Front row, from left, are Cantor Rebecca Moses; South Orange students Maya Goldner, Sophie Alvarez and Samantha Lu; Tyler Platt of Millburn; Noah Jaffe of Short Hills; and Ian Lowenthal from Maplewood. Second row, from left, are Cantor Joan Finn; Maplewood students Aran Wollard, Maya Cherins, Izzy Cotenoff and Marlo Rimalovski; Rachel Horwitz of Millburn; Seth Gordon of Maplewood; and Rabbi Alexandra Klein. Third row, from left, are Lauren Yelner and Lexie Fox of South Orange. And back row, from left, are Ethan Bernstein of Millburn; Ben Olender, Ben Mintz and Ben Rothstein of South Orange; Jay Ascher of Maplewood; and Rabbi Daniel Cohen.
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Nineteen students representing this year’s confirmation class at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel led the Friday night service and shared what the Ten Commandments mean to them at a Shabbat service marking their confirmation on June 10. The students incorporated readings, music, prayers and teachings into the confirmation service, which, following the tradition of Reform Judaism, is held around the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The holiday, which started the next evening, celebrates the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The confirmands had spent the year learning about the Ten Commandments in their original context and with modern interpretation. During the service, the students read the statements from the Torah scroll and offered their own interpretations of them. Each student also offered theological statements about their beliefs at this point in their individual Jewish journeys. The curriculum in TSTI’s Hebrew High School program, which is offered through grade 12, includes explorations into concepts of God, ethics and how to apply Jewish values into everyday life.
Confirmation marks the culmination of studies through the 10th grade; many of TSTI’s confirmands continue attending Hebrew High through the 12th grade, in order to delve more deeply into aspects of modern Jewish life with TSTI’s clergy and teachers. Many students are also active in STISY, the synagogue’s youth group.
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