By Lisa Gersten, eJewishPhilanthropy, August 29, 2013. What if the bar or bat mitzvah signaled a teen’s entry into an ongoing gathering of Jewish peers led by an inspiring mentor who helped them discuss the very real challenges…
Continue Reading →By Deborah Meyer, eJewishPhilanthropy, May 9, 2013.
Continue Reading →I was lucky.
When I was 13 and trying to figure out the world around me, I had a camp counselor who really “got” me. She taught Israeli dance, which I learned I loved. In a circle under the willow trees, she inspired me with a discussion about the United Farm Workers’ grape boycott and rabbinical teachings on living wages. And she helped my friends and me figure out how to handle our disagreements. This madricha was truly a guide along my way to womanhood.
Continue Reading →Moving Tradition’s Rosh Hodesh: It’s A Girl Thing! and Shevet Achim: The Brotherhood utilize three modes of learning—sensory, cognitive and emotive—during each monthly session, which place teen girls’ and boys’ coming-of-age experiences at the center of the groups’ educational activities. Moving Traditions is also a prime example of a program that intentionally addresses the different stages of adolescent development in its pedagogical approach.
By Rachel Heller, Tablet Magazine, February 25, 2013
Continue Reading →On a recent Sunday evening in Los Angeles, five eighth-grade girls lounged in armchairs or sat on the floor, talking with a rabbi about their bodies.
“When you’re looking in a mirror, what’s the number one thing that’s constantly running through your head?” asked Sara Brandes, the rabbi who facilitated the discussion.
“Fat,” one girl called out.
“Overweight,” said another.
Continue Reading →For the nearly 900 families belonging to Congregation Beth El in Voorhees, New Jersey, programming to engage young girls in Jewish life is pretty much the norm.
But for the boys, not so much.
That’s why the synagogue’s assistant rabbi, Noah Arnow, was in Philadelphia recently, training as a group leader for Shevet Achim: The Brotherhood, an initiative of Moving Traditions as it works to engage Jewish youth through gender-specific programming.
By Rahel Musleah, Hadassah Magazine, October, 2012
Continue Reading →Robert Riemer, 16, went reluctantly to the first meeting of Shevet Achim: The Brotherhood at his synagogue. The program for ninth-grade boys at Larchmont Temple in New York advertised itself as a place to explore what it means to be a Jewish man.
By Meredith Jacobs, Washington Jewish Week, August 1, 2012
Continue Reading →It starts with a game. One that’s cooperative and not competitive.
Or it starts with food preparation. Food is always a good way to begin. Bottom-line, it starts with something physical. It can’t start with talking. It can’t start with stillness. The banter that occurs during the activity breaks the ground for the deeper conversation.
By Alanna Berman, San Diego Jewish Journal, February, 2012
In early 2009, the Jewish Women’s Foundation, part of the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, set out to change the lives of women and girls in the community. Their efforts — including a community-wide assessment, focus groups and interviews conducted with rabbis, community leaders and the girls themselves — culminated in a total of $225,000 in grants for five brand new programs serving Jewish middle and high school girls in San Diego County.
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By Cindy Mindell, The Jewish Ledger, January 12, 2012
Continue Reading →Some five years ago, the Jewish educational organization, Moving Traditions, launched Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing!, an informal education program that uses Judaism and Jewish tradition to enrich the lives of girls. Since the inception of “RoHo,” more than 300 groups have been launched throughout North America, in day schools, teen education programs, and congregations of all denominations, including five Connecticut locations.
By Sonia Isard, Lilith Magazine, Fall 2011
In a world where one in five teens has reported abusing prescription medications, where physical aggression occurs in one third of teen dating relationships, and 81% of 10 year old girls are afraid of being fat, it’s clear that teen girls are dealing with a ton of challenges every day. Jewish girls now have some guidance for developing into Jewish women.
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