CJL Youth / Teen Programs

In our two active youth groups, our TINW teens connect to other teens outside of the classroom to socialize, bond, and perform acts of tikkun olam (repairing the world).  Some of our activities have included:

• Apple picking or bowling with the group
• Working to rebuild a home with Habitat for Humanity
• Volunteering at a Soup Kitchen in NYC

Temple Israel Program for Junior (TIPJY) & Senior (TIPSY) Youth

TIPJY: Grades 6 – 8,  TIPSY: Grades 9 - 12

For more information about TIPSY and upcoming events, please contact our TIPSY Advisor Rachel Crouch at rachel.crouch@huc.org

The Shevet Achim program, sponsored by Brotherhood and coordinated with CJL Wednesday sessions, is a fun way for 8th and 9th grade teen guys to get together in a safe space to speak openly about issues they care about and deal with on a regular basis, such as friendship, competition, stress, machismo, and peer pressure.  In the group, guys react to provocative questions and share stories about their own experiences of what it is like to become a man in today's world.

We bond over food, by playing physical games, and by looking deeper into how men / people relate on various levels in competitive and non-competitive ways.  We watch media clips, read short stories and passages from Jewish texts, and talk about how men are portrayed in our society, how to treat girls and women respectfully, and how we can add to our "toolbox" of ways that expand the definition of manhood / peoplehood.  We view these activities and discussions through both a secular and a Jewish lens.

There is so much drop-out from religious life after Bar Mitzvah.  Shevet Achim is a real way to stem that tide and to help our teenage guys to remain engaged.  It is wonderful to watch guys from different towns, schools, and backgrounds bond in a unique way through their time together in this program.  For more information, please contact our Shevet Achim group leader, Steve Samuels.