It’s been almost three years since the first students walked through the doors of B’Yachad Oakland Mills Jewish School, the result of a collaboration between Columbia Jewish Congregation and Kol Nefesh, neighbors in the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center.
The school started after the pandemic when Rabbi Michael Hess Webber from CJC and Kol Nefesh spiritual leader Stephanie Weishaar discussed the idea to combine their kids and resources into a program that serves the needs of both communities.
Hess Webber said that the school teaches the children that the two communities are better together and to works to build solidarity with their neighbors across the hall in the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center.
“This is what the Jewish community needs right now, a sense of unity, a shared project, seeking compromise and strong communication in order to build something that serves the next generation,” Hess Webber said.
Hess Webber said that this type of inter-congregational Hebrew school partnership dates back to the 1980s with the Columbia Jewish Community School (CJCS), where children from multiple Jewish communities in Columbia would come to get their Jewish education.
Hess Webber said that the school model eventually faded and CJCS became the name of CJC’s school, which was successful for several decades but was impacted by the pandemic.
When we shifted our what does it mean to shift our Jewish education online, and for kids to be were separated from each other and did not have the opportunity to immerse in Jewish community and build Jewish friendships,”
Webber said that one of the most acute impacts of the pandemic for all children was the isolation that children suffered when they didn’t have access to each other.
With those impacts, CJC felt it was especially important coming out of the pandemic to create a space where children could interact with other Jewish children and have a fun space to learn.
Hess Webber added that, in the years since the program began, they’ve been able to improve the experience for students as the team gains familiarity with what they’re trying to do.
“It’s been really thriving. Every year B’Yachad gets better and better as our structure gets clarified,” Hess Webber said.
Hess Webber also praised the efforts of Emily Dalton, the education director at the school, and noted Dalton’s strong belief in the school’s mission and her hard work in this role on top of working a full-time job and being a parent.
Hess Webber said that the school allows them to give kids a Hebrew school experience that they’ll hopefully enjoy and commented on the evolution of views towards Hebrew schools over the years.
He said that many people from her generation would speak of the “trauma” of Hebrew school, referring to the frustration that some felt about having to go sit in a classroom and learn two days a week after a full school day while all their friends were playing outside.
“Hebrew school has evolved so much from that paradigm. One thing that I’ve learned and watched to be true is that building relationships, giving the kids an opportunity to build Jewish relationships, to experience Judaism, instead of having to be taught Judaism, is really fundamental. It works,” Hess Webber said.
Hess Webber said that they’re able to go beyond sticking kids behind desks to stare at a blackboard and give them a chance to engage themselves with the content and really enjoy it.
The rabbi added that this project has been a unique experience for CJC in collaborating with Kol Nefesh and has fostered some great collaboration and connections.
“It’s been really interesting and powerful to navigate and negotiate our values and our different congregational cultures, in order to land some place that truly is a cooperative and collaborative project where we can serve multiple communities well,” Hess Webber said.
