High School Program

Our flagship high school program takes place every Monday night from 6:00–8:30 p.m., with dinner included. Click here to subscribe to the high school Google calendar.

In addition, J-LOFT (Jewish Learning Opportunities for Teens) hosts numerous events for MetroWest teens, including service trips, HiBur (an exchange program with a high school in Haifa, Israel), the annual L’taken seminar in Washington, D.C., and more.

Register for Beth El High School                Register for J-LOFT

Beth El high school schedule

6:00–6:30 p.m. — Dinner

If you ask a typical Jewish teen to name a Jewish food, don’t be surprised if their answer is… pizza! Why? Because that’s what temples have been feeding their hungry teens for decades — it’s easy and filling. But at Beth El, we take a different approach.

Dinner is not an addition to the education teens receive at Beth El, but a part of it. On selected Monday nights, our dinners are planned, cooked, and served by our own teen community, who not only find great joy in doing so but also take great pride in it. Our dinners are homemade, healthy, and nutritious, and even offer something for our teens to take home with them — new cooking skills.

6:30-7:30 p.m. — Electives with the Clergy

For the first block, we offer two different classes, each going for one semester:

• Judaism’s Top 10 Ideas with Rabbi Josh — Judaism is a treasure trove of over 3,000 years of wisdom, insight and stories. In this series, we’ll explore five examples of the timeless wisdom that Judaism offers us.  Starting with traditional sources, we’ll listen to music, watch video clips and share together how a Jewish tradition can help us make sense of our world and ourselves!
• Our Neighbors’ Faiths with Cantor Vera — Judaism and Jews thrive in community with folks of different faiths! Just as we want to be known, so too we should learn about the beliefs and practices of our neighbors, friends and family. In these five sessions together, we’ll learn about Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Unitarian Universalism, and Hinduism, and hear directly from practitioners of those faiths.

7:30-8:30 p.m. — Community Time

The second hour of the evening is when all the students get to hang out together, celebrate an upcoming Holiday, reflect on interesting current events, make plans together (where will we go for this year’s retreat?!), and most importantly, enjoy each other’s company in a non-academic, non-competitive, and stress-free manner.