What is consecration?

Jews have had a commitment to education for thousands of years. As formal Jewish studies begin, young students in our Religious School each fall learn the Shema and are given blessings by their parents and Rabbi during a Friday night Family Service. This is done each year in conjunction with the festival of Sukkot, the last day of which is Simchat Torah (“Joy of Torah”), when we finish our annual cycle of Torah readings and celebrate the privilege of beginning again. Students are blessed on the bimah, and are each given their own miniature Torah.