A component of the work that I am doing here in Israel is related to youth in my role as a JDC-BBYO Global Service Fellow. The JDC and the BBYO youth movement are working together to expand Jewish teen programming in many Jewish communities abroad in which the JDC currently operates such as Turkey, Ukraine, and here in Israel! As BBYO alum and an experienced informal Jewish educator I was very excited to take on this opportunity.
My purpose was not to start a youth group chapter but to seek out opportunities for me to help strengthen and contribute to programming for local Jewish youth groups
For a little background… In Israel, unlike other diaspora communities, there is no shortage of Jewish youth looking for something engaging to do. Similarly, there is also no lack of youth movements available for Israeli teens (ex. The Scouts, Telem, B’nei Akiva, Ha’noar Ha'oved, etc.). Rather than just create more of the same, I had to find a niche that was not being filled for Israeli youth.
After a brainstorm with my supervisors I got in contact with the Friends By Nature (FBN) Jerusalem Communal Gar’in. The gar’in is a group of social activists, both Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian Israelis, who intentionally move into at-risk neighborhoods (with large populations of Ethiopian Israelis) and take on social-educational responsibilities in the community, such as organizing homework and youth group programs.
Here are a few highlights so far…
Starting a new youth group:
I have been working with the leaders of the gar’in as well as two other young Israelis to start a youth group here in the at-risk Jerusalem neighborhood of Katamonim. We will be running programming focused on leadership, identity, and personal development. Right now we’re in the process of recruiting youth from the community via phone calls, school, visits and through neighborhood youth centers. After months of preparation we’ll finally be starting programming this month!
Friends by Nature November staff training day:
I got a call on a few months back from the head of the Jerusalem gar’in, I’yov, asking if I was available in two days to attend a Friends by nature staff training day, to be held near Bet Shemesh in the Hurvat Midras national park.
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| A view overlooking the Hurvat Midras park |
Two days later I represented the group at the training. The people that showed up were a mixture of professional youth coordinators, students who volunteer to lead youth programming, and 20 or so high school aged youth leaders who both lead and partake in programming with Friends by Nature.
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| Taking a break between sessions |
Because of the rainy weather much of the day was actually held in caves that are present all over the park. The day was filled with sessions covering topics from how to plan and lead a successful outing to basic public presentation skills. Many of the ideas and topics were already familiar to me but the day gave me a much better understanding of the style of programming that FBN aims to do and was a great chance to make connections with the leaders of the organization. I also left, further impressed by the work that the organization is doing to empower young Ethiopian Israeli teens.
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| A seminar in one of the caves teaching about how to lead a group outing. Here the man on the left is going over how to hold a groups attention in interesting ways... The funny looking kid on the right is being used to tell a story and thus was dressed up to put him into character. |
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| Me with a number of other young staff members at the training day |
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| Sitvaniot- Israel's fall flower |
BBYO International Convention:
This month I will be chaperoning two Friends By Nature Ethiopian-Israeli teen leaders to represent Israel at the BBYO International Convention in Atlanta, GA. The teens are from two different FBN gari’nim, one in Beit Shemesh and one in Yavne.
The convention will be an opportunity for them to meet and make connections with other Jewish teens from all over the world, swap ideas for creative youth group programming, and represent Israel, Ethiopian-Israeli Jewry, and the FBN youth group.
I’ve been working with them over the last few weeks to prepare them what I know will be overwhelmingly positive (but definitely overwhelming) experience. I can’t wait to see what sorts of things the two of them take away from the week long convention!
