Temple B'nai Torah Offers Special Needs Program for Children

Religious School in Wantagh is one of the only Union for Reform Judaism Hebrew schools to offer a program for children with special needs.

Susanna E. Heiman, who served as the school’s director of education for 23 years, started the special needs class about 25 years ago.

“Susanna was a compassionate and forward thinking educator,” said Rabbi Deanna Pasternak, the school’s current director of education. “She recognized the need for inclusion of children with special needs within a religious school setting that would offer them and their families a Jewish experience that would include a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, if possible.”

The children attend a separate special needs class called the SU class(special ungraded) They are taught by teachers with special education degrees about their Jewish heritage through an emphasis on experiential learning. Subjects of study include Jewish holidays, Shabbat, Bible stories, Jewish values and ethics, Israel and Hebrew words.

“I believe that every Jewish child is entitled to learn about their heritage and is an integral part of the Jewish community,” said Pasternak. “This program provides an opportunity for children with special needs to have that experience within their own individual learning needs in a contained classroom setting.”

While the children attend a separate special needs class, they are mainstreamed by participating in the children’s prayer service on Sunday mornings, the music program with the cantor, Shabbat and holiday services, assemblies throughout the year and the family program held on the last day of school each year.

Special needs students can start as young as second grade and attend classes up to and including Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation.

Families do not have to become temple members to register. The class is open to children whose families belong to other temples, as well as those families who are not currently affiliated with a temple. They pay only the tuition fee.

Two special needs students are currently enrolled in the program. The temple will accept children into this year’s program through October.

“Temple B'nai Torah provides for [special needs] children what I hope it provides for all our students, which is the warmth and comfort that comes from being part of a Jewish community,” said Pasternak.