Jewish Teen Initiative’s signature Peer Leadership Fellows program trains and empowers teens to be communal connectors. Fellows reimagine how they can develop meaningful relationships with their peers, connecting those peers to the vast menu of opportunities available to Jewish teens in their community and beyond. Fellows meet monthly (in real life and virtually), building a team of leaders [...]
In March, 36 African-American and Jewish teens from Chicago traveled together to the nation's South on a bus trip called "Let's Get Together: An Interfaith Journey Toward Justice." What follows are reflections from an African-American student on the trip, as part of the Springboard school break program, a community initiative created wiith the support of JUF, the Jim Joseph [...]
First cohort of teen engagement professionals will build skills around new outcome–driven approach (NEW YORK) – The Jewish Education Project has announced the inaugural cohort of the Generation Now Fellowship, the first comprehensive fellowship to provide professional growth and leadership development for senior educators in the field of Jewish teen engagement. Following a highly selective application process, [...]
By Ed Frim Springtime is the Jewish season of volunteering. Good Deeds Day, Mitzvah Day and other such events offer many annual opportunities to feed the hungry, visit the sick and elderly, help abused animals, clean the environment and more. For example, JServe is a national effort to engage teens, and attempt to teach them about [...]
By Margie Bogdanow Passover is a time for telling and retelling our story. In ways, the story never changes and yet, it is important to continue to tell it, as each time we tell it, we have changed and we view it from a different perspective. This February I had the privilege to spend time at the BBYO [...]
By Rabbi Paul Kipnes and Rabbinic Intern Julie Bressler The Parent-Teen Mental Health and Wellness Summit realized a dream: to transform our synagogue, Congregation Or Ami (Calabasas), into a truly safe place for teens, their unique emotional journeys, and the parents who love but are unsure of how to protect them. It’s one thing to dream [...]
By Sara Allen In the challenging world of heated political rhetoric, gun violence, and #MeToo, examples abound of teens finding and using their voices. For organizations devoted to Jewish teen engagement, empowering teens to authentically shape their own experiences is an important way to increase relevancy and meaning for teens seeking to create change for themselves, and in [...]
[This essay is from Contact, a publication of The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life. Reprinted with permission.] By Ayalon Eliach Wen I told people that I had accepted a position as the rabbinic counselor for a summer internship program in which teenagers volunteered to visit the elderly, I was met with incredulity. The shock was not that [...]
The multi-faceted Denver/Boulder Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Initiative(Initiative) is involving more teens in Jewish life, offering them new programs they find relevant, and helping them develop leadership skills – says a new evaluation on the Initiative. The Initiative, funded by Rose Community Foundation, with additional funding from the Jim Joseph Foundation and other donors, supports the expansion of innovative [...]
Significant investment from the Jim Joseph Foundation will increase opportunities to engage teens in Jewish experiences during formative years San Francisco, CA – The Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties (the Federation) is pleased to announce the launch of its Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Initiative. This major five-year, $7.6 million endeavor [...]
