History of Tri-Valley/Tri-Cities Midrasha

What is Midrasha?

Midrasha is a Jewish community high school program in which students from many congregations come together to learn. The word Midrasha is based on the term “beit midrash” (literally, “house of study”).

The Tri-Valley/Tri-Cities Midrasha is one of four East Bay supplementary Jewish high schools that operate as part of the Midrasha consortium. The schools are located in Berkeley, Oakland, Walnut Creek and Pleasanton.

The primary focus of Midrasha is the formation of a community of Jewish teens and the nurturing of their intellectual, social, cultural and spiritual growth. Midrasha welcomes teens from all the major Jewish movements in the region as well as unaffiliated students.

The Midrasha classroom curriculum and retreat programs promote the Jewish values of Torah (study), Avodah (worship and service), and Gemilut Chasadim (acts of loving kindness), as well as a connection to the land and people of Israel. The Midrasha faculty and student leaders serve as positive role models: young adults with strong Jewish identities who effectively integrate Judaism into their secular world and demonstrate a commitment to Jewish learning and the Jewish people.

The Beginnings of Midrasha
in the Tri-Valley/Tri-Cities Region

In 1982, students from Congregation Beth Emek (then located in Livermore) began traveling to Fremont to participate in a Jewish educational program for teens. Ten years later, Temple Beth Torah and Congregation Beth Emek became co-sponsors of a program that was incorporated as Midrasha at Fremont Jewish Community High School. In recent years, the program has expanded to include students from Congregation Shir Ami (Castro Valley) and beyond, and is now known as the Tri-Valley/Tri-Cities (TV/TC) Midrasha. Our Midrasha program has served hundreds of teens in the community — both affiliated and unaffiliated — in its nearly 30-year history.

TV/TC Midrasha has a long-time association with the Center for Jewish Living and Learning of the Jewish Federation of the East Bay and is a beneficiary of both the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation.

TV/TC Midrasha Admissions Policy

Tri-Valley/Tri-Cities Midrasha admits students without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity; and welcomes their participation in all programs and activities generally made available to students at the school. This policy does not affect the school’s mission of providing a Jewish religious education to its students.