Top 10 Mitzvah Projects Of 2015

From Mitzvah Market

Long after the DJ’s name is forgotten and the imprinted sweatshirts outgrown, a young Jewish adult’s Bar Bat Mitzvah Project should be remembered.

We have profiled nearly 150 various Mitzvah Projects from children all over the country. Hopefully your child can get inspiration from others by reading what they have done.

Here are the 10 most popular Mitzvah Project stories from 2015.

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I'm 13 Years Old and Israel's Chief Rabbi Is Wrong About My School

Amnon Scharia for The Jewish Daily Forward

On December 1, Israeli Minister of Education Naftali Bennett visited my school, Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan (SSSM). During his visit, me and a couple of other fortunate middle-schoolers got to meet with him and ask him a couple of questions. Minister Bennett was very interested to learn about how our school teaches Judaism. Shortly after that he joined us for shira be’tzibur (sing-along), a gathering of the whole school once a month and on special occasions in which we come together and sing Hebrew songs as a community. Later that day Minister Bennett tweeted: “Meeting with the pupils of the wonderful Conservative school ‘Solomon Schechter’ in New York. So much love of Israel and so much love of Judaism.”

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Funny Girls

by: Sammy Stolzenbach for Fresh Ink for Teens

The zany stars of ‘Broad City’ taught me that being Jewish is no big deal.

Growing up in a tight-knit, supportive Jewish community, I seldom felt like part of an endangered minority. Despite constant reminders and awareness of the plight of the Jewish people — increasing rates of conversion, conflicts in Israel and the general threat of anti-Semitism — my life as a Jew has been a comfortable one. But the blessing of a secure community has always come with a catch; an ominous warning whispered by adults that the “real world” would not be the same.

As my time to leave the community for college draws close, I’ve felt as if I was being prepared for battle. Years of sitting through advocacy seminars and guest speeches on anti-Semitism on college campuses have made it abundantly clear that our weapon of choice should be knowledge. We can shield ourselves with facts; we can pierce the fallacies thrown at us with statistics. Objective truth will be our Iron Dome.

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‘Train’ Follows Its Own Track

by: Avigial Albert for Fresh Ink for Teens

Teens take center stage in this riveting Holocaust novel by Danny M. Cohen

There are many forgotten people scattered over the pages of history, and it’s a great privilege to hear from them like we do in “Train,” a novel by Danny M. Cohen published in January. The story is set over a 10-day span in 1943 Germany, and it chronicles the efforts of six teens — Marko, Tsura, Kizzy, Alex, Ruti and Elise — to escape and keep each other safe from the Nazi round-ups bursting almost spontaneously into existence all around them.

To tell the truth, in the beginning I was totally bewildered, mostly because the book's point of view switches between all those different characters.  It took a while to settle into the natural rhythm of the book, but once I did — well, I won't say I enjoyed it, because the Holocaust isn't an enjoyable theme — the story was just plain fascinating. The various plotlines began to make sense and the characters managed to separate themselves from the vague, overwhelming tangle of personas a reader often encounters at the beginning of a book.

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For Jewish Students, Field Trip Is Window on Death and Dying

By Samuel G. Freedman for the New York Times

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Two yellow buses pulled away from Yeshiva High School here with a couple of class periods still left and the 77 seniors aboard giddy with the words “field trip.” They texted. They posed for selfies. They sent up clouds of chatter about weekend plans.

Then, less than a half-hour later, they walked into a cool, tiled room at the Gutterman Warheit Memorial Chapel and stared at the pine coffins and the inclined metal table used for cleaning a corpse.

“I thought I was cool about death,” one girl whispered to a classmate. “But this ——”

“This” meant more than the contents of the room, which is used at the Jewish funeral home for the body-washing ritual called tahara. It connoted the entire mini-course that she, along with the rest of Yeshiva High School’s graduating class, is taking about the Judaic practices and traditions surrounding death, dying and grief.

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Alternative Winter Break 2015

A Service Program from Young Judaea

GENERAL INFO, REGISTRATION, COSTS & SUBSIDIES

What is AWB?

AWB is a dynamic service-learning program that promotes social responsibility, volunteerism and the Jewish value of Tikun Olam (repairing the world). AWB takes participants to a community in need to engage in intensive volunteering. Participants can expect to spend 20-25 volunteer hours, which can vary from working at an elderly center to helping do light construction. AWB participants will also take part in an evening program each night to give a proper Jewish context to their experience or to better understand the community in which they are working, as well as have fun!

