Sholem Community

Sholem Sunday School
2023-02-12 10:00 - 12:30, 2023-01-29 10:00 - 12:30, 2023-01-22 10:00 - 12:30, 2022-12-11 10:00 - 12:30, 2022-12-04 10:00 - 12:30, 2022-11-20 10:00 - 12:30, 2022-11-13 10:00 - 12:30, 2022-11-06 10:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) and 3 more dates
Sholem Sunday School
Meets on the campus of:
Short Avenue Elementary School
12814 Maxella Ave
Los Angeles, CA 9006
ALEF/BEYS (preK-2nd), GIML (3rd/4th), DALED (5th/6th), and HEY (7th/8th) classes meet 10am – 12:30pm
VOV (9th-12th) class meets 11:15am – 1:30pm
All prospective families are welcome to come check out a class.
We offer rolling admissions.
Click here for more information about our school
Contact our principal Ross Helford ross@sholem.org, so he may plan to greet you.

Tu BiShvat (at Sunday school)
2023-02-05 10:00 - 12:30

Tu Bishvat assembly (noon)
2023-02-05

MLK Day (at Sunday school)
2023-01-15 10:00 - 12:30
THIS SUNDAY we commemorate a holiday Hershl Hartman, our Education Director, is fond of saying is as important a Jewish holiday as anything else on the calendar: Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Adults are warmly invited to join our students in the outside gathering area at noon for a Civil Rights songs hootenanny/singalong.
We will also be listening to audio clips of some heroes of the Civil Rights movement, as well as exploring the strong Jewish involvement in the movement, why the specificity of Jewish history gives us as Jews a strong moral calling to support the civil rights of ALL PEOPLE, and to fight the scourge of racism with the totality of our beings.

Sunday, January 15
10:00am Bagels & Coffee
10:20am Classes (students)
+ schmoozing (adults)
12:00pm Assembly & Singalong
Sholem Sunday School
Meets on the campus of:
Short Avenue Elementary School
12814 Maxella Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066
All prospective families are welcome to come check out a class.
We offer rolling admissions.
Click here for more information about our school
Contact our principal Ross Helford ross@sholem.org, so he may plan to greet you.

MLK Day Assembly & Singalong (noon)
2023-01-15

Classes resume (Sunday school)
2023-01-08

No Sunday school (Winter break)
2022-12-25 - 2023-01-01, 2022-12-18

Hanuka/Khanike Assembly & Carnival (11:30am)
2022-12-11 11:30 - 13:00
Sholem’s celebration recognizes the roots of Hanukkah as a winter solstice festival. We celebrate Hanukkah in honor of the Maccabees and a freedom struggle for an oppressed people. We also seek our own meaningful ways of observing the “Jewish Festival of Lights” – celebrating the uniqueness of our Jewish identity and our interconnectivity with all humans (at this time when so many cultures light lights in the darkest of winter.)
10:00 a.m. Students to their Classes
Bagels & Coffee available for Adults
11:00 a.m. Hankuka/Khanike Assembly
(approximately 30-40 min)
11:30/11::45 a.m. Carnival
games, craft, dreydl and othter activities
led by staff from Camp Gilboa
12:30-1:00 p.m. Wrap up
Belfer following candle dedication at Hanuka Assembly 2019 [photo by Regan Kibbee]

No Sunday school (Thanksgiving)
2022-11-27

OPEN HOUSE (10am Bagels & Coffee, 10:30 Program)
2022-11-13
Our School Principal, Ross Helford, will lead a discussion with current and prospective families about the importance, urgency, and value of a secular Jewish education – including its history and what it is today. We will also have an overview of our school, curriculum, didactic approach, bmitsve program*, teen/belfer program, and our multigenerational community offerings.
Sholem Open House
Sunday, November 13
10:00 a.m. Bagels, Juice & Coffee
10:30-11:30 a.m. Program
(Linger afterwards for further schmoozing.)
Help spread the word. Invite friends.
All are welcome!
Questions: ross@sholem.org
* While the adults are engaged with the Open house, Sholem dad (and former student/barmitsve) David Goldberg will be meeting with our Hey class. The students will consider which pressing societal needs most capture their attention and decide on one for their bmitsve social action project.
[Image from the Peretz Centre for Jewish Culture]

Mindful Awareness: Practices for Daily Living (10:30am)
2022-11-06
Marilyn McLaughlin, parent of two Sholem school graduates, returns to share a unique approach to mindfulness that is both quiet and interactive, in stillness and in motion. Learn a few simple techniques that will nurture connection within and all around. We will calm the mind and inspire the heart.
Bringing your own lawn chair is highly recommended for maximum comfort. Headphones that work with your phone are also suggested.
Bagels & Coffee at 10am
Outdoors at Short Avenue Elementary

Marilyn McLaughlin MFA, RSMT Unified Mindfulness L2 Coach has been an arts and wellness practitioner for 30 years. For more information about her customized multidisciplinary wellness programs for individuals and groups, visit: allbodiesmove.com.

CA Ballot Measures Forum w/ Mona Field, LWV
2022-10-16 10:30 - 23:59 | Short Avenue Elementary School, 12814 Maxella Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90066, United States
Abortion, gambling, and electric cars: Are you ready to vote on these and more issues?

Participants are welcome to bring their sample ballots, political junk mail, thoughts and questions so we may analyze these things together.
Led by Mona Field, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Co-President of the Board of the League of Women Voters. Mona literally wrote the textbook on California politics, California Government and Politics Today, now in its 15th edition.
Come at 10am for bagels & coffee
Program 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

FREE to Attend – All are welcome!
In person OUTDOORS at Short Avenue Elementary School
This will be a nonpartisan conversation – NOT focused on either party’s primary, not about the candidates but rather about the ballot measures.

