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Confirmation at Temple Emanu-El

The Confirmation Program at Temple Emanu-El is designed to help our 10th grade students build community with one another, wrestle with important issues of the day, express their beliefs as Jewish young adults, and engage in tikkun olam (repair of the world). To this end, we have developed a program which includes several components, as outlined below:

Limud (Study): Confirmands attend class on Tuesday nights from 7:00-9:00 PM, which includes dinner with the rest of our HaMakom students. During class time, students grow as individuals and as a community by studying topics related to Jewish belief and spirituality with Rabbi Ethan Prosnit. The year is organized into six units: Jewish Beliefs about God, Jewish Responses to Suffering, Judaism and Science, Jewish Beliefs about Sexuality, Judaism and Justice, and Judaism as a Spiritual Practice.

L’Taken Seminar:  Confirmands attend the L’Taken Seminar. On this required trip, our confirmation students join with more than 200 students from around the country at the Religious Action Center in Washington D.C. for a weekend of learning and inspiration. During the course of the weekend, students learn how to put Jewish values into civic action. Highlights include speakers on homelessness and poverty, workshops on how Judaism relates to the issues of the day, a visit to the National Holocaust Museum, and a day of lobbying on Capitol Hill. For more info about the RAC trip, click here.

Tikkun Olam (Social Action):  Throughout the year, Confirmands participate in a Social Action project with Bridges Outreach. Bridges is an organization that helps feed and clothe the hungry in Union County and the surrounding areas. Students will make lunches as well as deliver these lunches and clothes to the homeless and hungry in Irvington.

Confirmation Service Preparation: Confirmands plan and a lead a Confirmation Service and share their beliefs, talents, and wisdom with the entire congregation. Leading up to the service there are planning sessions during Tuesday nights as well as rehearsal.

For more information about the Confirmation Program, please contact Rabbi Prosnit, Senior Rabbi, or Emily Halpern, Acting Director.