As part of last year’s 18 Under 18 program, each honoree designed an Impact Project where they elevated an issue of importance to their peers, parents, clergy, Jewish professionals or community members. Each honoree then identified at least one action they would take to address their chosen issue. Although each Impact Project represents different topics, timelines and scales, they are united by deep roots in Jewish values.

In honor of the 2020-2021 18 Under 18 nomination process kicking off this week, we want to highlight four honorees and their Impact Projects. Please see the videos below to learn how Gwen, Hannah, Josh, and Lena made an impact on their community!

Gwen Tucker

Hannah Adams

Josh Pogonitz

Lena Bromberg

Do you know an amazing teen who should be recognized as one of this year's 18 Under 18 Honorees? Nominate them here by Thursday, November 12^th!

Imagine walking home from Kol Nidre on Erev Yom Kippur and taking a seat in the middle of Michigan Avenue. Not in the middle of the sidewalk, but in the middle of the actual street. Imagine the utter chaos. However, this is not the case in Israel. The streets are completely empty with the exception of emergency vehicles. Children are biking and scootering and families are strolling their babies through the streets. I had always heard that the whole country shut down on Yom Kippur, but did not realize the magnitude of it until I got to experience it first hand. 

Although a significant percentage of the Israeli population is not Jewish (24%), and 41.4% are Secular Jews, everyone in Israel either observes or respects the observance of Yom Kippur. You could walk in the streets of Tel Aviv any day during the year without the idea of Judaism crossing your mind, but on Yom Kippur, you would be reminded of our strong, united Jewish community. On Yom Kippur, the streets are completely empty of cars, but full of respect, unity, courtesy, and overall peace. This special day gives us the opportunity to step back from our hectic day-to-day lives and take time for self-reflection. 

So on Erev Yom Kippur, in small groups, we walked from campus to one of the main streets in Hod Hasharon. And we took a seat right in the middle of a main intersection. At first, I was shocked. Sitting in the middle of the intersection with no caution or worry at all? I was flustered, but listened to my Israel Studies teacher anyway. After sitting there for a couple minutes, I really realized that no cars were going to pass. Nothing was going to interrupt that moment of tranquility. I started to tear up stunned by the fact that where I was standing, in that moment, is the land of the Jewish people. I realized how proud I am to be part of this community. To be part of a nation that can endure so much adversity but still unite as one.

Noa Maeir is a junior at Deerfield High School and is currently studying abroad at Alexander Muss High School in Israel for the fall semester. Back home at DHS, she plays field hockey, participates in the student-run talent show STUNTS, and is on the board of Key Club. Noa is active in the Jewish community with participation in BBYO, JUF: Voices Board, Moving Traditions, and traveled with JUF Springboard for Big Apple Adventure in 2019. Except for 2020 because of COVID-19, Noa has spent every summer at Camp Ramah Wisconsin since 2013 and served as an Amitei Ramah Teen Fellow. Noa also enjoys biking, spending time outdoors, and traveling. 

It's been a long time since Covid-TV was on the Springboard blog! Since that time, we have been working to expand Covid-TV to cover more aspects of Social Justice and Tikkun Olam than just the pandemic. We are so excited to introduce Empower Teen! 

Covid-TV is now just a branch of our bigger website, Empower Teen. Empower Teen’s mission is to educate our teen readers on social action, change, and entrepreneurship.

Right now, Empower Teen has 4 main channels. The first, of course, is Covid-TV, which connects teens from 10 different countries around the world and has raised over $15,000 for at-risk communities in the pandemic. 

However, the other three channels are brand new. We just launched Resist-TV, which has two main parts: BLM-TV and Pay Gap-TV. Both these channels contain resources to learn about the issue and take action to make social progress. If you visit BLM-TV, you can find almost 20 different resources to learn about Black Lives Matter, petitions to sign, and ways to influence the movement in your own school or community. Pay Gap-TV links readers to statistics about the wage gap, sexual harrasment and gender/race inequalities in the workplace, and ways to try and close the gap, like petitions and scripts to call one’s representatives or senators. 

Our second newest channel is called Mental Health-TV, which aims to end the stigma around mental health and provide resources and self-care tips for improving emotional well-being. This page has two parts. The first is called “Learn,” and includes definitions of mental health and creates the distinct difference between “good” and “poor” mental health. The second part, “Resources,” links readers to emergency hotlines, articles on warning signs of poor mental health and how to reach out for help, and self-care tips to encourage readers to take care of themselves and take the first step towards recovery. We have already hosted events for Mental Health-TV, and plan to hold more zoom workshops in the future centered around mental health and self-care. 

