Shelter Rock Jewish Center

Dear Parents and Students,

It is with great enthusiasm that we introduce our faculty and curriculum for this year’s SRJC Hebrew high school. Two dynamic educators, Rabbi Shalom Jensen and Rabbi Rachel Larkin will be teaching your children and their innovative, passionate teaching styles are sure to transform Monday night’s at SRJC into an exciting learning environment for our teenagers.

Rabbi Rachel Larkin is excited to join the SRJC family this year as the shul's Family Life Programmer! Before coming to SRJC, Rabbi Rachel taught at the cooperative Central Hebrew High School program in Oceanside since its inception in 2001, and served as Rabbi for the North Fork Reform Synagogue in Cutchogue. She received smicha from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she also helped to run the school's 20-year-old Soup Kitchen. Rabbi Rachel is known to her students as a friend and confidant with a big smile and lots of energy. She looks forward to learning with SRJC's kids as well as with Rabbi Jensen. 

Rabbi Jensen has been the youth director of Great Neck Synagogue for seventeen years and is also well-known for bringing a unique liveliness to his classroom.  He is also the director of admissions and a Talmud teacher at the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School.  Aside from Rabbi Jensen’s skill as a Jewish educator, he is also well-known for his involvement in Chesed-social action-projects on a local, national, and international level.  Rabbi Jensen consistently challenges his students to participate in hands-on tzedaka, an approach which will be integrated into our high school curriculum.  Rabbi Jensen has been successfully teaching at SRJC for the past two years.

In order to allow our students an opportunity to learn with both Rabbi Jensen and Rabbi Rachel, we have divided the curriculum into three parts:  Jewish history/Israel education, the Whys of Judaism, and Chesed. While one class experiences an eight-week unit with Rabbi Jensen, the other will be exploring a subject with Rabbi Rachel.  Intermittently, students will participate in hands-on Chesed projects as a combined group.  This model should maximize the learning opportunities of students. Classes will be held on Monday evenings from 6:15 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.  Each week, a different dinner will be provided for our students.  Please see an attached sheet regarding precisely what our curriculum will entail. 

We would also like to take this opportunity to invite our prospective students to attend two “Dinner and Shmooz” dates in order to gain a better understanding of what our program will be like.  These gatherings will be held on October 5, 2009 from 6:15 pm until 8 pm and on October 19, 2009 from 6:15 pm until 8 pm.  This will serve as an excellent opportunity for our students to test out our program before signing up for it.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Ronit Azulay           Rabbi Shalom Jensen             Rabbi Rachel Larken