Your Jewish home west of Toronto is also a great place to get a Jewish education. Our Hebrew school, Bet Sefer Solel is an innovative and widely recognized school for kids from JK all the way up through Bar/Bat Mitzvah and on through Grade 10.

Our school is caring, fun and dynamic and our staff are all members of our own community! Parents, grandparents and older teenagers teach, tutor, sing and play with students, making for a caring, fun and fulfilling Hebrew School experience.
For adults we offer many great ways to meet and learn together with friends, including Torah studies, Lunch & Learn sessions, Jewish Information Class, and many other courses and informal opportunities to connect with your extended Jewish family. Everyone is always welcome, not a member? We can’t wait to meet you. Not Jewish? Come and let’s learn from each other.

Want to know more about our educational programs, including:

Hebrew School Bar/Bat Mitzvah Preparation Confirmation Class (Kallah) Adult Education Jewish Information Class

Call or email our Director of Education, Arliene Botnick, she’ll be happy to talk to you about how Solel can help you to deepen or even to discover your Jewishness through study and fellowship.

Hebrew School

Bet Sefer Solel our Hebrew school for kids is innovative and renowned. Parents, grand parents and older siblings teach our classes in Hebrew language and Judaica. We start with kids Junior Kindergarten age and teach up through Bar/Bat Mitzvah age, all the way to Grade 10 (Kallah).


Bar/Bat Mitzvah Preparation

Preparing for ritual adulthood in the Jewish community is an important, fulfilling and sometimes a daunting task. Each Bet Sefer Solel student preparing for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah works with a tutor who is an expert in chanting Torah trope. Students also spend time with our Rabbi to ensure that their experience is meaningful and joyous. By their Bar or Bat Mitzvah day, our students are able to lead the service with the Rabbi, to give their D’var Torah and to confirm their pride in their Jewish identity.

We have helpful resources for Bet Sefer Solel students studying for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah.


Confirmation Class (Kallah)

Most of the kids who attend Bet Sefer Solel and have their Bar or Bat Mitzvah with us stay with us for our Kallah program, which goes until Grade 10. The Kallah program gives young people a chance to grow in their Judaism and to explore deeper and more complicated issues with their peers and with experienced adults, including our Rabbi. Grade 9 and 10 students volunteer in Bet Sefer Solel to help younger students with their Bar/Bat Mitzvah studies or act as peer teachers.

The Kallah program is a way to explore the importance of Jewish faith, values and precepts in the everyday, modern lives of young adults. Highlights of the Grade 10 (Kallah) year include a retreat at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and a graduation service, led by the Kallah class themselves.


Adult Education

There are many, many opportunities for lifelong Jewish learning at Solel. Throughout the year you can join with other curious adults and partake in:

  • Adult Torah Study with Rabbi Pollack
  • The Home We Build Together – a course for the parents of Bet Sefer Solel students
  • Hebrew for Adults
  • Lunch & Learn
  • Movie & Discussion Nights
  • Arliene’s Book Club
  • Doing Jewish with Director of Education, Arliene Botnick
  • Bet Midrash Solel with Rabbi Emeritus Larry Englander


Love Your Neighbour
Selected Sundays in March, April and May. 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Hybrid: Join us in-person at Solel or via Zoom
BYOL (bring your own lunch)

  • 3 March, 2024
  • 7 April, 2024
  • 21 April, 2024
  • 28 April, 2024
  • 12 May, 2024

What does it mean to love our neighbour, especially in these challenging times when it seems that some of our neighbours may not love us? In the Torah, the commandment to love is immediately preceded by prohibitions against taking revenge and bearing a grudge. We will explore texts that relate to this mitzvah: Who is our neighbour? How do we fulfill this mitzvah/commandment/commitment? How do we practice kindness towards others, and what do we do when others are unkind or intolerant of us? How/when should we offer support in the form of offering advice, support, and tzedakah to others? How do we work towards peace with our neighbour, and when does self-defense become necessary.

Bet Midrash Solel: Religious Zionism – The Blurred Border Between Religion and Politics
Lead by Solel’s Rabbi Emeritus Larry Englander. Sundays 10am to 11am via Zoom. More details to follow.

  • 26 May, 2024
  • 2 June, 2024
  • 9 June, 2024
  • 16 June, 2024
  • 23 June, 2024


Doing Jewish
This fascinating course is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to learn more about Judaism; led by our Director of Education, Arliene Botnick. Meeting the following Wednesdays in October and in May, 2024 at Solel. A number of handouts for various topics will be provided. You may also wish to purchase these optional texts: Living a Jewish Life (Diamond & Cooper) and The Jewish Home (Syme). Each week’s study is independent and you can come for any or all of the sessions.

Dates and topics include:
– 11 October, 2023: Our Calendar and High Holidays
– 18 October, 2023: Our Texts: Torah, Mishnah, Gemara, Talmud and Midrash
– 25 October, 2023: Jewish Lifecycles: Birth to Marriage
– 8 May, 2024: The Hows and Whys of the Shalosh Regalim (Three Pilgrimage Festivals)
– 15 May, 2024: Shabbat and Service Choreography
– 22 May, 2024: The “Yom” Occasions as well as a brief discussion of death and mourning

Please contact the Solel office to register. No cost for Solel members, non-members very welcome, $10 per session per person.
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For details of the schedule of adult education opportunities, check our events and calendar pages.


Jewish Information Class (JIC)

Do you, or do you have a partner who wants more information about Judaism, perhaps with the intention of converting? Over the course of 30 weeks, the JIC class meets and we study together a wide range of topics that cover our history, our holidays, customs, symbols and life cycle events and beginning Hebrew. The JIC is great for anyone who wants to know more about Judaism, whether you’re Jewish or perhaps thinking about becoming Jewish. If you’d like to know more about the JIC, please call Arliene or the Rabbi at Solel.