Teen Programs & LMAHH

Many Voices. One Community
The Lower Merion Area Hebrew High (LMAHH) was created to provide a weekly Jewish learning experience, bringing students from many synagogues (or no synagogue) together under one consolidated program. Joining together to create a positive social atmosphere for all students involved, we are also able to provide our students with a diversity of viewpoints from educators and rabbis across the Main Line and beyond. This program has been developed by the four Conservative synagogues in the area - Adath Israel, Congregation Beth Am Israel, Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El and Har Zion Temple and is open to other interested congregations, as well as teens who are not currently members of a synagogue

| Register for LMAHH
| You can access registration details and additional information at www.lmahh.org

What does LMAHH offer?

- The school meets on Sundays and Tuesdays - teens can choose whether to attend on Sundays or Tuesdays (or, if desired, both). We know that our teens have lots of commitments and we want to provide them with maximum flexibility, while ensuring that we have enough students at all times to provide a stimulating social environment.

-The classes offered on Sundays and Tuesdays are generally different to allow students who want to attend both to do so. However, certain topics, such as Teacher Training, may happen on both days, allowing students who can only attend on one particular day to still have the opportunity to take this course.

Sunday Options 

LMAHH offers options on Sunday mornings, allowing parents with children who attend religious school at any of the synagogues to avoid conflicts with pickup and drop-off times of those religious schools. On Sunday mornings, students choose between attending for two or three hours. Below is a sample schedule of how the day is structured. Each student chooses the class or classes they would like to attend for the semester. All students gather for HHH (Hot Bagels, Hot Chocolate & Hot Topics) at 10:30 and an experiential learning. Students can take a glass in the first block, the last block or both.
 

9:45 AM-10:25 AM | Classes (Ulpan, Torah, Text, Tefilah, etc.)
10:30 AM-11:05 AM | Hot Bagels, Hot Chocolate & Hot Topics (Current Events, Jewish Values)
11:10 AM-11:55 AM | Experiential Learning (Varies weekly - Options include Meetings by Synagogue, Rosh Hodesh & Shevet Achim groups, Teen Youth Philanthropy, Social Action Activities, Speakers etc. This time block can be combined with Hot Bagels for programs that require 90 minutes.)
12:00 PM-12:45 PM | Classes (Teacher Training, Confirmation, Holocaust, Israel, etc)

Tuesday Option 
LMAHH also offers options on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 PM-8:30 PM.
Below is a sample schedule for how the evening is structured.

6:30 PM-7:00 PM | Dinner and Conversation
7:00 PM-8:30 PM | Option A - one 90 minute session on a single topic
                               Option B - two 45 sessions that run concurrently

Other Experiential Opportunities

In addition to the regular classes, we offer opportunities for teens to spend time with one another and take part in Jewish experiences. This includes a community wide Shabbaton to take place in the coming year, periodic Shabbat dinner and services (led by and for teens) and Saturday evening social programs. These programs will meet at the various synagogues on a rotating basis.

Leadership and Location

Each year LMAHH is hosted by two congregations. The Director of LMAHH is Norman Einhorn and he will oversee both the Sunday and Tuesday programs. Steve Goldberg, is the Sunday Coordinator and Hazzan Harold Messinger is the Tuesday Coordinator.

Education and Curriculum

LMAHH offers a diverse and engaging curriculum for our students. While the exact listing of classes differs each semester, the curriculum addresses the following core themes and topics.

- Hot Topics or Current Events- Students  have the opportunity to explore current issues in relationship to Jewish values and text that have helped guide our people FAQ’s throughout the generations. Emphasis is on helping students to consider multiple points of view and to develop their own positions on the issues.

- Israel - While many people in the Jewish community shy away from discussing Israel for fear of offending (or being offended by) someone, we believe that a proactive approach to teaching Israel through a pluralistic lens is the best way to deepen a connection between our teens and Israel. Teens learn from a variety of viewpoints, with an emphasis on presenting each position in a fair and balanced way. We focus on teaching History, Culture, Politics, Religion, and Social Diversity in Israel today. We encourage students to take part in a trip to Israel in 10th grade, sponsored by the program.

- Teacher Training program - We offer an intensive teacher training for 11th & 12th graders, with juniors taking an intensive course, followed by class placement as assistant teachers in a religious school of the teen’s home synagogue during senior year. In addition to this program, we also offer a more basic level program for younger students.

- Text Study - Students have opportunities to study relevant text from the Torah, Mishnah and Midrash (with both English and Hebrew/Aramaic) on a variety of topics or as an intensive study of a particular book or section.

-Hebrew/Tefillah - Students have options to study conversational Hebrew or prayerbook Hebrew, and to develop skills such as leading an evening minyan, reading Torah, etc.

- History - Students have options to study various Jewish time periods with an emphasis on Holocaust and the History of Zionism. We are also working to develop a course on the Timeline of Jewish History.

- Social Justice - Students will have an opportunity to learn about and develop projects to address particular issues in our society.

- Community programs - We partner with other organizations in our community, such as Moving Traditions and Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia to offer opportunities for our teens to take part in programs such as the Jewish Teen Youth Philanthropy; Shevet Achim/Rosh Hodesh, etc.
 

Tuition

Tuition is $995 for all students, regardless of how many days and hours they attend. The Tuition for LMAHH is paid through your home congregation. Any questions regarding tuition and scholarships should be addressed to your home congregation.

For more information, please contact:
Norman Einhorn: 
Phone | 610-667-5000 ext 150
Email | neinhorn.lmahh@gmail.com