Where is AWB going this year?

*  New Orleans, where participants will take part in the continued rebuilding effort since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and;

* Los Angeles, where participants will tackle issues of poverty and homelessness

What is the cost of AWB and what am I paying for?

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Nominations sought for Diller Teen Awards

By Randall P. Lieberman for The Sun Sentinal

National call for nominations for Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, which deadlines Dec. 1

The California-based Helen Diller Family Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2016 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards — a program that recognizes and empowers up to 15 Jewish teens annually with $36,000 each to be used in support of a social justice project or to further their education.

This national call for nominations presents an opportunity for educators, civic leaders and teen mentors in communities across the United States to acknowledge Jewish teens whose thoughtful approach to making a difference is creating meaningful change in their communities and the world around them.

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Her Judaism Makes A Big Bang

by: Naomi Gluck for Fresh Ink for Teens

Mayim Bialik inspired me to question my religion while retaining my faith.

Editor’s Note: Naomi Gluck was a finalist in The Norman E. Alexander Award for Excellence in Jewish Student Writing. The national contest sought essays on a Jewish American who has made a significant impact in the field of television, film, music or theater. Writers were asked to identify the person’s lasting legacy on them or on American culture. The contest was sponsored by the Jewish-American Hall of Fame and The Jewish Week Media Group.

In May my rabbi announced that our shul was hiring a female clergy member. As a femi-nist, I was excited about this announcement. Then came the catch: instead of being called rabbi, she would be called “morateinu,” our teacher. It is a lovely title, but it leaves me with a knot in my stomach — it is unfair that she cannot be called “rabbi.”

I love parts of Modern Orthodoxy; I love walking into the main sanctuary and hearing everybody singing the same prayers that our ancestors sang. I love the close community that supports its members through good and bad times. I love working in the childcare program and fostering a love for Judaism in the children in my group.

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Orthodox boy is breakout star of Oprah’s new TV show ‘Belief’

By Gabe Friedman for JTA.org

Orthodox Jewish boys from Hungary are not typically a hot topic on Twitter.

But after the Sunday night premiere of Oprah Winfrey’s “Belief,” a seven-part documentary series exploring various faiths around the world, the Internet is enamored with Mendel Hurwitz, one of the show’s first subjects.

Hurwitz, now 15, hails from Budapest, where the show followed him as he prepared for his bar mitzvah. Over the course of the episode, Hurwitz displays precocious wisdom and a lovable sense of humor that endeared him to many fans.

In fact, Hurwitz was the only subject whose story Oprah herself tweeted about after the premiere.

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Israeli school builds cool classroom for ADHD teens

Bouncy chairs, distraction-free décor, walled-off workstations, desks on wheels and a living green wall provide a winning educational environment.

By Abigail Klein Leichman for Israel21c

Imagine the perfect classroom for kids with attention and learning disorders: bouncy chairs made from yoga balls, distraction-free décor, walled-off study/tutoring cubicles, desks on wheels and a touch of the outdoors.

Only there’s no need to imagine it. The unique “Yes I Can!” classroom at Darca High School in Kiryat Malachi opened this school year. And if it proves to be a good working model, the Darca network will implement this totally Israeli innovation in its other 24 high schools serving the socio-economic periphery of Israel.

“The students already report that it is much easier for them to study and concentrate in the new classroom, thanks to the clean design – no notice boards, posters, accessories, decorations etc., as in a regular classroom,” principal Michal Hazan tells ISRAEL21c.

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5 Tips for an Awesome Bar/Bat Mitzvah–From a Teen Who’s Been There

Hannah Elbaum for Kveller

In my synagogue, each young woman and man has an opportunity to write their own prayer as part of their b’nei mitzvah service. Most of my friends spoke about health and happiness, and their passions for soccer, drawing, or seeing their friends. After thanking God for my family, I talked about becoming a Madricha, a teaching assistant in the Hebrew School, and a member of the youth group board.

I understand that I’m a little strange in this sense.

Usually, parents beg and nag their kids to attend a Jewish learning class, not the other way around—especially around the time of bar and bat mitzvahs. As a current freshman in college who’s done just about every program my local Jewish community has to offer, I know a little bit about what works and what doesn’t in engaging kids and teens in meaningful Jewish practice. Here are five tips to helping you and your child create a bar or bat mitzvah experience filled with meaning and connection.