The last new channel, and probably the one we are most excited to launch is Entrepreneurship-TV, or E-TV. Because of our journey of starting this blog as teenagers, we understand how challenging it is for teens to start their own blogs or businesses. Through E-TV, we plan to connect teens interested in business or those who have started their own companies to adult entrepreneurs and business owners. Similar to a mentorship program, we want teens who are just like us to have more experienced people to reach out to and get advice from to expand their business. We will also be hosting E-TV talks with entrepreneurs so that readers can have a chance to ask questions and learn more about the process of starting a business.

We are so excited to start hosting events for Empower Teen and ignite teen-advocacy in all of our readers. You can check us out here: empower-teen.com, and subscribe to stay updated on blog posts, events, and E-Talks. We hope that by expanding to Empower-Teen we will continue to do our part in Tikkun Olam and encourage other teens to become activists and leaders in their communities. 

Lauren Tapper is a sophomore at the University of Chicago Laboratory schools. She started Covid-TV because she wanted create a platform for teens who were experiencing the pandemic all around the world to connect with each other. As Covid-TV grew, she wanted to expand the site to cover other aspects of social justice, hence the creation of Empower Teen. She loves to read, play with her dog, and is an avid Chai Tea drinker. 

Krishita (Kia) Dutta is a sophomore at the University of Chicago Laboratory schools. She created this platform so that people who feel alone know that we're all in this together. Some of her hobbies are reading, painting, and constellation reading!

The first Presidential election that I was alive for was in 2008. I proudly knew that, though I was not yet able to vote, I supported “Broccoli Obama.” To be fair, I was only three at the time and I had no idea what was really going on, but that did not stop me from proudly proclaiming my preferred candidate to my family every time that they asked. This was the beginning of over a decade of civic engagement Now, I am able to comprehend who the different government officials are and what I can do to make sure that they are best serving my needs as a citizen, and the needs of the greater public. I have gone canvassing, written hundreds of postcards and letters, and educated others on what they can do to get involved. 

Although I am unable to vote, I believe that complaining about the government is a privilege only earned after civic engagement. For this election in particular, my family and I have written two hundred postcards to likely voters in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. In each postcard, we explained why it was important to vote and when election day is (Tuesday, November 3rd, tell all of your eighteen-and-over friends). Postcard writing is my personal favorite method because it is not awkward at all and you never have to interact with the person who is on the receiving end. Phone banking and canvassing (going door-to-door) are admittedly much harder. There will often be many people who do not answer their phone or open their door. However, when someone really listens to what you have to say and truly takes it into account, you feel like you have accomplished something.  At any rate, I have always found that I build up stamina as I go along and I get desensitized to the awkwardness. Even if you do not want to do any of the above activities, it is imperative that you remain informed about the election and the candidates, and political issues that may arise from different people being in office. This is one of the easiest things you can do to remain engaged, all you need is google and some time.  In addition, although I have not done this on account of my age, people sixteen and older in Chicago can be election judges! You even get paid. The link to sign up is: chipollworker.com/. 

Whatever you do, for whatever reason, civic engagement is extremely rewarding. If only to feel like you have made an impact on your community and the people in it. 

Dalya Lessem Elnecave is a sophomore at Lane Tech High School where she is a tutor in the writing center. She is the Social Action/Tikkun Olam Vice President (SA/TO) for Anshe Emet’s USY chapter (SHMUSY) in addition to being the Social Action Committee for Chicago Region USY (CHUSY). She is also a Hebrew Madricha at the Anshe Emet Religious School. She enjoys literature and theater.

As a young kid I felt about haircuts the way most kids felt about going to the dentist or eating brussel sprouts, I hated them. Going to get hair cuts was something I avoided at all costs. I could not be bribed, coerced, or convinced to even get a trim. After years of not getting haircuts, all of the sudden I had hair that almost reached all the way down my back. The best way in my mind to continue avoid going to the dreaded salon was to just chop it all off so it could grow for another handful of years. I fell into this pattern of getting one haircut every 2 years and chopping off 8-12 inches each time. Because of this, I have donated my hair 3 different times throughout the last 8 years.  