Sukkot (at Sunday school)
2022-10-09 10:00 - 12:30

Yom Kippur / Yonkiper in the Park
2022-10-05 11:00 - 13:00 | Clover Park, 2600 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90405, United States
Join us at the park for a discussion of ethics in our daily lives.
FREE and family-friendly!
Donations welcome – suggested contribution $5-10 per adult.
Clover Park, BBQ Group Area 1 – location to be confirmed.
2600 Ocean Park Blvd. Santa Monica, 90405
(Shaded picnic area just west of the parking lot)
Feel free to bring a chair or two.
(There is limited seating at the park’s picnic tables.)
ATTENTION: Signs in parking lot indicate parking is limited to 2 hours.
Plan to arrive at 11 a.m. and be seated; Program will begin at 11:15 a.m.
For more information, write to info@sholem.org.

Kol Nidre / Erev Yom Kippur
2022-10-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Morgan-Wixson Theater, 2627 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA, 90405, United States
Kol Nidre, the evening that initiates Yom Kippur, is a highlight of the Sholem calendar. Informed by Jewish traditions in music and in spoken word, we reflect on our lives and the state of the world through a humanistic and progressive prism. A moving opportunity to renew ourselves for the upcoming year; to grieve our losses and enable our hopes.
Yizker (or Yisker, as we have usually spelled it) is the Hebrew word for ‘remembrance’. In Ashkenazic congregations, it is a prayer for the departed, especially close relatives. At Sholem, we have adapted the custom to include the reading out loud of the names of those loved ones and public figures who have died since last Yom Kippur. There is no fee charged for this honor.
The In Memoriam section offers the opportunity to list the names of any departed family members and friends in the printed program. There is a nominal fee charged. These names are not read out loud during Kol Nidre.

Doors Open 6:30 p.m.
Program 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Secular Observance, In-Person, Indoors
*Please plan to wear a mask*
Recommended for adults and mature teens
(Childcare will not be offered this year)
Parking Info: Convenient free parking is available at the Venice Family Clinic located at 2509 Pico Boulevard – just one block west of the theatre. Street parking is also available. Meters are free after 6pm Monday – Saturday and free on Sundays and strictly enforced. Do not park at the SGI Buddhist Center, The HAUS Santa Monica, Car Nerds or neighboring strip malls.
To purchase tickets:
SPACE IS LIMITED but there will be tickets available at the theater
Presale ticket sales have ended. Click link to purchase tickets when at the door:
Click here for Kol Nidre 2022 Tickets at the door only
NOTE: No one is turned away due to lack of funds. For more info, contact regan@sholem.org.

Sholem Sunday School
2022-10-02 10:00 - 12:30
Sholem Sunday School
Meets on the campus of:
Short Avenue Elementary School
12814 Maxella Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066
ALEF/BEYS (preK-2nd), GIML (3rd/4th), DALED (5th/6th), and HEY (7th/8th) classes meet 10am – 12:30pm
VOV (9th-12th) class meets 11:15am – 1:30pm
All prospective families are welcome to come check out a class.
We offer rolling admissions.
Click here for more information about our school
Contact our principal Ross Helford ross@sholem.org, so he may plan to greet you.

Rosh Hashanah / Rosheshone in the Park
2022-09-26 11:00 - 13:00 | Clover Park, 2600 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90405, United States
Welcome the Jewish New Year with stirring readings, literature, and poetry based in our Jewish heritage and our secular, progressive values.
Bring a picnic for your family and, if you like, a dessert to share for lunch following the program.
We will provide challah, apples and honey (or B.Y.O.)
FREE and family-friendly!
Donations welcome – suggested contribution $10 per adult.
Clover Park, BBQ Group Area 1
2600 Ocean Park Blvd. Santa Monica, 90405
(Shaded picnic area just west of the parking lot)
Feel free to bring a chair or two.
(There is limited seating at the park’s picnic tables.)
ATTENTION: Signs in parking lot indicate parking is limited to 2 hours.
Plan to arrive at 11 a.m. and be seated; Program will begin at 11:15 a.m.
For more information, write to info@sholem.org.

Sholem Sunday School (2nd day)
2022-09-25 10:00 - 12:30

Sholem Sunday School - 1st Day of 2022-2023 (at Stoneview Nature Center)
2022-09-18 10:00 - 12:30 | Stoneview Nature Center, 5950 Stoneview Drive, Culver City, CA, 90232
After a one-week delay due to the LAUSD hack prohibited us from returning, we are excited we WILL be starting the 2022-23 school year Sunday, Sept 18th. Instead of Short Elementary School, will be meet at our home away from home over the last few years:
Stoneview Nature Center

Stoneview is located on the west side of La Cienega opposite Kenneth Hahn Park. It is a lovely, open, peaceful space. There is ample parking. Once the main lot gets filled, they have more parking in an unpaved lot that’s off to the right as you enter. Here is the address:

Stoneview Nature Center
5950 Stoneview Dr,
Culver City, CA 90232

We will begin gathering at 10AM, and will have ample bagels and coffee (and probably some juice too). Around 10:20, we will have a morning assembly, learn a little about the Jewish new year, hear the shofar/shoyfer, then meet our classes.

Classes will end between 12:15-12:30.

Parents are welcome to stay, and especially parents of new students, please do! Stoneview is a beautiful place to spend a morning, and be in community.

Parents who are dropping off, there will be a sign out sheet.

As of now, the forecast is high in the mid-70s with a 30% chance of rain. We will take those odds, but kids should make sure to have hats, wear sunscreen, and bring water.

Any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to respond to this email. Very much looking forward to a good turnout on our first day of the Sholem school year this Sunday at Stoneview!

A gut yor,

Ross Helford
Sholem principal
rosshelford@gmail.com

Click here for more information about our school
