Making grassheads for Tu Bishvat

Education

Temple Israel is a community that encourages all our members to keep learning.

Beit Batya Hebrew School

Beit Batya Hebrew School provides Progressive Jewish Education for children from Grade One until their Bar or Batmitzvah. Hebrew and Jewish Studies lessons are fun and exciting and include games, singing, drama and creative activities. They provide the children with an opportunity to learn about all aspects of Judaism, make new friends and be a part of a Progressive Jewish community.

Lesson Times
All classes attend lessons on Saturday mornings from 9h00 to 11h30. Bar and Batmitzvah classes also attend lessons from 16h00 to 17h00 on Tuesdays in Green Point or Wednesdays in Wynberg.

Class Structure
Kitah א - Grades 1, 2 and 3
Kitah ב - Grades 4, 5 and 6
Bar/Batmitzvah class – Grades 6 and 7 (approximately one year before their Bar/Batmitzvah)

For more information or to join the Beit Batya Hebrew School, please e-mail Melanie Beswick, our principal, at melbeswick@mweb.co.za , or download the application form.

Lishma

Our sages were of the opinion that the study of Torah for its own sake (lishma) is more meritorious than studying Torah for other motives (Berachot 17a).

Temple Israel, Cape Town conveys this noble ideal by using the title Lishma for our weekday adult study sessions which take place every Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6.30pm to 8:45pm. Each evening consists of an hour of siddur Hebrew followed by a fifteen minute break for food (where there is no food there is no Torah — Pirkei Avot 3:17).

From 6:30pm - 7:30 there will be Hebrew 7:45pm – 8:45pm we offer Jewish Studies. While Lishma caters for all who wish to study our sacred traditions, it also incorporates our Jews-by-Choice Programme thus each cycle of study sessions runs from July to June. Lishma does not take place during school holidays in order to cater for parents with school-going children and of course classes do not run on haggim. The students of the Jews-by-Choice appear before our beit din at the end of July after having written an examination on the material they have studied during the year.

The subjects covered in the Jewish Studies section of Lishma are:

· Judaism in the Synagogue · Biblical Women · Judaism in the Home · Model Shabbat Dinner at Home · Shabbat and Festivals · Birkat haMazon · Life Cycle Events · Waking and Bedtime Prayers and Traveller’s Prayer · Jewish History · Se’udah Shelishit and Havdalah · The Jewish Concept of God · Hanukkat HaBayit · Jewish Literature · Progressive Kashrut · The Structures of Temple Israel · Social Action · Structures of the Cape Town Jewish Community · Israel Today · Crash Courses for each Festival and Fast Day as they occur during the year.

Please check the calendar of events for details on upcoming courses.

Shiurim - top

Our rabbis run weekly shiurim before shul on a Saturday morning at 9 am. They would also be more than happy to come to your home or office if you gather 10 people or more for a fascinating hour of study together. For more information please contact one of the rabbinic team now.