About Havayah

Havayah is Temple Beth Elohim’s Teen Community for Grades 8-12. When our teens participate in Havayah, they learn about and connect to Jewish life by actively experiencing it! Havayah combines the best of experiential informal education in a cohesive program that fosters Jewish identity development, community-building, leadership skills and deep connection to Jewish life.

Chavurot are interest-based learning communities that focus on topics that reflect our teens’ interests. All chavurot are grounded in Jewish content and Jewish text, and meet on various days and times throughout the week, enabling teens to create schedules that fit into their lives.

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Looking to develop your skills as a leader, teammate, mentor or role model? Turn your passion into action and get involved in some of our leadership-focused chavurot and programs! Learn more >>

Throughout the Jewish calendar, Havayah teens come together to celebrate Shabbat and holidays, typically once per month. Join us in a relaxed and open setting for joyful worship and learning, sacred community and delicious meals.

Each year, we offer several full-day or overnight experiences, along with travel opportunities (schedule varies by year) centered around issues and topics found in the Havayah Core Curriculum. Our Shabbatonim and Trips are infused with exciting worship and music, creative learning experiences and time to unwind and connect with friends. Past trips have included New York City and the Religious Action Center’s L’Taken Seminar in Washington, DC.

Join Havayah for teen-led worship, lively Shabbat meals and song sessions, informal programming based on your passions (arts, sports, outdoor adventures, creative Jewish learning), and plenty of time to relax with your friends! Teens in 11th and 12th grade from the SHLuP (leadership and programming) Chavurah will develop and lead many of our Shabbat programs.

Havayah teens regularly come together to make the world a better place through social action work. The TBE Teen Tutors Chavurah provides teens with an ongoing tikkun olam (repairing the world) experience, and there will be additional opportunities for the entire Havayah community to work together repair the world, including (but not limited to) the TBE Day of Service in December, and Mitzvah Day in the Spring.

Whether it's at TBE or out in the community, Havayah teens love to have fun and meet new friends! From social events to NFTY regional programming to teen fellowships in the Greater Boston Jewish community, there are multiple ways to connect with the Havayah teen community and beyond.

Learn more about upcoming events >>

Learn more about where your Jewish journey can take you this year and this summer >>

Havayah Core Values

These middot and the corresponding texts serve as the cornerstones for all of our Havayah programming - Chavurot, Shabbatonim, youth group events, and other experiences:

What do I need to know to be a successful participant and leader in the Jewish community?

How do I make choices about my Jewish engagement and learning?

How do I make what I learn my own?

“A person can only learn Torah from a place that his heart desires.” Avodah Zarah 19a

What does it mean to be engaged in building sacred community?

How do I build meaningful relationships within my Jewish community?

What are my responsibilities both as a member of the community and as a builder of the community?

“Hillel said, ‘Do not separate yourself from the community…’ ” Pirke Avot 2:4

What aspects of Judaism or of my Jewish identity do I want to explore further?

What am I passionate about as a Jew?

What do I believe as a Jew?

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And, if I am for myself alone, then what am I? And, if not now, when?” Pirkei Avot 1:14

What does it mean to be a leader in a Jewish community?
How can I grow as a leader in the TBE community?

“Treat no one lightly and think nothing is useless, for everyone has one’s moment and everything has its place.” Pirke Avot 4:3

How do I develop a Jewish spiritual practice?

How do I seek and develop my own relationship with God?

What is my responsibility as a Jew to stand up, speak out and make change in the world?

How do I seek justice in my communities?

“It is not our duty to complete the work, but we are not free to abstain from doing it.” Pirkei Avot 2:16

Jewish tradition teaches that each of us is created b’tzelem Elohim, in God’s image. Through participation in Havayah, our teens consider this idea and reflect on their personal connection to God, the sacred aspects of their relationships with other people, and the ways in which Jewish learning and living help us to draw closer to the Divine.

Our curriculum facilitates opportunities for reflection, sharing three different aspects of God (Creator, Seeker and Repairer) with teens to explore as they participate in each area of Havayah: Chavurot, Shabbat Experiences, Tikkun Olam and BELY programming. Each program year focuses on one characteristic of God and empowers teens to discover the ways in which they emulate God (are created in God’s image) in their own lives.

Our deeply connected network of teens is a hallmark of the Havayah program. We value and relish the opportunity to spend time together in sacred community. In the coming year, we are excited to continue building relationships as we experience Shabbat together in a variety of times, places and settings each month.

This year, our core curricular theme looks at our role as CREATORS. Throughout Havayah, our teens will explore this role through creative and engaging communal programming, chavurot participation, worship experiences and much more! Teens from SHLuP (Shabbaton Leadership and Programming), along with members of the TBE Youth Team, will help our core curriculum come to life.

Key Ideas and Questions

Throughout this year's programming, we will be asking and discussing the following questions:

What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

Our tradition teaches us about God’s role as Creator of the universe, as a Seeker of relationship with people, as Repairer of our imperfect world.

We can do all of these things. How do we do them in ways that emulate God and help us be true to ourselves?

Additionally, Havayah participants will explore how they identify with and navigate these different roles:

For additional information about how these core values and questions come to life through Havayah: Temple Beth Elohim's Teen Community, please contact Hannah Richman.

Jewish tradition teaches that each of us is created b’tzelem Elohim, in God’s image. Through participation in Havayah, our teens consider this idea and reflect on their personal connection to God, the sacred aspects of their relationships with other people, and the ways in which Jewish learning and living help us to draw closer to the Divine.

Our curriculum facilitates opportunities for reflection, sharing three different aspects of God (Creator, Seeker and Repairer) with teens to explore as they participate in each area of Havayah: Chavurot, Shabbat Experiences, Tikkun Olam and BELY programming. Each program year focuses on one characteristic of God and empowers teens to discover the ways in which they emulate God (are created in God’s image) in their own lives. Learn more about our core values and curriculum >>

Our deeply connected network of teens is a hallmark of the Havayah program. We value and relish the opportunity to spend time together in sacred community. In the coming year, we are excited to continue building relationships as we experience Shabbat together in a variety of times, places and settings each month.