YOZMA'S PROGRAMS

Religious Services

At YOZMA's services, the whole family participates and prays together, a unique element to the many Israelis exposed only to the traditional Orthodox separate seating. Men and women participate equally in the service.

YOZMA Shabbat and holiday services are dynamic and vibrant, filled with prayer and fellowship, music and song. Jewish holidays and festivals and monthly Shabbat dinners are communal celebrations.

Lifecycle events and Bar and Bat Mitzvah study are conducted with great vitality. Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremonies are infused with meaning and relevance, and often, in Bat Mitzvah services, the young woman is the first ever of her gender in her family to publicly read from a Sefer Torah.

Kehillat YOZMA combines the traditional with an "untraditional" twist. YOZMA's tashlich service at Rosh HaShana is held on the beach and includes shofar-blowing as well as the releasing of hand-written wishes for the future into the skies on home-made kites. Simchat Torah celebration includes unrolling the entire Torah scroll into the lovingly supportive hands of community members. Rosh Chodesh celebrations incorporate special programming for women.

Educational Programs

Formal Educational Programs
Pre-school and Kindergarten: YOZMA currently operates six full preschool and kindergarten classes for 3-6 year olds and continues to push forward with new alternative educational environments for older children.

Elementary School: With the start of the 5767 (2006-2007) school year, YOZMA created a first-grade class as a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of creating a YOZMA elementary school. The 5768 school year opened with two first grade classes and a second-grade class! Each year, two new first grade classes will be added to the growing school.

YOZMA's formal educational programs emphasize Jewish religious values, tolerance, and respect, and an appreciation of Jewish history, traditions, and practice. YOZMA presents an alternative, egalitarian and progressive approach to Judaism that has been welcomed by families from a wide range of religious backgrounds.

Informal Educational Programs
Adult Education: YOZMA has recently launched an exciting new weekly adult Beit Midrash - featuring an in-depth study of the weekly Torah portion from the perspective of three rabbis - Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon, Rabbi Nir Barkin and local Conservative Rabbi Paul Arberman!

Youth group: Youth activities include monthly events for the "graduates" of YOZMA's pre-school program. YOZMA's burgeoning TELEM youth group offers weekly programming for 4th - 8th graders, led by older teens. 9th graders participate in a weekly seminar to train as future youth group leaders.

Adult Education: In the Bet Midrash program, adults meet to discuss the weekly Torah portion, applying modern interpretations to the traditional texts.

Conversion course: Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon conducts a course on the basics of Judaism intended to introduce potential converts to the beauty and depth of Jewish practice and tradition.

Bar / Bat Mitzvah preparation: YOZMA offers an ongoing course for bar / bat mitzvah preparation, in order to prepare the teens for the practical, spiritual and emotional sides of their bar / bat mitzvah event.

All programs are imbued with a spirit of open and pluralistic Judaism, and each is integrally and overtly linked to Jewish values from a unique perspective.

Social Action
YOZMA is firmly committed to "acting locally" for Tikkun Olam. Hundreds of YOZMA volunteers take part in the community's many important social action projects:

• Support group for single-parent families
• Adoption of Beit-Eden Group Home for Developmentally Challenged Youth in nearby Ramla
• "Halak" – providing aid to families of children with special needs
• "Yozman" – after school tutoring for children from financially challenged families
• Distribution of food, heaters and other supplies to the elderly, new immigrants and needy families
• YOZMA's youth arrange birthday celebrations for needy children
• YOZMA volunteers provided material and emotional support in convoys to the North during summer 2006 war.