Ma'alot DC (High School Program)

Ma'alot DC

"Teens ascending to Jewish adulthood with a love of Jewish tradition, community and a strong sense of Jewish self-identity"

Tuesday evenings 6:15-8:45pm

(Dinner included)

Register for the 2012-13 school year now!

Enjoy the slideshow from our Summer 2011

Abe & Minnie Kay Israel Experience

for our 10th Grade students!

'The earlier the better:' Kay funding Israel trip for Adas 10th-graders

Click here to read an article in the Washington Jewish Week about the Abe and Minnie Kay Israel Experience, our new trip to Israel for Confirmation students!

Adas Israel’s Ma’alot DC Hebrew High School program for 7^th-12^th graders engages post b‘nai mitzvah students in Torah study as they begin to explore Judaism as young adults. The staff and faculty at Adas Israel work hard to create an environment that promotes community and socialization so that students continue to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones in these important developmental years of self discovery. Every session begins with a dinner that starts with Hamotzi and ends with Birkat Hamazon, blessings after meal. Israeli and Jewish music and socializing makes for an enticing atmosphere that teens want to be a part of.

Using Jewish texts and drawing from our rich tradition, the Ma'alot DC faculty and staff give students the opportunity to look at Jewish sources that have shaped Jewish life and practice for centuries and to understand them in a personal way. There is a strong emphasis on tikun olam which includes a 10^th grade service learning year that culminates with a special Confirmation ceremony. Our faculty, which includes members of the clergy, act more as facilitators giving students the chance to interact with one another and to understand important Jewish issues through the eyes of each other. Ma'alot DC serves as a great bridge that brings together students from Day School and Religious School backgrounds. Our teachers build relationships with our students that continue long after the students go to college. Every year we involve ShinShinim, Israeli teens who become part of our high school community teaching classes and sharing Israel with our students.

There are several programs held throughout the course of the year called TeenChats where the students come together with staff and other professionals to discuss critical issues affecting teens today. Some of the topics discussed are: what it means to be Jewish in the 21^st century; how do Jewish values come into play in the social media world; how can Judaism help our teens to cope with the stress and pressures of today’s world?

The goals of the Ma'alot DC Program at Adas Israel are:

1) To keep post b’nai mitzvah students connected to the Jewish community during a time that is critical to Jewish development and identity.

2) To give students the tools and knowledge so that they are prepared to succeed as Jews and individuals on college campuses and beyond.

3) To expose students to Jewish texts and sources that they can respond to and apply to their life and experiences.

4) To create ahavat yisrael, a love for Israel in our students while giving them a safe and non-judgmental forum for discussing difficult and often confusing issues related to the modern state of Israel.

5) To create experiences for students where they can put their values into action through tikkun olam and advocacy work related to social justice issues and dilemmas.

6) To expose students to Jewish texts that have informed our tradition for centuries and to do it with a modern lens that speaks to the world of our teens.

7) To empower teens to be leaders in the Adas Israel and larger Jewish community.

8) To provide students with the opportunity to hone their Hebrew skills and to build a foundation for conversational Hebrew.

What do our 12th graders have to say when they leave our program?

“When I was going through a difficult time in my personal life, my friends at Adas Israel and the teachers were there to support me and were accepting of who I was and where I was in my life.”

“All the colleges I applied to were very impressed that I had stuck out an extracurricular program in my synagogue through 12th grade.”

“When life gets stressful with homework and everything, I always looked forward to seeing my friends.”

“You are not going to go out on a Saturday night with friends and talk about your view of capital punishment. At Adas Israel we had a safe place to talk about these important issues.”

“The teachers helped us with the college application process. Guy Ziv wrote me a recommendation and gave me great advice.”

“We got to meet Jewish college students to learn about life on campus.”

“We have been together since the preschool and we will always be friends wherever our paths take us.”

“I loved studying Jewish text with the Rabbis and having discussions about what it means to us”.

“Sometimes I would have a busy week with tests and sports and I had to miss Hebrew School. The teachers always understood and it was always cool for us to come back when things slowed down.”

“The high school program gets better as you get older. The 11th and 12th grade years were the best.”

“My favorite class was the Gender Issues in Judaism class that we called ‘sext in the text’. It was very interesting and I learned a lot.”

“Why wouldn’t I come back?”

Want to learn more?

Contact Josh Bender (josh.bender@adasisrael.org) to learn more about our school or to schedule a visit. Phone: (202)362-4449

Upcoming Events:

School Calendar

Updated 5-3-12

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