Transformimg Jewish Lives
10,500 North American Students Participated in Birthright This Summer
From eJewishPhilanthropy:
Nearly 20,000 young adults participated in the Taglit-Birthright Israel trip program this summer, among them 10,526 registered students from over 712 colleges and universities across North America.
Students came from large universities with substantial Jewish populations to small colleges – representing approximately 20 percent of all colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.Read the full article at eJewishPhilanthropy...
Sosland OpenSource February 2011
Sosland OpenSource December 2010
Sosland OpenSource November 2010
Spotlight on Communities: jTeenLA FilmFest
Have you heard about the amazing innovative work going on in communities across the country? JESNA is launching a regular feature on our homepage: "Spotlight on Communities". Every 4-6 weeks we will devote our Spotlight box to innovations coming out of communities that should be shared. Does your community want to share its innovative ideas with the rest of us? Let us know by emailing to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
jTeenLA FilmFest
A Project of BJE in collaboration with the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival
What's Your Jewish LA?
Is it a street corner, a synagogue, or simply a state of mind? Tell your story of "My Jewish LA" in a short film.
If you're a teen with an interest in filmmaking, BJE and the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival could have a special place for your short film in the 2012 festival! We'll even help you figure out how to make a short film if you're a novice, or make it better if you're an experienced teen filmmaker.
Filmmaker Workshop & the Mentoring and Coaching Program
Do you have a story and a camera, but no idea where to start? Top professionals in the film industry will help through a Filmmaker Workshop on December 4th, 2011 and a Mentoring and Coaching Program beginning in January.
jTeenLA FilmFest
The top 5 submitted films will have a special screening as part of the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival on May 6th, 2012 at the Laemmle Town Center 5 in Encino followed by a panel discussion from filmmakers.
Registration for the jTeenLA FilmFest is now open. Register Now! Application packages must be submitted online or by mail by March 30th, 2012.
Interested to learn more? Check out the jTeenLA FilmFest FAQ for additional details and submissions requirements. Please contact Elenna King at (323) 761-8617 with any questions.
Hurry and sign up for these amazing opportunities today! Click here to see the FilmFest homepage.
Quick Bytes: Outdoor Education
Quick Bytes: On the Minds of Teens
Changing Up The Bar And Bat Mitzvah Experience
From The Jewish Week:
Rabbi Joy Levitt, executive director of the JCC in Manhattan, believes that the heavy emphasis on teaching youngsters to chant a Haftorah on their special days is a sign of "wasted training and the wrong message" for bar and bat mitzvah youngsters.
"We're not preparing them for Jewish life" with such rituals, she says. "On the contrary, we've sabotaged their Jewish life."
Read the full article in The Jewish Week...
NJ DJE to study engaging Jewish teens
From The Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey:
The Department of Jewish Education & Continuity (DJE) has launched a study to assess Jewish teen engagement across the community. Dubbed ExCITE (Extrapolative Community Initiative in Teen Engagement), the study involving the DJE along with area synagogues, schools, rabbis, youth leaders and teens themselves, hope to find a path to successful programming for teens. The DJE has engaged a research team from the Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA), to carry out the initiative.
Noting that engaging teens has become a challenge across the community, David Gutin, the ExCITE initiative chairperson, said, "After much success in the 1990s and 2000s with Jewish teen engagement, we've entered a new era in which Jewish teens' lives and patterns of involvement are changing." Gutin is a veteran community leader on this topic, having chaired Midrashah Jewish Junior College in the 1990s, when enrollment reached an all time high.
Read the full article in The Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey...
Teens Find Their Voice at Conference on Israel
From eJewishPhilanthropy:
At the Passover Seder a week ago, we asked ourselves, "Why is this night different from other nights?" But now, as we sit here writing about the MZ Teen iConnect with Israel Conference a couple of weeks ago, we find ourselves asking, "Why was this conference different from all other conferences?"
The MZ Teen iConnect with Israel conference took place on March 30-April 1st at Capital Camps & Retreat Center in Waynesboro, PA. Nearly 100 people gathered together for a weekend to deepen our knowledge about Israel, build community, enhance our leadership skills, and develop a strong voice in support of Israel.
Read the full article in eJewishPhilanthropy...