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Sippur, the first Jewish online literary journal for teens

Sippur, the first Jewish online literary journal for teens, provides teenagers with the opportunity to create and publish high-level creative writing and art relating to Jewish themes.
Call for Submissions:


Sippur is currently accepting submissions for the Winter 2015 issue. The theme for the upcoming issue is Bravery. We welcome any form of Jewish fiction, poetry, or art that relates to  this theme. We can't wait to view your work!
All work is due by November 18th.

INTERESTED IN PUBLISHING YOUR WORK?

SIGN UP FOR SIPPUR'S MONTHLY EMAIL PROMPTS!

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Jewish Teen Funders Network

The Jewish Teen Funders Network (JTFN) serves as a central resource for the quickly growing field of Jewish teen philanthropy. We work to grow and strengthen the field of Jewish teen philanthropy in North America.

We support professional and lay leaders to create and improve Jewish teen philanthropy programs in synagogues, Jewish federations, summer camps, JCCs, Jewish community foundations, social service agencies and day schools. We provide training and networking opportunities, educational and programmatic resources, and one-on-one consultations to help troubleshoot challenges or brainstorm new ideas.

Jewish teen philanthropy programs introduce teens to collective grantmaking. This group process is guided by Jewish values and provides teen philanthropists-in-training with opportunities to gain new leadership skills. We believe that this early experience with strategic philanthropy will both strengthen their engagement with Jewish life and ensure their commitment to lifelong giving based on Jewish values.

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Why Sandy Koufax sitting out a World Series game still matters 50 years later

By Hillel Kuttler for JTA

Jesse Agler was pretty talented as a catcher and pitcher in Little League, yet his parents benched him regularly.

That’s because the Aglers had a no-baseball-on-Shabbat rule, one cloaked in sports royalty.

“It was a source of frustration as a kid, but I appreciated later what they tried to do,” said Agler, a 33-year-old radio broadcaster for the San Diego Padres who grew up in South Florida. “It goes back to Koufax making the point about that day, that it’s not for baseball.”

Agler was referring to the decision by Sandy Koufax, the star pitcher of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to sit out Game 1 of the 1965 World Series against the Minnesota Twins because it fell on Yom Kippur. Koufax instead started Game 2 the next afternoon. The Dodgers lost both days, but won the championship in seven games.

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The High Holidays are upon us, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

Doctor's Orders Tips to Help Your Teens Through a Healthy Yom Kippur Fast

Here are 11 dos and don'ts your teenagers should follow if they are planning to observe this High Holy Day.

Maya Leventer-Roberts for Haaretz
Will your teenagers be fasting this year on Yom Kippur? While teens tend to be more physically resilient than adults in many ways, there are several major reasons why it could be risky for them to fast.

First, teenagers are less likely to be cautious or to listen to their body. Second, they may have undiagnosed medical problems that only show up during the fast. Third, teenagers are still growing, and you cannot always predict their growth or their mood.

Generally, it is safe for healthy teenagers to complete the Yom Kippur fast. But it's also important for an adult to watch out for unexpected changes and help teenagers be reasonable about their approach to fasting.

So, if you're a parent with girls over 12 or boys over 13 years old who are planning to fast this Yom Kippur, here are a few medical tips they should follow in order to do so as safe and healthy as possible: 

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Check out Jvillage’s High Holiday+    page.

The High Holidays are upon us, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

Parenting Jewish Teens

How to help your teens grow as they prepare to leave home.

By Joanne Doades for MyJewishLearning.com

In the Book of Genesis, we encounter many stories of individuals who leave their parents’ homes under difficult circumstances.  For today’s Jewish teens, the struggle for leave-taking begins long before the actual physical event. This is an emotional and often conflict-filled process of separation generally beginning around the time of bar/bat mitzvah, peaking between the ages of 15 to 19, and usually subsiding by the early to mid-twenties.

Peace in the Home

How well Jewish parents handle this natural but challenging process can have a significant impact on shalom bayit, peace in the home, and set the stage for relationships with the soon-to-be-adult children for many years to come. Since the teenage years are such a time of change, experimentation, and identity redefinition, it can be hard for parents to sort out which issues require their attention and which can be ignored. And given the fact that many teens enact the separation process around matters of Jewish observance,  it is not surprising that parents of Jewish teens may find themselves asking the question: “What happened to the child I thought I had raised?!”

