“I felt connected to a tradition and it made me think that it is important to carry on the traditions of the Jews.” Daniel Katz, Wenham

Tefillin are described as the “ties that bind” and learning to use them is part of the curriculum in many of the seventh grade Hebrew school classes on the North Shore. Seventh grade is the year when most children celebrate becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah and learn many of the traditions that tie them to their great and unique Jewish family, both in the past and the future.

Tefillin for Teens provides B’nai Mitzvah students, boys and girls, with a free set of tefillin and a tefillin bag, valued at $150 per child. Students who wear them say they feel more connected to prayers such, as Sh’ma Yisrael, and to a Jewish tradition started thousands of years ago.  Students receive instruction on how to put on tefillin and the meaning of tefillin.

For more information, call Phyllis Osher, at 978-740-4404
or email posher@rilcf.org.

The shofar calls us to action. Students in grade seven in religious schools learn the mitzvah of the shofar and the technique of shofar blowing.  They take great pride in receiving their own free shofar from Israel and supplemental educational materials.

Students are invited to participate in the shofar service at local temples and are encouraged to visit nursing homes and hospitals to sound the shofar for others during the High Holy Days.

For more information, call Phyllis Osher, at 978-740-4404  or email posher@rilcf.org.