Learning at KS Overview

At Kerem Shalom, learning happens at every age: a three-year-old making a sukkah decoration, a 7th grader planning a mitzvah project, a teen helping out in a Hebrew school classroom, an adult wrestling with a text over coffee.

Our Programs

Our Big Ideas

Years from now, long after the details have faded, we hope our learners will carry these ideas with them:

  • I have a place in the Jewish community.
  • I can choose Judaism to challenge, comfort, and guide me throughout my life.
  • I am called to be a partner in the ongoing work of creating and repairing the world.
  • We encounter holiness in every person, in time, and in the world.
  • Each of us receives, shapes, and transmits Jewish teachings and traditions in our own way.

Our Learning Values

Six Jewish values shape how we teach and how we treat each other in every room:

  • Kehillah קהילה (Community): We learn together, and everyone belongs.
  • Simchah שמחה (Joy): Jewish life should be joyful, and learning should be too.
  • K’vod Ha-B’riyot כבוד הבריות (Dignity of Every Person): Every person deserves respect, just as they are.
  • Naaseh V’Nishmah נעשה ונשמע (Learning by Doing): We learn Judaism by living it, through singing, cooking, praying, building, and asking questions.
  • Al Pi Darko על פי דרכו (Our Own Paths): There’s more than one way to be Jewish, and each learner gets to find theirs.
  • Avodah She-Ba-Lev עבודה שבלב (Spirituality): We make room for wonder, gratitude, and the big questions.

What We Hope Young People Gain

Through our youth programs, we hope young people will:

  • Feel confident and competent in Jewish community life, including Hebrew, ritual, song, prayer, and text study, here at KS and in other Jewish communities.
  • Build a foundation of Jewish knowledge, including holiday stories and rituals, the arc of Jewish history, and the diversity of Jewish ideas and practice around the world.
  • Take ownership of their own Judaism by choosing how to practice, interpreting Jewish stories and teachings, wrestling with big ideas, and partnering with others to repair the world.
  • Value Jewish life in community, feeling at home at Kerem Shalom and in the wider Jewish world, making room for others, and building Jewish community wherever they go.

Growing Up at Kerem Shalom

At every stage, here’s what we hope a student can say:

  • Holiday Preschool and Kindergarten: Jewish celebration is joyful. I make things, sing songs, and share food with people I like. Jewish time moves in a rhythm. I belong here.
  • Kitah Alef & Kitah Bet (1st & 2nd Grade): I like being Jewish. I can pray by singing and moving. Hebrew is a language that many Jewish people use to pray, learn, and talk. Jewish stories have something to teach me. I belong here.
  • Kitah Gimel & Kitah Dalet (3rd & 4th Grade): Hebrew has letters and I know some of them, and I know some Hebrew words from prayers and values and Hebrew school. My elective is mine: I chose it. I can connect to Judaism in many ways. I belong here.
  • Kitah Hey (5th Grade): I know what a Jewish lifecycle looks like. I have welcomed new life, celebrated coming of age, honored partnership, and sat with loss, all through the life of my rock. I know what a mitzvah is and I can think about doing good in the world. I’m able to sound out some Hebrew words, and some of them I actually know. I belong here.
  • Kitah Vav (6th Grade): Real people have lived these values, even though it’s sometimes hard. The lessons I learn from that can help me make choices in my life. I also can read prayers and Hebrew songs I’ve known for a while. My Bar/Bat/B’nei Mitzvah (B’Mitzvah for short) is coming and that is meaningful. I belong here.
  • Kitah Zayin (7th Grade): I’m having a B’Mitzvah. I am part of the Jewish people, and the continuation of Jewish history. I can make a positive difference in the world around me. I know why that matters, and why it’s Jewish. I belong here.

Family Education

Family Education builds community at KS and strengthens the tie between families and the synagogue. It brings parents and kids together to learn about Jewish holidays, text, history, ritual, and prayer, and to bring that learning home. It’s built to be welcoming for families who are new to Judaism, and it gives parents the tools and confidence to be partners in their children’s Jewish education, sometimes with adult learning that runs alongside the kids’ program. Programs change from year to year, so families with younger siblings get something new each time around.

Learning for Every Family

We want every child and family who wants to be part of our learning community to be able to join, whatever their financial situation. Our programs are funded by the congregation, and registration fees only cover materials and administrative costs. If cost is a barrier, please email LilyFish at , and they’ll connect you with our Deputy Treasurer for a confidential conversation about a reduced fee.

We also work to support every kind of learner. If your child needs accommodations, let us know and we’ll work it out together. You can share an IEP, a 504 plan, or just something you’ve noticed, at registration or any time during the year, and we’ll turn it into practical notes for your child’s teacher. Kerem Shalom’s building has accessible entrances and restrooms, an ASL-fluent clergy member and ASL choir, interpreters available on request, large-print materials, and sensory tools in the sanctuary. Learn more about inclusion and accessibility at Kerem Shalom.

Adult Learning

Kerem Shalom offers a wide range of educational, cultural, spiritual, and social opportunities for adult members of KS and the wider community. These include monthly talks and other activities sponsored by Kerem Shalom’s Adult Programming Committee, as well as events and conversations focused on “Growing Older in Community” and an ongoing Israel Conversations Group.

Almost all offerings for adults are free, and most (but not all) are open to both members and the larger community. More information about these offerings is on our webpage and in our weekly newsletter—or contact Rosalie Gerut, KS’ Coordinator of Adult Programming at .

How to Register

Registration for Hebrew School Reimagined and Kitah Zayin (7th Grade) happens through the KS Member Portal [link], and both programs are open to Kerem Shalom members in good standing (last year’s dues paid and this year’s membership renewed). Holiday Preschool and Kindergarten is open to everyone, members or not. Registration opens in the spring for the following year, with an early-bird discount for signing up early, and closes in mid-August. Enrolling late? Reach out, since we can usually still make room on a rolling basis. Questions about dues? Contact the office at 978-369-1223.

Meet Our Director

LilyFish Gomberg (she/they) is Kerem Shalom’s Director of Congregational Learning. They are a Jewish educator who is passionate about cultivating learning spaces that are relational, rigorous, and alive.

Before coming to KS, LilyFish was the Communications Manager and Hebrew High teacher at Society Hill Synagogue in Philadelphia. She’s also pursuing a Master’s in Jewish Education at Hebrew College. A native of Newton who grew up in and later worked at Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, LilyFish received their BA from Brandeis.

LilyFish has also supervised counselors as a Unit Head at Eden Village Camp and served as a Springboard Ezra Jewish Education Fellow at Hillel, where she focused on mentorship and relational engagement. Across these roles, they have developed a teaching approach that centers belonging, text study, and creative expression, inviting learners of all ages to see themselves inside Jewish tradition and to experience Judaism as an evolving, living civilization.

Questions? Reach out to LilyFish Gomberg, Director of Congregational Learning, at , or call the office at 978-369-1223.