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10 Ways to Welcome Teens at the High Holidays

Elena Dufner for rj.org

Looking for innovative opportunities to engage your teens around the High Holidays? These 10 ideas come directly from the source – youth professionals across North America.

1. Communicate in their medium. Use text messages, Instagram and other teen-friendly channels for communicating directly with your teens about teen-specific opportunities. Follow up with parent-friendly emails.

2. Invite teens to be ushers. Start the welcoming at the door by inviting teens to be ushers, where they’ll be visible, interact with people of all ages, and have an integral role during our holiest day of the year.

3. Set aside space for them. Let’s face it: sitting through services for an extended period of time is challenging, especially for high-energy, growing adolescents! Setting aside space for teens to retreat, reflect and recharge helps sustain their energy and make the days enjoyable.

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Check out Jvillage’s High Holiday+    page.

For more information and ideas visit our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

Surfing the Way to More Stable Lives

Oran Bendelstein is exporting his love of shredding—and counting on it to keep at-risk teenagers afloat

By Kylie Ora Lobell for Tablet Magazine
Oran Bendelstein, 33, has always loved to surf. As a kid growing up in Atlantic Beach, New York, he preferred getting up on his board to studying, or even playing video games. It’s a passion he carried into adulthood, with the creation of ReSurf, a nonprofit that refurbishes used, donated surfboards and ships them to underprivileged youth in Israel, Mexico, Long Island, and San Diego. So far, he—or, rather, his boards—have reached more than 500 teenagers. That number will rise yet again this month, when ReSurf, already in the Netanya area of Israel, comes to Tel Aviv, Herzliya, and Akko.

“I think it’s important to give over something that I have and love,” said Bendelstein, from his home in Long Beach, New York. “That something is surfing. It can change your life in one second. I can give these kids a sense of personal value and community and the tools to succeed. That’s my ultimate goal.”

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Tooting My Own Horn

I gave up playing a musical instrument — until I walked into beginning band my freshman year.

By Rachel Chabin for Fresh Ink for Teens
My first stint with instrumental music was back in elementary school. Every few days, a group of students would be escorted down a flight of stairs, past the clanking boiler and into our teacher’s basement classroom. For a year I took great pride in what I thought was my prowess with the recorder, managing to play a small, simplified part of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Once I moved up to playing the flute, however, my enthusiasm for band stalled and I struggled to play even the simplest notes. In middle school — where we didn’t have any music program — I forgot about my wind instrument experience, convinced I wasn’t cut out to be a musician after all.

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Youths from Jerusalem and Boston come together to celebrate differences

At peace camp, youths from Jerusalem and Boston explore religious, cultural differences

By Jennifer Smith GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

The children hopped around on stage and beckoned for their parents to join them in chipper camp songs. They looked like any group of preteens just back from camp, but they had just returned from more than a week of sharing confusion and fears over their religious identities. The experience was meant to help them navigate the historically fraught relationships among Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

They are 12- and 13-year-olds from the Boston and Jerusalem areas. In a celebration at the Temple Beth Zion in Brookline on Sunday filled with singing, dancing, and demolishing a substantial slab of cake, the two-dozen children, members of Kids4Peace Boston, wrapped up a 10-day summer camp, which encourages religious understanding and tolerance through getting to know peers from different cultures.

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Needham sixth-graders "Choose to Be Nice"

By Stacy Lovett for the Needham Wickedlocal

NEEDHAM-One of the hallmarks of becoming an adult is a shift in responsibility for one’s own actions. Vital to this shift is a moral education and the ethical ability to make the “right” choice, as well as the understanding that these decisions have a very real effect on humanity as a whole.
This fall, Jack Gordon and Maddie Gerber, sixth-grade students at High Rock School, will become a bar and bat mitzvah (or “adult” in the eyes of Jewish law), respectively, through Temple Beth Shalom. With this rite of passage, the two are tasked with implementing a “Mitzvah Project,” which encourages the teenagers to give back to the community in some meaningful way. In discussing their goals for their projects, Jack and Maddie realized that their interests were closely aligned. Together, they decided to promote the “Choose to Be Nice” movement, which inspires acts of kindness wherever and whenever possible.
“Choose to Be Nice” was founded by Dina Creiger, also a Needham resident, shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. Creiger had a vision to do something “big and positive,” but did not know how to fit it in between her career in media sales and raising her son.

