Yes! Your Kids CAN Go to Hebrew School Outdoors!

Y’ladim BaTeva: Growing Jewish Roots in Nature’s Classroom is open for registration in Metrowest Boston

Would you love for outdoors in nature to be the way your child or a child you know connects to their Jewish roots? Would you love it if when you or someone you know was accompanying your child to a family event at Hebrew school that you would also get a walk in the woods, no matter what the season?

Ma’yan Tikvah is making exactly these experiences possible through their outdoor Jewish education for kids program, Y’ladim BaTeva: Growing Jewish Roots in Nature’s Classroom.

Y’ladim BaTeva (Children in Nature), is a unique outdoor Jewish learning program that provides an alternative to the traditional Hebrew school experience for children in kindergarten through 7th grade by meeting outdoors throughout the year. Y'ladim BaTeva seeks to foster an inclusive and spiritual community of children and families by cultivating a positive Jewish identity with a strong connection to nature and a sense of individual and collective responsibility.

On a typical day at Y’ladim BaTeva, you might notice children listening intently to a Torah story, searching the woods for nature items of every color for making Joseph’s coat of many colors, or climbing a tree.

You may see a child hugging a tree, listening to what a tree might be saying after reciting the Shema, or observing life in a stream and connecting that experience to the morning blessing of opening the eyes of the blind.

Y'ladim BaTeva nurtures, inspires, and empowers children and their families by immersing them in joyful outdoor learning experiences, connecting them with nature and Jewish values and traditions, and engaging them in acts of justice. On a typical day, you may hear older children intensely debating an ethical dilemma or encounter families gardening to help grow food for the hungry or clearing out invasive plants from a conservation area.

You may stumble upon a line of “animals” made of nature objects lined up two-by-two to enter the ark, or a series of hanukkiot made of nature materials.

While engaging children and families outdoors, Y’ladim BaTeva focuses on Jewish values such as caring for animals, standing in awe of G!d, and caring for ourselves, our families and communities. Families observe Jewish holidays and and children learn Torah stories, Shabbat blessings, prayers from the Shabbat morning service, and how to bring mitzvot into their lives. For those seeking for more Hebrew, an optional Hebrew track is available at individualized pace.

All of the learning leads to a Bar/Bat Mitzvah or coming-of-age ceremony, and a teen program is starting this fall through JLOFT.

Questions? Learn more on the Ma’yan Tikvah website or email Rabbi Katy at rabbi@mayantikvah.org or attend an information session on September 5 at 8 PM via zoom or events on September 15 or September 29 in person.