I have donated to  Pantene,  Locks of Love, and  Children with Hair Loss. I’ve donated 30 inches of hair overall, which equates to half a total wig. Donating hair is such a wonderful and important way to give back. We take certain things for granted, and these are small things that can make huge differences in others' lives.  

During the time of COVID this is a great way to give back. Not getting a haircut for months due to a pandemic has a silver lining, and that’s hair donation! 

Adina Lipschultz has worked for Springboard for the last two years. Before her role with Springboard, she graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana. Adina attended Camp Young Judaea as a camper and staff member for 9 years, is a Solomon Schechter Alum, and is an avid Harry Potter fan, DIY expert, and former figure skater.  

Simchat Torah is a holiday of rejoicing. It marks the end of one reading of the Torah and the beginning of a new cycle on the very same day. Moses bids farewell to the people he has led through the desert and then, without missing a beat, we begin again with the story of creation. This ritual teaches us about endings and beginnings.

Sometimes, one chapter of our lives needs to end to make space for the next one. Saying goodbye to one part of our life is often bittersweet, but it makes room for new ideas, new relationships, and new experiences. When we finish reading the Torah, we go back to creation; we get to re-envision the world from the very beginning.

On the other hand, no chapter of our lives ever disappears. Our experiences make us who we are, and we can always go back to visit them through our memories. We can also re-interpret them and continue to grow from them as we mature and understand their impact on our continuing story.

There is an old Israeli song that says “Hayamim chol’fim, shanah overet, aval hamangina l’olam neesheret,” which means, “The days are passing, the year is passing, but the melody remains forever.” The melody is the Jewish People, it is the Torah, it is the song inside of you. Chapters end and new ones begin, but that unique spark within you remains forever.

On Simchat Torah, we recognize the power of endings and beginnings understanding that as we grow, chapters of our lives will end and new ones will begin. Sometimes we get to decide when those transitions occur, and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we are aware of the change, and sometimes we only see it when we look back.

At the end of the Torah, Moses recounts many of the experiences of the Israelites, but when he retells these parts of the journey, he sees them differently than he was able to see them at the time they occurred. We can do the same with our own lives. However, we should not dwell for too long on remembering the past. We roll the Torah back to the beginning, to the story of creation, because there is a new world waiting to be born. 

Rabbi Reni Dickman is Senior Jewish Educator at JUF and the Executive Vice President of the Chicago Board of Rabbis. Before taking on these roles, she taught at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School and the Chicago Jewish Day School. She embraces the fall as a time of change – changing leaves, changing weather, changing clothes and changing hearts. 

These days it seems like there’s another Jewish Holiday every couple days! We started with Rosh Hashana, then came Yom Kippur. And just a few days later, we come to the seven day holiday of Sukkot. Sukkot is known as “Zman Simchaseinu - the Time of Happiness”. But, there is another holiday that comes at the end of the seven days of Sukkot called "Simchas Torah." On Simchas Torah, we celebrate the completion of the cycle of the reading of the Torah as well as start from the beginning again. On this day, Jewish people across the world sing and dance with the Torah scrolls in celebration of the Torah and its completion.

Ok, I can understand why we would be celebrating completing the cycle of reading the Torah. But why do we feel the need to start over immediately after finishing? In addition, why do we need another separate holiday attached to Sukkot at the end of the whole holiday season? And finally, what’s so happy about this time for it to be known as “the Time of our Happiness” and “The Happiness of the Torah?”

When G-d offers the Torah to the Jewish people, he calls it a gift. As such, we treat the Torah as a special gift from G-d. There is so much depth and wisdom that can be found and uncovered in it. So it’s no surprise that we have a big celebration when we complete the reading every year. But again, why start over right away? I think the message is simple. There are so many levels of understanding and so much meaning found in the Torah. Once we finish reading it through once, we are excited to get right back to it to continue to better ourselves and learn deeper insights and ideas!

When the Torah mentions the holiday of Simchas Torah, Rashi, an 11^th century, French Torah commentator explains that G-d so to speak tells us, “Kashe alay preidaschem, - your departure is difficult for Me”. Meaning to say, after spending so much time with G-d, from Rosh Hashana all the way through Sukkot, G-d wants us to stay with Him for one more day. No extra commandments like the Shofar or Lulav and Etrog, just special time with G-d. After setting our goals for the new year on Rosh Hashana, and striving to be better people on Yom Kippur, we have this special holiday where we can push ourselves to start on our journey to become our best selves possible.

