Venice Yeshiva

The Venice Yeshiva:

Where ‘The Chosen’ Meets ‘Yentl’.

Remember the scene in “The Chosen” when Danny and Reuven debated the impact of Jewish law on their lives? Or the moment that Barbra Streisand revealed she was a girl to Mandy Patankin? No? Well, you will have the opportunity to revisit or visit for the first time these layered moments in Jewish literature and film. The Venice Yeshiva brings the Oral History of Jewish Rabbinic dialectic to life – from the creation of a yeshiva-type environment where your child will be assigned a chevruta (study partner) for the year, to understanding the continued weaving and expanding choir of opinions on Jewish texts. Students emerge with an understanding of Rabbinic Judaism, Codes, Aggadah (storytelling), Midrash and Halacha (Jewish interpretive and legal commentaries on the written law). Layering upon the fact that cinema, television and Hollywood have expanded Jewish culture and ritual into a visual form, students emerge with a sense of a living, relevant and personal relationship to Jewish texts, rituals, storytelling and legal dilemmas.

The Venice Yeshiva also focuses on character building. The origins of social-emotional learning are in Jewish texts (and there are PhDs who have written about this!). Students focus on specific “Becoming a Mensch/Menschette” challenges throughout the year. The fulfillment of the program is a Jewish bookshelf filled with books on topics of Torah, Prayer, History, Mussar, Feminism, Gender, and Legal Torah studies.

For students in 5th and 6th grades (for 5th grade students new to Creative Torah Academy we recommend beginning with Arts 36).

Classes, field trips, shabbats and other happenings for the 2024-25 school year are currently scheduled to take place on the dates listed below. Sunday classes are from 3:00 – 6:00 pm (with dinner!). Currently enrolled families, please refer to the Creative Torah Academy Google calendar which will be updated if any changes are made, and which has more detailed information.

Venice Yeshiva also includes small group Hebrew lessons and access to our online aleph-bet learning platform.

School Fees:

Participation in Creative Torah Academy compliments other offerings in our community and the outcomes impact the whole family. This requires that families become Open Temple Co-Creators before beginning CTA. If our suggested co-creator rates aren’t affordable for your family, please contact us and we will work with you to open up access.

Tuition for 2024-2025 is as follows:

Arts 36 (Kindergarten – 4th grade and 5th graders new to Creative Torah Academy): $1,800

Venice Yeshiva (Returning 5th graders and all 6th graders): $1,800

B Mitzvah (7th grade and up): $6,500 (returning students who have been enrolled in Venice Yeshiva) and $7,700 (students new to Creative Torah Academy). We also offer a Concierge B Mitzvah for those families with students unable to attend regular CTA and B Mitzvah classes.

Register and pay tuition or sign a payment plan by May 31, 2024 and we will waive our 5% processing fee!

Enrollment is now open for Fall 2024/5785. For any questions, please reach out. If you’re ready to sign up or re-enroll: