Clinton Township Newsletter

1 5 o c t o b e r 2 0 2 3 V i T A L E s s E n C E C E n T E R F o R L A s E R & A E s T H E T i C s The goal of VitalEssence Center for Laser & Aesthetics, located inside The Dr Is In in Flemington, is to help you feel and look your very best. Our team offers comprehensive aesthetic services including warm body sculpting, wrinkle reduction and laser hair removal. Experience best-in-class technology in our comfortable suite designed for your privacy and comfort. Call us today at: 908.335.6468 to set up an appointment. Visit us online at: www.VitalEssenceCenter.com. Gift Cards available! o R C H A D A s H , T H E R E F o R m T E m p L E o F H C Or Chadash, the Reform Temple of Hunterdon County, is delighted to share with our community information about its educational and youth programming. The comprehensive Religious Education program Or Chadash offers, from preschool Temple Tots through the twelth grade, provides our children with the background necessary to develop a love and enthusiasm for Judaism so that Jewish values might guide and enrich their paths through life. We believe that Judaism provides t h e f r a m e w o r k and the language f o r s p i r i t u a l d e v e l o p m e n t t h a t s t r e n g t h e n s a p e r s o n , o u r O r C h a d a s h c o m m u n i t y , a n d the world at large. W e e n c o u r a g e o u r c h i l d r e n t o e n g a g e with our tradition, to stay focused on their studies, and always to remember that their work is sacred, their relationships loving, and the knowledge they acquire is part of a greater whole that transforms lives. We aim to launch them into the world as young adults who embrace their Jewish identities. We are proud to do this through a Reform Jewish lens. Our Religious School begins with our monthly pre-K Temple Tots program, then moves from Kindergarten to B'nai Mitzvah training and on through Confirmation. Our Temple Tots program, a monthly parent/child Jewish content playgroup, emphasizes the opportunity for young families and their children to socialize in the Temple setting. Our elementary-age students begin to explore their relationship to the Torah and its implications for their daily lives. Our curriculum in our younger grades focuses on Shabbat and the other holidays, prayers, practices, rituals, and Bible stories. Our Jewish Studies curriculum includes life cycle, Torah, Israel, values, Jewish heroes, holidays, Holocaust, activities of Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) through a Jewish lens, and modern Jewish history. Our students learn the Hebrew of the synagogue service, study Jewish history and ideas, and learn to love being Jewish. We are especially proud of the atmosphere we have created at Or Chadash. All of our students are involved in Tefillah (weekly worship services), music, arts and crafts, library and other special activities chosen to enrich holiday celebrations or curricular themes. Our post Bar/ Bat Mitzvah Program in grades 8-10 is a hugely successful program that addresses high-quality, meaningful content that engages our students in topical subjects. We provide our students with the opportunity to socialize and create a Jewish peer group, thereby enhancing their connection to the Jewish community. We guide them as they mature and become literate, responsible, and committed Jewish adults. A highlight of our Confirmation program is a four-day overnight trip to Washington D.C., to participate in the L'Taken Social Justice Seminar of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Students are exposed to the Reform Jewish stance on issues of social, environmental, and economic justice. In addition to learning sessions, Shabbat celebrations, and visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the program culminates with a day on Capitol Hill during which our teens lobby legislators on issues important to them. Our students are introduced to Hebrew Through Movement (HTM), a language acquisition strategy by which students learn Hebrew by hearing and responding to Hebrew commands. Hebrew Through Movement introduces Hebrew in a playful and meaningful way, creating a positive first link between students and the Hebrew language. Using two of the principles of Hebrew Through Movement — that learning is social and that children are active learners — students and teachers engage in playful and experiential activities. Following the natural flow of a young child's language learning, there are no expectations for learners to produce language in a Hebrew Through Movement lesson. Or Chadash Temple Youth (OCTY) welcomes all 8th - 12th graders to join in monthly social and social action activities! OCTY provides our teens with the opportunity to plan and execute programming. OCTY's fall lineup includes managing Or Chadash's High Holy Day food drive, our mitten mitzvah collection for Sukkot, as well as a coat and toy drive for Hanukkah. Our incredible Teaching Assistants are an amazing asset to Or Chadash's Religious School. On Sunday mornings our teens provide classroom support to our faculty and students, lead discussions, work with students in small learning groups, and learn "real life" on the job problem-solving skills. Administratively the teens also help with managing supplies, taking attendance and collecting Tzeddakah. We are thrilled that many of our Teaching Assistants have participated in the National Madrichim Fellowship program. Or Chadash is located on 149 Foothill Road, Flemington, NJ, just a few miles south of Clinton, NJ, off Rt 31. | www.OrChadash-nj.org | 908.806.2122. For more information about Or Chadash's Religious School, our OCTY youth group, Temple Tots or any programs at our synagogue, please contact Betsy Zalaznick, educator@orchadash-nj. org or Rabbi Joseph M. Forman, josephforman@gmail.com. "When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween." ~ Unknown

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