Bet Torah Teen Talk:
7th Grade Edition
In This Edition:  Yummy Events This Spring  
Annual Fund Marking Internship and Blood Drive
Speakers and Field Trip to NYC
Including  Interfaith, J-Teen Leadership, and LGBTQ*, Programs
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Helpful Links:  Find Your Summer Join Youth Group 
Yummy Events This Spring
Kadima Iron Chef

Thursday, March 23, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

Teens in 6th and 7th grade are invited to join us for our own version of Iron Chef, which was so successful last year ( enjoy pictures here.)  Please, please, please RSVP by Tuesday, March 21 so we have enough food. 

FREE for paid Kadima members. Dinner is included.
Help Fight Hunger with Challah
Tuesday, April 4, 4:00 - 6:30 p.m.

Join Rabbis Brusso and Koffman, and Cantor Herman on Tuesday, April 4, during Religious School hours for a special program for 7th and 8th graders and their parents. 

Braid, bake, and discuss.  We will bake challah together, discuss what Judaism says about poverty and feeding the hungry, and we will raise money to help fight hunger.

Challahs will be baked on Tuesday with all of you, cooled overnight, then bagged and ready for pick-up on Wednesday. As our bakers, you have first priority in buying the challahs. Challahs that have not been purchased will be sold to the congregation during Religious School hours on Wednesday, April 5. 

Challahs are $10 each. Limit one challah per family. Order online by http://tinyurl.com/braidandbake by Friday, March 31. 

Proceeds from the sale will benefit MAZON, a Jewish organization combating hunger. Stay tuned for for information. learning
Opportunities for the class of 2022 
to join our Teen Learning Community (TLC)
Whether you have already celebrated your b'nei mitzvah or are still preparing, now is the time to get involved in the next stage of your Jewish life as a teen at Bet Torah.
Learning About and Remembering the Holocaust
Holocaust Study with Robin Wald 
Sunday, March 19, 26 ( late session only), and April 2
9:00 - 9:55 a.m. or 11:50 a.m. -12:45 p.m.
Students at this age are eager to learn about the Holocaust on a more mature level. Students will learn in age appropriate way about historical events from 1933 through 1945 and beyond, based on curricula from Yad Vashem, the Anti-Defamation League, historical documents, videos and survivor testimony. 

Holocaust Scroll Project with Aitana Perlmutter 
Tuesday, March 21 and 28, 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. 
Together with Aitana Perlmutter, students will read testimony by survivors in our own community and create art and poetry reflective of survivor stories to enhance Bet Torah's Holocaust Scroll project. 

Talk by Holocaust Survivor Yitzchak Mayer 
Tuesday, April 25, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Yitzchak Mayer is an author, Holocaust Survivor, and regular commentator in Israeli newspapers and other media.  Hear him describe how, at eight-years-old, he convinced the Swiss authorities to let him, his pregnant mother, and his brother into the country. Eventually, he made it out, and became Consul General of Israel!  This program is for adults and youth in 5th-7th grade. Religious school students younger than 5th grade may attend with parents.

Bet Torah Yom HaShoah Commemoration 
Sunday, April 23, 9:45 -10:45 a.m.
We will join together through music, poetry and reflection to mourn and commemorate the loss. The service is not only a tribute to those who perished in the Shoah but will also include inspirational readings from the extraordinary congregant survivors and/or members of their families. 

Family members of survivors will light yahrtzeit candles in memory of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. This program will feature art and poetry by the Zayin class. Religious school students younger than 5th grade may attend with parents.

Field Trip to the Museum of Jewish Heritage with Loen Amer
Sunday April 30, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Explore the lessons from the Holocaust we can apply to combating hate and standing up for justice today.  Register to participate and volunteer to chaperone now! Bus transportation and lunch included.sato
Community Service at Bet Torah
Annual Fund Marking Internship 
Do you have marketing or design skills? Do you want to network with local businesses? 

Our Annual Fund is making a yearbook of the amazing work we do that will serve as a fundraiser. They're looking for interns looking to develop all kind of business and entrepreneurship skills. If you're interested or know someone else who would be interested, email Bart Sokol at [email protected] . 
Blood Drive
Sunday, April 2, 8:30 a.m.

Teens, we need your help running registration, donor flow, and giving donors snacks. Sign up now to help during the blood drive

Teens who are over 16 can give blood themselves with parental permission. Download the permission form here. Please remember to eat and drink well prior to donating blood, and bring a photo I.D. (your New York Blood Center Donor I.D. card is preferred).  Donating blood fulfils the important mitzvah (commandment) to save lives. 

Community Partners
LGBTQ Parent/Guardian Gathering  
Thursday,  March 30, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.  
Our friends at Keshet are offering any parents or guardians of Jewish individuals a place to build connections and community, knowledge and resources, at a private home in New Rochelle. 

For more information and to RSVP, contact email Avi Edelman at [email protected] .
Youth Interfaith Gathering
Sunday, April 2, 11:45 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The Upper Westchester Muslim Society (UWMS) welcome the middle and high school students to learn about Islam, have a delicious lunch and ask as many questions as they would like with us at their masjid.  Register here .

They also recently published this press release, condemning all of the anti-Semitic acts that have happened recently both here in Westchester as well as in other parts of our country.
J-Serve International Day of Jewish Youth Service
Break the Barrier
Supporting Mental Health Awareness
Sunday, April 2, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. 
J-SERVE is an annual day held during April, coinciding this year with Good Deeds Day. During J-SERVE, Jewish teens around the world create service experience for themselves that serve their home communities.  Here in Westchester, teen volunteers, led by our own Dina Sokol,  will help lead and participate in a community day of Mental Health Awareness, in advance of May's Mental Health Awareness Month.

Our 7th graders are invited to join J-SERVE at 3:00 to participate in the second half of the program.  Participants will build personal wellness toolkits through activities such as yoga, soap making, art and more, and will also contribute to advocacy campaigns to lobby for better mental health care services and support in our schools. Learn more here or register here .
Jewish LGBTQ and Ally Teen Gatherings
Sunday, April 2, Sunday, May 7, and Sunday, June 11,  5:45 - 7:30 p.m. 
All Jewish LGBTQ and ally teens are to join our friends at Mosaic of Westchester for their monthly gatherings! This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know one another. 

Each gathering includes an open peer support group for anyone interested in a safe space for discussions f rom 5:45 - 6:30 p.m. and kosher dinner and a fun activity from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

For more information, contact Mosaic's Teen Engagement Coordinator, Avi Edelman, or Executive Director, Bina Raskin.contact
Contact Us
Loen Amer 
Director of Youth Engagement 
Karen Allison 
Youth Chair [email protected]

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Jill Heller
Youth Chair