually got written down about a thousand years later). The older grades also had a History of Israel class (in addition to regular history class). Other jewish schools teach Hebrew language and Chumash, but only some to History of Israel and Mishnah. Some very religious schools also teach Gemmarah, which is commentaries and interpretations of the Mishnah.
Most kids go to a Sunday school at their synogauge, though. It usually runs from preschool age to 13. It is very similar to church sunday school. It is held on sunday because Saturday is the sabbath. little kids do things like bible stories and learning the hebrew alphabet. as the kids get older, they will start preparing for their bar/bat mitzvah. most, if not all, will hire a tutor to help them study for this event.
as for youth groups, in the conservative movement, 4th and 5th graders have junior kadima, middle school has kadima, and high school USY. these are national organizations. meeting range from once a week to once a month, depending on the city. conventions are help several times a year where different chapters from all over the USA come together. the orthodox version of USY is called NCSY. it operates in the same way. i don't know if they have a version for middle and elementary school students. I don't know any reform youth groups, though there are undoubtedly is one.

There are other Jewish youth groups such as B'nei Akina, Torah Mitzion, Young Judea, and more. you can read more about them on the web.

All the Jewish youth groups i know are very open to new members, especially those who come from non-religious backgrounds. I'm sure your MC will have no trouble being accepted into the Jewish world.

- What is Hebrew school? When does it usually take place outside of 'regular' school?

Hebrew school usually takes place on sunday mornings. Mine is sunday, 10-12. Some congregations have additional days that Bar/Bat Mitzvah students are required to attend on week day nights. Different congregations are different. Some teach how to read Hebrew, and nothing else. Some read from the torah every day. My synagauge is trying to teach us conversational Hebrew, but is failing miserably. Then for half the day, we watch old (very stupid, might I add) black and white movies that are supposed to relate to Judaism, but don't.

- Can a child whose parents are wishy-washy on going to Synagogue join Hebrew/Jewish classes/school?

Yes, they can. Before I started studying for my Bat Mitzvah, I had never been to a Saturday morning service in my life. But, keep in mind, our congregation is very reformed.

Thanks everyone!