Your Jewish home west of Toronto is also a great place to get a Jewish education. Our Hebrew school, Bet Sefer Solel is an innovative and widely recognized school for kids from JK all the way up through Bar/Bat Mitzvah and on through Grade 10.

Hebrew School

Bet Sefer Solel our Hebrew school for kids is innovative and renowned. Parents, grand parents and older siblings teach our classes in Hebrew language and Judaica. We start with kids Junior Kindergarten age and teach up through Bar/Bat Mitzvah age, all the way to Grade 10 (Kallah).

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Preparation

Preparing for ritual adulthood in the Jewish community is an important, fulfilling and sometimes a daunting task. Each Bet Sefer Solel student preparing for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah works with a tutor who is an expert in chanting Torah trope. Students also spend time with our Rabbi to ensure that their experience is meaningful and joyous. By their Bar or Bat Mitzvah day, our students are able to lead the service with the Rabbi, to give their D’var Torah and to confirm their pride in their Jewish identity.

We have helpful resources for Bet Sefer Solel students studying for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

Confirmation Class (Kallah)

Most of the kids who attend Bet Sefer Solel and have their Bar or Bat Mitzvah with us stay with us for our Kallah program, which goes until Grade 10. The Kallah program gives young people a chance to grow in their Judaism and to explore deeper and more complicated issues with their peers and with experienced adults, including our Rabbi. Grade 9 and 10 students volunteer in Bet Sefer Solel to help younger students with their Bar/Bat Mitzvah studies or act as peer teachers.

The Kallah program is a way to explore the importance of Jewish faith, values and precepts in the everyday, modern lives of young adults. Highlights of the Grade 10 (Kallah) year include a retreat at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and a graduation service, led by the Kallah class themselves.

Adult Education

There are many, many opportunities for lifelong Jewish learning at Solel. Throughout the year you can join with other curious adults and partake in:

• Adult Torah Study with Rabbi Pollack
• The Home We Build Together – a course for the parents of Bet Sefer Solel students
• Hebrew for Adults
• Lunch & Learn
• Movie & Discussion Nights
• Arliene’s Book Club
• Doing Jewish with Director of Education, Arliene Botnick
• Bet Midrash Solel with Rabbi Emeritus Larry Englander

Sundays 12:30pm to 1:30pm starting 15 October, 2023
Hybrid: Join us in-person at Solel or via Zoom
BYOL (bring your own lunch)
Over the next 10 weeks we’ll be taking a deep dive into a prayer that we recite at the very beginning of each day, “Eilu Devarim – These are the words”:

These ten short verses from the Mishnah, written two thousand years ago, are often referred to as the “Rabbinic Ten Commandments”. We might think of them as our daily “Spiritual To-Do List”, or as author Rabbi Evan Moffic refers to them, as “The Happiness Prayer”.

Together we will explore ancient Jewish wisdom to live a more meaningful life.

These are the MITZVOT which have no limit. One eats of their fruit at
this time, while their full effect is beyond measure:

– To honour father and mother
– To perform acts of love and kindness
– To attend the house of study daily
– To welcome the stranger
– To visit the sick
– To bring marriage partners to the CHUPAH
– To accompany the dead to burial
– To pray with sincerity
– To make peace when there is strife
– And the study of TORAH is equal to them all because it leads to them all.

Download the Course Flyer for more information.

The Home We Build Together
– Explore big questions
– Make new friends
– Dive into the wisdom of Jewish tradition

Rabbi Pollack will lead this conversational group for parents who are looking to deepen their understanding of Judaism on their terms. Sessions will cover the big questions: What makes a home? How do I want to continue or depart from the way my parents configured their home? What lessons can I draw in the hardest moments of parenting? We will look at the wisdom of ancient and modern Jewish sources to help each family clarify their personal values and goals for raising a family. Get to know other parents as we delve into these deep questions over the course of the year… (meets during Religious School hours for parents of grade-schoolers)!

Scheduled topics include:
– 15 October, 2023: What Makes a Home?
– 22 October, 2023: Partnership and its Expectations
– 29 October, 2023: The Rupture of Life as You Know It
– 5 November, 2023: The Obligations of Parents
– 19 November, 2023: On Being Our Kids’ Teachers
– 26 November, 2023: Reconstituting Our Parents’ Reality
– 3 December, 2023: The Hardest Job Ever
– 14 January, 2024: From the Mouths of Babes
– 21 January, 2024: Shalom Bayit
– 28 January, 2024: Siyyum (“completion”)

Download the Course Flyer for more information.

Doing Jewish
This fascinating course is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to learn more about Judaism; led by our Director of Education, Arliene Botnick. Meeting the following Wednesdays in October and in May, 2024 at Solel. A number of handouts for various topics will be provided. You may also wish to purchase these optional texts: Living a Jewish Life (Diamond & Cooper) and The Jewish Home (Syme). Each week’s study is independent and you can come for any or all of the sessions.

Dates and topics include:
– 11 October, 2023: Our Calendar and High Holidays
– 18 October, 2023: Our Texts: Torah, Mishnah, Gemara, Talmud and Midrash
– 25 October, 2023: Jewish Lifecycles: Birth to Marriage
– 8 May, 2024: The Hows and Whys of the Shalosh Regalim (Three Pilgrimage Festivals)
– 15 May, 2024: Shabbat and Service Choreography
– 22 May, 2024: The “Yom” Occasions as well as a brief discussion of death and mourning

Please contact the Solel office to register. No cost for Solel members, non-members very welcome, $10 per session per person.
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For details of the schedule of adult education opportunities, check our events and calendar pages.

Jewish Information Class (JIC)

Do you, or do you have a partner who wants more information about Judaism, perhaps with the intention of converting? Over the course of 30 weeks, the JIC class meets and we study together a wide range of topics that cover our history, our holidays, customs, symbols and life cycle events and beginning Hebrew. The JIC is great for anyone who wants to know more about Judaism, whether you’re Jewish or perhaps thinking about becoming Jewish. If you’d like to know more about the JIC, please call Arliene or the Rabbi at Solel.