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NCSY — The Greatest Inspiration

By: Asher Becker, NCSY.org

There’s so much to say about NCSY that I don’t know where to begin. My name is Asher Becker and I joined the NCSY family 7 years ago when I attended NCSY Kollel. Since then, I’ve been hooked as I will G-d willing be going back for my 8th consecutive summer — 4th as a madrich and 6th as staff member.

Over the last few years, I have also had the privilege to be more involved with various NCSY regions throughout the year, including New England and Midwest. Getting more involved has given me the remarkable opportunity to work alongside some of the best and brightest in the world of Jewish education, including Rabbi Dovid Bashekvin, Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, Rabbi Netanal Lebowitz, Rabbi Rael Blumenthal, and Debbie Stone. Additionally, I have even developed relationships with those in the National NCSY office, including David Cutler, director of NCSY Summer, Elliot Tanzman, Jen Goldman, and so many others who do amazing work for NCSY.

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Fresh Ink For Me

Four years of Fresh Ink for Teens made me a confident writer and affirmed my commitment to Judaism.

Lizzie Zakaim

Four years have passed by in the blink of an eye. All too recently I was a hesitant freshman, discovering my niche in a diverse habitat — public high school — after popping my 10-year bubble of Jewish day school. In high school I encountered many people and many conversations about my customs: Why can’t I hang out on Saturdays? Why do I label my containers “meat” and “milk?” Do I own a dairy farm? I was learning how to cope with my new world, and I eventually found solace in writing. I have since adapted to my diverse atmosphere and wrote about some of my experiences as a Jew in public school (“Discussing God in the Chemistry Lab” and “Confessions of a Day School Dropout”). I am fortunate to have nine articles and one poem published on Fresh Ink for Teens.

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Teen Perspective: Don't Underestimate People With Disabilities

Jake Borenstein for The Jewish Week

Editor's Note: As we recognize the 10 companies selected for the Ruderman "Best in Business' award, we are delighted to bring New Normal readers a teen perspective on employment and disability.

Actress Nikki Reed says, "What is important is to treat everyone like an individual and learning not to generalize disabilities.” She experiences autism first hand because her brother has autism. She strongly supports autism awareness and helping people understand that people with disabilities should be able to have a productive place in society.

Young adults with disabilities need jobs in today's workforce.

These kids are much smarter than we credit them for. Different organizations have already been successful incorporating the idea of inclusion, and it would save the government money on Supplemental Security Income Benefits, OR SSI, government funded monthly payments to help out families with disabled family members.

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Poet Zelda

Prepared by Ken Stein and Rich Walter, CIE, for IsraelEd.org

Zelda Schneurson Mishkovsky, known simply as “Zelda,” was one of the most widely acclaimed and personally beloved of Israeli poets.  The daughter and granddaughter of Chasidic rabbis, Zelda was born in Russia on June 20, 1914. Her first cousin was Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson, the famous Lubavitcher Rebbe who was regarded by his followers as the Messiah.

In 1928, Zelda’s family made aliyah to the land of Israel.  The family settled in Jerusalem, and both Zelda’s father and grandfather died shortly afterwards.  She became a teacher and spent most of her adult life living with and caring for her mother, in both Haifa and Jerusalem.

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A Chipped Tooth

by: Alex Pressman for FreshInkForTeens.com

The tale of a red lollipop and a trip to the Garden of Eden from the dentist's chair.

I suppose it was my fault, most of it anyway. If my time on this Earth has taught me anything it is that nothing bad or good can be completely attributed to one person. Hitler could not have gotten so far with the Holocaust were it not for some gifted Don Drapers in the propaganda department. Jordan could not have won his six rings were it not for Pippen starting at small forward; such is simply the way things are.

It should be noted that the series of events I am preparing to recount are from an early stage in my childhood and could possess more than one historical inaccuracy. Some of the early memories tend to get blurry when I relive them. What I do know for a fact, however, is that Jackie Burnbaum did push me down the stairs, I did break a tooth and I did have an exceptionally profound experience in the dentist's office. Beyond that I suppose much of what will be heard is extrapolation into some of the deepest crevices of my memory. The insight given is surely a result of my exposure to the world beginning long after my little story. After all, everyone is bound to leave that dentist's office at some point whether they are ready or not.

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