Teen Education Programs
Ohr Kodesh offers two teen education programs: Tzohar and Teen Beit Midrash, for grades 8-12.
These dynamic programs include the study of original texts, exploration of Jewish traditions, contemporary responses to current issues, and relationship building across the Jewish community.
Registration for the 2025-26/5786 year is live!
Click on "Registration Instructions" below to learn how to register on the OKC website.
Teen Beit Midrash (TBM) is OKC's Thursday night teen education program for students in 8th-12th grades. Teens have the opportunity to connect meaningfully with the Jewish traditions’ texts and concepts, and to develop relationships with Rabbi Corey Helfand and to one another.
Each week, students begin with a provided dinner and check-ins with Rabbi Helfand. Then participants engage in a year-long exploration into the Jewish tradition’s perspective on fundamental personal and ethical issues in society. This year, the students will be discussing "The Most Important Rabbinic Stories Every Jew Should Know. Stories from the Jewish tradition share wisdom and humor from millennia of Jewish culture and text. This year, we will explore these stories together to understand what they mean to us today".
Tzohar is an innovative program that combines classical Jewish education with an introduction to college-level Jewish Studies coursework. Participants in this Sunday evening program experience two distinctive approaches to Jewish Studies, an hour of traditional text study with community rabbis and teachers, and another hour of coursework with faculty members from the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies at University of Maryland. Popular sessions over the past year included presentations on modern Israeli politics, the history of the Hebrew language, and Jewish comedy in America. Tzohar students in grades 9-12 are also eligible to participate in the Hadar Institute’s Moot Beit Din competition.
Eighth to twelfth graders from Montgomery County and Washington DC are welcome to participate in this program, a partnership between Ohr Kodesh Congregation, Ohev Sholom Congregation, Tifereth Israel Congregation, and the University of Maryland. The program meets at Ohr Kodesh on Sunday evenings (5:30-7:45 p.m.) during the school year. Enrollment for the 2025-26 school year is limited to 30 students.
Moot Beit Din 2026
Powered by Hadar and supported by Maimonides Fund, the Moot Beit Din is the premier program for high school students to engage with modern-day ethical questions using Jewish legal wisdom. Students prepare in the months leading up to the competition by developing arguments in response to an ethical case using a sourcebook of curated Jewish texts. At the Shabbaton in New York state, teams present and defend their arguments before a panel of expert judges.
As the reigning champions of our division, we look forward to learning and participating in 2026. Registration and more information will be available in Fall 2025.
