Welcome to the first year of our combined Religious School between Monroe Temple Beth-El and Temple Beth Shalom, we are calling Beit Sefer of Orange County. Our collective boards have been working diligently to not only make sure parents have been a part of the process, but also ensuring that our standards of excellence in learning continue to be met. Rabbi Shinder and Rabbi Lerner have been meeting regularly to help ensure that our calendar, curriculum, teachers, special events, locations and coordinating communication are prepared for the new school year.

Perhaps the two most important things to look out for in the year ahead are the location of the Beit Sefer on Sundays, and the calendar of events as there are special experiences (chavayot ) and Shabbat dinners and services where we expect families to join us in celebration. You will receive a weekly email from beitsefer18@gmail.com. This will be our primary form of communication, that will send out weekly reminders of the location of school, as well as upcoming events. Rabbis Shinder and Lerner and administrator, Lauren Vitkovsky, will be monitoring this email. In addition, we plan to use the Remind app, as well. Be sure to choose a primary cell phone number to receive these reminders. We are also in the process of creating Google Classroom materials first for Hebrew instruction. Materials for our Sunday curriculum will be established next. Information both for curriculum, as well as the schedule of programs and locations will also be available through Google Classroom.

Please register your children ASAP at: https://forms.gle/TsUo4au5AP42ZY916

The emails you input (and phone numbers) will be the ones we use to contact you. One critical part of that registration is to choose whether you intend for your child to learn Hebrew either in person @ Monroe Temple Beth-El on Tuesdays OR via Zoom on Thursdays with Temple Beth Shalom. You can only register for one. The instruction for both days will be from 4:30-5:45 pm. All of our students will combine to learn together for in person instruction on Sundays. In person experiences for Shabbat dinners, services, and Mitzvah projects will also take place as one school.

Please remember, this is our first year and we want to meet all your needs to the best of our ability. If something is a challenge, we need to know so that we can attend to it and take any corrective action. We ask for your patience, as well. Your children are amazing and we want them to enjoy their time here at Beit Sefer of Orange County, while also coming to a fuller understanding of their heritage and the beautiful rituals, traditions, stories and community Judaism has to offer. We hope that they have fun and make some new friends, too!

For the past seventy years, we have worked to fulfill a promise to our community: To help shape the young minds of our children toward a Jewish identity.

We provide experienced and knowledgeable teachers who truly care about their students. Small classes enable each child to be known as an individual. We use interesting and motivating texts and materials. School includes hands-on projects, book fairs, Mitzvah Days; and other acts of Tzadakah, class Shabbats and unique services. There are frequent opportunities to meet with other Jewish students, and visit places relevant to our Jewish culture and history through group activities and trips. We are a small school within a small temple but we accomplish much.

We’re proud of our endeavors and of the accomplished, successful adults who have graduated from our school through b’nai mitzvah and confirmation. And we are especially proud that many of our young temple members choose to keep the continuity as members and leaders of TBS youth group. These are the children who mentor our youngest students. They’re our TBS role models. They’re helping shape the future of TBS and the future of Reform Judaism.

Providing the children of Temple Beth Shalom with an education was one of the first priorities of the Hebrew Community Center when it was organized in 1947. The Florida Fire Department supplied a Sunday School room. Our Synagogue building was dedicated in the fall of 1951. The Chiron-Friedman School wing was added in 1961. As our student population grew, the need for more space became evident to all. Through the generosity of William and Viola Rosenberg and our temple members additional classrooms were dedicated in 2000.

Your Board of Education takes pride in its students and we thank God, our parents and our community for providing us with such a treasure of outstanding young people. We can only pray that our Temple Beth Shalom continue to grow and prosper. We dedicate ourselves to assisting in this majestic endeavor.

Shalom,
Rita Laskin
Chairperson, Board of Education