Creating Jewish community, one teen at a time

From left: Adri Lieberman, Maya Modlin, and Naom Altman at an event celebrating 18 Under 18 award nominees in January. 

Juggling school, sports, clubs, tutoring, volunteering, youth groups, jobs, friends, and social media, teens are booked and busy. They want community: places where they feel seen, safe, and significant. JUF Teens meets this need by offering flexible, customizable journeys that honor each teen’s interests and strengths. 

As the weather warms up and teens begin planning for the next school year, now is the time to help them consider the skills they want to build, the impact they want to make, and the communities they hope to be part of.  

Teens seeking a long-term experience where they will develop Jewish identities, build relationships, and strengthen leadership skills might consider Diller Teen Fellows. Fellows explore who they are as Jewish leaders and how they fit into the global Jewish community. A hallmark of the Diller experience is peer exchange: Each spring, Israeli teens from JUF’s Partnership2Gether region visit Chicago for a week of learning, and connection. In the summer, Fellows from around the world travel to Israel for three weeks of touring, engagement, and learning.  

Another meaningful leadership opportunity is Springboard Peer Ambassadors. Teens attend programs offered by local Jewish youth organizations and build the Jewish experiences they want to participate in. Throughout the year, they learn relationship-building and event-planning fundamentals. Plus, they earn a stipend for their work strengthening the community.  

JUF also runs Voices: The Chicago Jewish Teen Foundation, a fully functioning philanthropic foundation led by Jewish high school students. Voices board members explore core Jewish values while learning the complete grantmaking process. They research nonprofits, evaluate proposals, and allocate tens of thousands of dollars to organizations around the world. Through this hands-on work, teens learn to read budgets, communicate with organizational leaders, and live out their values through intentional giving. This year’s Voices board will allocate its millionth dollar! 

Of course, long-term programs aren’t the right match for every teen. Many teens want to make an impact even with limited time. Camp TOV and other volunteer experiences offer flexible options, from a week to a day to just a few hours. Teens can also get an introduction to philanthropy through short-term giving circles. Other short-term programs, like meet-ups, allow teens to unwind, meet new people, and discover additional ways to get involved. 

All these programs create welcoming spaces where being Jewish is meaningful, fun, and important. The upcoming Teen Community Celebration on April 26 highlights exceptional teen leaders, including this year’s 18 Under 18 honorees, and brings people together to see the impact teens are having on community and the community is having on teens. In addition to teen leaders this event celebrates families who prioritize Jewish involvement, the educators who inspire them, and the supporters who make teen programming possible. Learn more at juf.org/teencelebration.  

While teens don’t need more activities on their calendars, they do need accessible ways to connect with Jewish life. JUF strives to create spaces where teens can connect with meaningful Jewish content and be challenged to learn about themselves and the values that guide them. Programs like Diller, Springboard Peer Ambassadors, and Voices empower teens to be cocreators of the Jewish community they want to belong to. Through the Teen Community Celebration, teens model what it means to be a Jewish leader and inspire others to get involved, deepen their leadership, and connect with inspiring mentors. 

There are countless ways for teens to access impactful Jewish programming, and the JUF Teens staff is always available to help teens discover all that the Jewish teen community has to offer.  

Keren Eckstein is Assistant Director of Teen Engagement at JUF. She is the Director of Voices and teaches philanthropy through authentic, project-based learning at schools, camps, synagogues, and more. She can be reached at [email protected].