Campaign for Youth Engagement

About the Temple Beth Elohim Youth Community

Temple Beth Elohim’s youth programming provides our youth and their families with opportunities to engage in Jewish life at TBE and in the broader Jewish community. From learning programs to social events to social action experiences to shabbatonim (retreats) and trips, our wide variety of experiences comes from the foundation that we all learn Torah from the places where our heart desires.

Our Vision & Core Values

Our texts, traditions and values serve as a foundation for our approach to Jewish life, education and community engagement. We honor and value the uniqueness of every Jewish journey and try to provide many points of entry and opportunities for connection. Torah (learning), avodah (worship) and gemilut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) remain our most precious gateways to spiritual sustenance.

Our vision is of a community like no other in your life - dream of a warm, caring and inclusive community dedicated to nurturing a vibrant spiritual Jewish life. We strive to use our unique gifts and offerings to help develop our synagogue community as a place of discovery and meaning. At TBE, you will be part of an environment where you are surrounded by blessing and you are never alone. TBE is...

Where Torah learning is alive, lived, and embraced by lifelong learners, woven into the very fabric of our culture, informing every action and decision and expressed through our worship, meetings, conversation, and social action;
Where we demonstrate our commitment to excellence and innovation, with ongoing self-reflection and evaluation, and through an integration of formal and informal multi-generational and multi-sensory learning;
Where Jewish values are learned and lived in all aspects of synagogue life, evident in the way we speak with and care for one another;
Where prayer is diverse and meaningful, rich with music and song, inspiring continual spiritual growth and reaching all generations;
Where you will find a community to support you in your times of need, and to celebrate with you in your times of joy;
¨Where you feel a connection to Israel as home and family, especially through our continually deepening relationship with our two sister congregations in Haifa;
Where you tell stories and share yourself and are welcomed and embraced;
Where you are surrounded by blessing, and
Where you are never alone.

Directions

For directions, general information, including service times and program information, visit our main website >>

Employment Opportunities

We are currently looking for passionate, creative Jewish role models for a number of part-time positions connected to our programs. Contact us and submit your resume through our contact page >>

Contact Us

We would love to hear from you! Please be in touch with any questions or inquiries you may have about our programs.

DOWNLOAD OUR 5776 GUIDE!

Across the nation, Reform congregations are looking at youth engagement in a serious way. Temple Beth Elohim is a proud partner in multiple areas in the Campaign for Youth Engagement, and we are excited to see where our community's Jewish journey will take us. Check out a few of the areas that we are investing in, and how we are partnering for a strong Jewish future. Contact us to learn more >>

Pilot Programs

We hear the words "pilot program" frequently at TBE as we constantly strive to deepen relationships and communal engagement through innovative and fun programming. Currently, we have a number of programs "in the lab" while we learn from our successes and challenges.

In its fourth year, our BELCRO teen mentoring program is being developed in partnership with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Communities of Practice. As our gender-based programming (It's A Girl Thing and Jew Man Group) has become a highlight of our BM3T and Havayah learning programs, we've started to integrate the best components of those approaches and strategies into other areas of our community. Brett Lubarsky and Hannah Richman are currently developing a spiral curricular-approach to bring values-based programming, learning and leadership development opportunities to students in grades 6-12.

We are immensely proud of the leadership roles that our teens take on, both in the TBE and the broader Jewish communities. From serving as personnel at regional NFTY Northeast events to attending meetings, conferences and seminars, our teens lead by example and help make our community and world a better place.

Jewish Journey Guides

For five consecutive years, Temple Beth Elohim has been recognized for having the largest number of youth attend our movement camps and summer programs, which include URJ Crane Lake Camp, URJ Eisner Camp, URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy, URJ Kutz Camp, NFTY in Israel and Mitzvah Corps. During Summer 2014, nearly 100 TBE members and staff benefited from participating in these experiences! Learn more about why TBE loves Jewish camp >>

Where Are We Going?

Temple Beth Elohim Youth Programs have seen significant growth over the past nine years. As we take the next steps in engaging our youth and strengthening our community, there's a lot going on! New programs, with additional staff to help support innovation and growth while keeping it personal. Fresh thoughts and approaches to Jewish community, education and living. Different and connected approaches to training our staff and teen leadership while investing in their personal and professional Jewish journeys. A new website (which you're looking at), helping us to keep our community connected to each other, with TBE staff and to the exciting programming happening both at TBE and in the broader Jewish community.

Speak up! We want to hear from you! Contact us to get involved today >>

B'nai Mitzvah Revolution

A joint project of the URJ and HUC-JIR and a key component of the Campaign for Youth Engagement, the B'nai Mitzvah Revolution seeks to empower synagogues to return depth and meaning to Jewish learning and reduce the staggering rates of post-b'nai mitzvah dropout. Pilot congregations are working intensively for two years to experiment with new approaches to b'nai mitzvah, while a networked group of congregations is meeting to learn from experts, research and each other to move to action in revolutionizing b'nai mitzvah. For more information about what we're thinking about and doing at TBE, contact Alison Kur or Hannah Richman.

Leadership in the Community

Many members of our Youth Programs Team take active roles of leadership in the broader Jewish community. Alison Kur, our Executive Director of Jewish Living, is a member of the vision and leadership teams in the Campaign for Youth Engagement, in addition to the many other hats she wears in the Reform Jewish community. Brett Lubarsky, our Assistant Director, Youth Engagement, is an active leader and mentor in the NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth), RYPA (Reform Youth Professionals' Association), Moving Traditions and URJ Northeast Camps communities. Rabbi Rachel Saphire and Dr. Judy Avnery, our Senior Director of Jewish Learning and Living are pioneers in developing worship, spirituality and Jewish identity-building experiences for children and families. Learn more >>

Alison, Brett and Hannah had the honor of presenting a workshop at the URJ Youth Engagement Conference in February 2013. Below are resources and pictures from their workshop. If you are a workshop participant interested in continuing the conversation, please don't hesitate to contact Alison, Brett or Hannah!

Creating a Change Process to Re-Imagine Your Youth Community from TBEYouth

Force Field Analysis

Resource 1 Resource 2 Resource 3

SWOT Analysis

Resource 1 Resource 2

Change Management

Resource 1 Resource 2

Springtime Reading

The Self-Renewing Congregation: Organizational Strategies for Revitalizing Congregational Life
Becoming a Congregation of Learners: Learning as a Key to Revitalizing Congregational Life
Sacred Strategies: Transforming Synagogues from Functional to Visionary
Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions

Our Jewish community has some incredible leaders, organizations and resources that specifically focus on organizational and programmatic change. Here are just a few that were mentioned in the workshop:

Also, many local branches of The Jewish Federations of North America have staff that can help connect you to additional resources, networks and programs.