Over the course of two weekends and across two coasts, the 2026 Kol Koleinu Fellows gathered to learn about feminism and build community.
Three weeks ago, 26 fellows from the Central and West Coast cohorts came together in Pennsylvania and last weekend 12 fellows from the East Coast cohort joined up in Berkeley, CA.
Participants began exploring their Passion Projects, took part in Active Listening sessions, and participated in Shabbat and Havdalah services. Fellows strengthened their relationships with one another through song, bringing the prayers and tunes of their respective communities to our shared space. Through Jewish texts, our teens conducted feminist readings of age-old histories, including the stories of Lilith and Eve.
Our Teen Leaders took an active role in these retreats, facilitating sessions of their own and bringing in wisdom from their experience in Kol Koleinu over the years.
Participants came away feeling more connected to one another and more prepared to enact change in their own communities.
“I learned about the different roles there are in making social change and how you need to pair with both like minded and non like minded people to create real change in society.”
“This retreat was one of the few places where I talked to literally everyone and there weren’t cliques or social divides between people of different ages or interests.”
“I had a fabulous time and really found a great sense of community.”