WJW Staff

Looking for a nontraditional Jewish Sunday school for your children or grandchildren in upper Montgomery County? The Country Cheder, at the Am Kolel Sanctuary and Renewal Center in Beallsville, might be just what you are seeking.

Hilde Alter's desire to provide an alternative Jewish education for her grandchildren, Jess and Jake Foster, who have a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, drove her to push Rabbi David Shneyer to start the Sunday school.

"I wanted to provide any Jewish education for my grandchildren, but from my daughter's perspective, it had to be more engaging than the Hebrew school that she went to," Alter says.

Her daughter and the mother of Jess, 7, and Jake, 6, Melissa Foster, says she is "thrilled" by the new school. She has looked for six years for a school like this one, which will be "hands-on, learning through arts and crafts and music and really building a community."

"It's not all going to be only academic, it's going to be fun," she says.

Alter had the inside track for her lobbying, the Rockville resident explains. She has known the rabbi for years, plus her daughter was the real estate agent who sold Shneyer the property for Am Kolel.

Her effort has borne fruit with the Country Cheder due to open in September.

But, this Sunday school, which is slated to be in operation 4-6 p.m., will not be run according to the drop-the-kids-off-and-pick-them-up-later model, explains Mat Tonti, educator and camp director at Am Kolel and co-director of the new school.

"That hasn't worked because the kids would learn in a vacuum without the parents having invested themselves and making learning a part of their family culture," he says.

At the Country Cheder, parents will take part in a "parallel education" program. Part of the time, the parents and their kids will learn separately, at other times, together.

But that's not all that is different about the school.

Tonti believes it should appeal to people who are either turned off by the organized Jewish community or who haven't found their place in it yet.

That might include children from intermarried relationships and people who want something "more funky" in their kids' Jewish education.

"The sanctuary is out in the country with a huge garden and woods and a cozy house," Tonti says. "So, it's not a big, ornate synagogue, and will have an intimate feel."

With his own background in environmental and experiential education with Jewish kids, he says that there's going to be a heavy dose of arts, music and storytelling ‹ in addition to getting the kids to be able to read basic Hebrew.

He also hopes "to use the land as a teaching tool" in "nature-ecostudies."

"Judaism is land-based," Tonti explains, noting that many holidays are linked to agricultural seasons and harvests, in which first fruits were brought to the Temple.

"Maybe we can work in the garden, and we will have something to bring in for Sukkot," he says.

The educator will use objects in nature to talk about Jewish ritual. For instance, he foresees bringing in a grape vine, allowing the students to handle it and discussing its connection to Judaism.

"That would become a catalyst for discussing wine and why we use it in Jewish rituals," he says.

In addition, he wants the children to understand that one of the first mitzvot was to work the land and protect it.

He wants them to ask if now we are really protecting the land.

This is asking "an environmental question through a Jewish lens," he says.

Wanting to start with kindergarten through third grade, Tonti is aiming for a minimum enrollment of 10 kids for the Sunday school. The fee has yet to be determined.