Tell me about Hebrew school. (Christians, religious)

[McDweller]

I claim no religious affiliation whatsoever, and I do not have a religious upbringing. Yet, I like listening to people talk about their cultural backgrounds. It's cool.

I know a little about Judaism. One time, I took a physiology class, and a couple of young adults said they went to Hebrew school and learned Hebrew prayer. They said they graduated from Hebrew school. I suppose it's a type of school where Jews send their children to learn the Hebrew language and Jewish culture and religion; I once had a couple of elementary schoolmates that were Greek and went to Greek school, while I and other Chinese kids went to Chinese school.

OK. Be prepared for my whopping list of questions. (Note they are related, so you don't really have to answer each one. You can just write a paragraph or so detailing your experiences in Hebrew school from the beginning to the graduation.)

1. How old were you when you enrolled into Hebrew school?
2. Was the Hebrew school publicly funded (that is, by the state/government) or privately funded (by a religious institution)?
3. How many grade levels were there in Hebrew school?
4. How many students were there in your class?
5. Were you a good student (A), a fair student (B), a mediocre student (C), or a poor student (D or below)?
6. What's the significance of graduation?
7. How did your bar/bat mitzvah coincide with Hebrew school? That is, did you learn about bar/bat mitzvah at around the same time of your own bar/bat mitzvah?
8. Did you ever recite the Torah at all?
9. What were the academic subjects in Hebrew school?
10. How long was a typical Hebrew school day?
11. On which day(s) was Hebrew school open?
12. What type of "Jew" are you? (Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Kaifeng, Mizrahim, Teimanim, Bukharan, etc.)
13. Are you a practicing or non-practicing Jew?
14. Are you in rabbinical Judaism or non-rabbinical Judaism?

[Tikva]

I'm guessing you are referring to Hebrew School as religious education (like Christians can send their kids to CCD or Sunday school, etc). Usually run by their synagogue.

Or are you referring to Jewish Day Schools? They are private schools that teach secular and Jewish religious education.

Am I correct?

[McDweller]

Originally Posted by Tikva

I'm guessing you are referring to Hebrew School as religious education (like Christians can send their kids to CCD or Sunday school, etc). Usually run by their synagogue.

Or are you referring to Jewish Day Schools? They are private schools that teach secular and Jewish religious education.

Am I correct?

I did not know that. Please explain both.

[Pruzhany]

Why in the Christian forum did you call it simply Sunday school and not state Christian Parochial school? Why didn't you call it a Sunday school in this forum?

[McDweller]

Originally Posted by Pruzhany

Why in the Christian forum did you call it simply Sunday school and not state Christian Parochial school? Why didn't you call it a Sunday school in this forum?

Um. Because Sunday school is called that in churches and Jewish people that I know graduated from Hebrew school? I'm just using other people's terminology.

[Pruzhany]

Originally Posted by McDweller

Um. Because Sunday school is called that in churches and Jewish people that I know graduated from Hebrew school? I'm just using other people's terminology.

If they live in the US and went to a Jewish school full time then it's called a Yeshiva. Those you just go part time on Sundays and maybe some after secular school programs, then those are called Hebrew schools usually.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by Pruzhany

If they live in the US and went to a Jewish school full time then it's called a Yeshiva. Those you just go part time on Sundays and maybe some after secular school programs, then those are called Hebrew schools usually.

If it is a full time Jewish school for boys it is called a yeshiva. It if is a full time Jewish school for girls it is simply a full time Jewish/religious school.

As for the part-time schools they are usually held on Sunday half day or so and sometimes also have Tuesday afternoon/evening classes. Now I have also heard of a Hebrew school on Saturdays which I assume is run by a Reform Judaism group.

[Pruzhany]

Originally Posted by McDweller

1. How old were you when you enrolled into Yeshiva?
2. Was the Yeshiva publicly funded (that is, by the state/government) or privately funded (by a religious institution)?
3. How many grade levels were there in Yeshiva?
4. How many students were there in your class?
5. Were you a good student (A), a fair student (B), a mediocre student (C), or a poor student (D or below)?
6. What's the significance of graduation?
7. How did your bar mitzvah coincide with Yeshiva? That is, did you learn about bar mitzvah at around the same time of your own bar mitzvah?
8. Did you ever recite the Torah at all?
9. What were the academic subjects in Yeshiva?
10. How long was a typical Yeshiva day?
11. On which day(s) was Yeshiva open?
12. What type of "Jew" are you? (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi)
13. Are you a practicing or non-practicing Jew?
14. Are you in rabbinical Judaism or non-rabbinical Judaism?

So now with a few corrections to your questions, thus your answers.

1. 5
2. Private
3. 8
4. Around 20.
5. Good
6. No graduation, left at end of 8th grade to go to secular city HS. Continued Yeshiva education in
evenings.
7. Bar Mitzvah education was done after school with one-on-one Rabbi for about a year. Usually continues
to within a few week of the Bar Mitzvah.
8. Yes
9. Strong on religious subjects related. Extremely weak on secular subjects.
10. Around 8 hours.
11. 6 days a week.
12. Mizrahi
13/14. Started as Ultra Orthodox (Hasidic). Currently Conservadox.

6*. Went to HS magnet school that stressed Mathematics and Sciences.

[usuario]

There's three types of institutions that fit the OP's description.

There's "Sunday schools" often run by the synagogue that are only a few hours long.

There's "day schools" which are regular private schools that emphasize Jewish education. These are either non-denominational or affiliated with the Reform or Conservative or Modern Orthodox movements.

There's yeshivas which are single-sex private schools which are required by the state education department to teach secular subjects but try to get away teaching as little as possible and making almost all class time about learning the Torah. These are usually run by ultra-Orthodox groups.

None of these are completely publically funded though some may be subsidized by federal grants. Some places in the U.S. might have taxpayer-funded language programs that teach Hebrew but isn't specifically about Judaism and restricted to Jews only.

In the past 30 or so years, it has become socially mandatory for Orthodox Jews to enroll their children in either an Orthodox day school or a yeshiva. This has greatly increased the cost of education for Orthodox Jews, since places can cost upwards of $15000 per student. To send their kids to public school would certainly invite some degree of ostracization and a lower chance of finding a spouse through an Orthodox Jewish matchmaker in the future. Reform and Conservative Jews generally do not face such a pressure.

[theflipflop]

Usario is correct about the pressure. The only two options to Orthodox Jews is to put your kids in an Orthodox day school, or to home school your kids. Putting your kids in public school (the one in my neighborhood is award winning with hundreds of non religious Jews) is akin to declaring to the world that you prioritize ruchnius (the spiritual) below gashmius (worldly, physical items).

My kids tuition is roughly three times my mortgage. My wife and I drive beat up clunkers of cars and have not taken a proper vacation, well, ever.

It's a choice. No regrets.