In Judaism, we always want to keep improving ourselves to be the best we can be. This drive for self-improvement is embodied in how we immediately start reading the Torah again once we finish. That is why this time is known as “Zman Simchaseinu - The Time of our Happiness” and “Simchas Torah- The Happiness of the Torah”. When we start and continue our journey of actualizing our potential and becoming the best versions of ourselves, that is true happiness.

Rabbi Jeremy Schaechter is the Director of North Shore NCSY and JSU. He runs all different types of programming for Jewish teens throughout the northern Chicago suburbs including Jewish clubs in Public high schools, weekly learning and social events and more. He is also the Director of TJJ, an incredible 4-week teen summer trip to Israel. Contact Rabbi Jeremy, Rabbijeremy@ncsy.org to learn more or to get involved.

Simchat Torah is the holiday when the Jewish people finish reading the Torah and begin again. Similar to the way that we anticipate learning new insights from the Torah each year, our Lewis Summer Intern Natalie shares with us what she is anticipating this year and how ice skating is something she has done for fifteen years and continues to learn new things each day.

I was an ice skater for fifteen years. I started when I was three years old and went all the way till college. While most people think about skating as single skating, I was a synchronized skater for eight years. But my love of skating encompasses all sectors, from ice dance to pairs to singles to synchro, as well like to call it.  

Every year the international skating season starts with the Grand Prix Series which includes six competitions. The weeks leading up to the first Grand Prix holds more anticipation for me than any other weeks of the year. The entire skating world is putting in predictions based on competition assignments and who will make the Grand Prix finale, the culmination of the series. My best friend, who I skated with, and I talk day in and day out about skaters and their possible positions going into the season.  

And then the first competition begins, and everything feels right in the world. The first skating group gets on the ice and I can take a deep breath. Skating season has begun and for the next six months my weekends will be full of watching competitions and recaps. I am able to end each weekend listening to my skating podcast about what happened in the skating world this week, because there is a skating world.  

But for now, the anticipation must continue because who knows when international travel and skating competitions can begin again. Until then, I will be watching out for new program information, watching old clips, and watching my skating podcast. 

Natalie Rudman is a sophomore at Tulane University. She spent Summer 2020 as a Lewis Summer Intern at UpStart Lab. She’s passionate about the juvenile justice system, Jewish life, and of course skating. Outside of school and work, Natalie spends her time with friends exploring the city of New Orleans 

In May, we shared the story of Balance Boxes,a non-profit started  in March by two Deerfield Teens Samantha Feinberg and Sydney Holubow. They provide educational and enjoyable activities to students in in low-income communities. We checked in with them and are so excited to share how they continue to impact our local community and beyond. 

PACKING PARTY

At the Balance Boxes packing party a plethora of boxes were assembled. Youth ages 6-18 came and helped assemble over 550 boxes in just two hours. Students from Deerfield, Hinsdale, Chicago, and more came together and volunteered! Each box was made with books, games, tutoring services, meals, and more! All of the youth came with masks and spread out outside to be COVID friendly. It was an amazing event that allowed us to help 550 kids!

CHAPTERS

Balance Boxes is remaining fully youth run with chapters across the globe. We have chapters across the USA and in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Egypt, India, Israel, Thailand, Turkey, England, and  Indonesia. At this time we have over 70 youth volunteering with our organization.

CAMP TOV

This past month Balance Boxes spoke with two wonderful groups of teens at Camp Tov. We led a workshop on the steps (we took) to starting a nonprofit. Additionally, we heard many of the ideas the campers had to offer and would do if they started their own organization. Finally, we ended off the event with a volunteer activity. Each camper helped assemble four art kits for our boxes. 

Learn more about Balance Boxes at https://www.freetorunfoundation.org/balanceboxes.

Gun violence claims nearly 100 lives every day in the United States. No other developed nation experiences gun violence of this magnitude. 

In 2020 there have already been 26,000+ deaths from firearms. There were also 417 mass shootings in 2019 which is almost 100 more than in 2018. That number has steadily increased in recent years with mass shootings almost doubling since 2014.  

There are reforms that can be put in place to help curb mass shootings and shootings in general. These policies include ERPO’s which are also known as ‘Red Flag Laws’, mandatory background checks, making gun trafficking a federal crime & getting military style assault weapons off our streets.  

