Goals of Reform

The goal of Jewish education within the Reform movement is the deepening of Jewish experience and knowledge for all liberal Jews, in order to strengthen faith in God, love of Torah and identification with the Jewish people, through involvement in the synagogue and participation in Jewish life. We believe that Judaism contains answers to the challenges and questions confronting the human spirit, and that only knowledgeable Jews can successfully discover these answers.

In our effort to provide an educational experience which will meet the challenge of the above stated goal, we subscribe to the ten principles delineated by the URJ-CCAR Commission on Jewish Education. Our program of Jewish education will enable the youth to become:

1. Jews who affirm their Jewish identity and bind themselves inseparably to their people by word and deed,

2. Jews who bear witness to the BRIT (the covenant between God and the Jewish people) by embracing Torah through the study and observance of MITZVOT (commandments) as interpreted in the light of historic development and contemporary liberal thought,

3. Jews who affirm the historic bond to ERETZ YISRAEL, the Land of Israel,

4. Jews who cherish and study Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people,

5. Jews who value and practice TEFILAH (prayer),

6. Jews who further the causes of justice, freedom and peace by pursuing TZEDEK (righteousness), MISHPAT (justice) and CHESED (loving deeds),

7. Jews who celebrate SHABBAT and the festivals and observe the Jewish ceremonies marking the significant occasions in their lives,

8. Jews who esteem their own person and the person of others; their own family and the family of others; their own community and the community of others,

9. Jews who express their kinship with K’LAL YISRAEL by actively seeking the welfare of Jews throughout the world,

10. Jews who support and participate in the life of the synagogue.

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