Goals: To create a safe forum for reflection and discussion about God. To draw attention to the way that gender connects to discussions of God. To explore personal connections to prayer language and practice. To encourage participants to reflect upon their own beliefs and experiences regarding God.
Goals: Guys explore the way that men talk about courage and bravery and expand their definitions of those terms. Guys explore various responses to feeling threatened; developing a tool box of potential responses. Guys consider multiple Jewish models of courage. Guys think about the places in their own lives where they are the most fearful…
Goals: For guys to reflect on what is pleasurable to them and consider that there are “different strokes for different folks”—each guy has his own things that he is attracted to and repelled by and things that he likes and doesn’t like. For guys to consider the various ways that they experience pleasure.
Goals: To envision adulthood and think about the intermediary steps between now and then. To encourage participants to reflect upon the nature of their own friendships. To foster behaviors that create and nurture close friendships, such as loyalty, honesty, and expression of affection.
Goals: For guys to think critically about what it means to compete. For guys to have an opportunity to reflect on the rewards and benefits of the various competitions (academic, athletic, artistic, etc.) that they are currently pursuing. For guys to explore the interplay of Jewish values regarding pride, humility, and fairness.
Goals: Help the guys understand why people feel uncomfortable talking about money. Help them connect to Jewish ethics around money, particularly around fairness, clarity in transactions involving money, and the imperative to give. Give them an experience of community giving—namely a tzedaka activity that is focused on poverty and how to address it with philanthropy.
The New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Choncords has a great lyric, “You are so sexy you are making me a sexist.” The line points to the complicated discussion of Men and “Sexism.” What is sexism exactly and when are men being “sexist?” What is the difference between being honest about sexual attraction…
“Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand other people: what motivates them, how they work, how to work cooperatively with them... Intra-personal intelligence is a correlative ability, turned inward. It is a capacity to form an accurate, veridical model of oneself and to be able to use that model to operate effectively in life.” (Page…
Goals: To help identify the major challenges of living as embodied male teenagers and beyond. Creating awareness around clothing and food choices and how they impact our view of the body. Address difficult subjects such as body image and masturbation and to explore ways to have healthy conversations about it.
In a place where there are no men, try to be a man —Pirkei Avot. Goals: To identify the idea of masculinity in American culture and to begin thinking critically about it. To raise awareness of the limitations imposed on men by preconceived notions and stereotypes of manhood. To help teen boys think about the…