All those reforms are supported by gun owners with 60% supporting ERPO’s (American Public Media) nearly 85% supporting mandatory background checks (John Hopkins Bloomberg school of public health study) and more than 60% of all Americans supporting a Assault weapons ban (2019 Gallup Poll). 

These should all be common sense reforms if not because of how much support they have but because of how many lives could be saved by such easy reforms.  

Nathan Schleiden is the executive director of Chi-Town GVP Summit, a youth-run nonprofit project dedicated to helping youth activists working to end gun violence not associated with larger groups. Their website is chitowngvpsummit.com and can be found on Twitter; @chitwngvpsummit, Instagram; @chitowngvpsummit and Facebook; Chi-Town GVP Summit. 

I am so excited to be joining the Springboard team as the Teen Engagement Manager. Ever since I was an intern at the JUF in college (shout out to the Lewis Summer Internship program), I have dreamed of working at the JUF and supporting the Chicago Jewish community.

I am originally from Oak Park, a suburb just west of Chicago. My home synagogue, Oak Park Temple, was always a special place for me and the space that felt like my second home. Before high school, my entire Jewish world was based in Oak Park. However, the summer before my freshman year, my entire life changed when I attended my first NFTY event.

The event was a five-day retreat called Summer Kallah. In those five days, my Jewish identity and interest in being a leader in my community was suddenly roused. After that one retreat, I began to connect with Jewish teens from all around the Chicago area and the country. I went on to serve as the NFTY Chicago Programming Vice President and President. I even met my husband in NFTY and majored in Jewish studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison because of the impact NFTY had on my life.

I am so thankful that my parents signed me up for my first NFTY event. Some days I look back at my life and think about how different things would have been if I had not gotten involved with NFTY and my temple youth group.

That is why I am thrilled to be on the Springboard team. The opportunity to connect Jewish teens with programs and opportunities that have the potential to change their entire lives and inspire them to explore the Jewish identity is what drives me each day to do this important work. Each person that Springboard helps to connect with a meaningful Jewish experience is incredible. Whether it’s through TOV Teens, USY, JSC, NFTY, BBYO, Keshet, summer camp, or the dozens of other Jewish opportunities for teens in the Chicago area, I am excited to help each teen find the program or multiple programs that will leave a positive and lasting impact on their life.

When I’m not connecting Jewish teens with programs, you can usually find me baking bread, playing with my new puppy, or trying to find the tastiest taco in Chicago. I recently moved from Chicago to Evanston and love exploring the beautiful parks nearby.

Before working at Springboard, I was OSRUI Assistant Director and NFTY Chicago Regional Director. Prior to that, I worked at Temple Jeremiah in Northfield as the Youth and Family Engagement Director. I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison (go Badgers!) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish Studies and International Studies. While in college, I worked as the youth director at Temple Beth El in Madison, WI and served as a student representative on the UW Hillel board. I am currently pursuing my Masters in Jewish Professional Studies from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership.

Self-care has become a buzzword during this time, so we want to hear from different people in our community what self-care means to them. This blog from Claire is the first of this series. If you would like to share what self-care means to you, contact Springboard@juf.org. 

I still remember the day I got my first “alternative” haircut. I had no idea at the time how changing how I looked was about to affect my entire life; if I had, well, I still would have done it.

I have learned that expressing the way that I feel internally must be a top priority in order to survive. But this knowledge doesn’t change the fact that being visibly different is a really hard thing. After I got that haircut and changed my clothes, I noticed a change in the way people treated me. This new look wasn’t louder, but it was harsher. More masculine. My identity that used to be fairly inconspicuous now inadvertently shoves its face under the noses of people who really don’t care to acknowledge that kind of difference. Simply existing in the world as my true self takes a toll on my mental health, my relationships and my professional life. But it’s also invigorating, spiritual, and vital.

My self-care is pushing through self-hate. Because I know that I can’t change or hide who I am anymore. That part of my life is over. 

Claire Katz-Mariani is passionate about social service in all forms. Claire is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where Claire is pursuing a BFA in Theatre Studies as well as a BS in Community Health with an emphasis on Health Education & Promotion. Claire is the president of LGBTJew, U of I Hillel's student group for promoting inclusion in Jewish spaces.