“This is my home. Why would I be anywhere else tonight?”  With so many demands on our teens’ time today, it may seem unbelievable that so many have chosen to add Wise Temple Youth (WTY) to their Sunday nights twice monthly, but one visit to WTY, and their motives become obvious. Through social activities, games, learning opportunities, acts of tikkun olam, and moments of prayer organized by teens for teens, WTY transforms the synagogue into a place that teenagers own—a safe space where teens can escape the judgments of the world to always find a welcoming embrace and a refuge from the academic, social, and athletic pressures that accompany 21st century teenage life. Whether they’re discussing mental health and painting wellness rocks for the Stephen Wise Temple community, competing in an iron chef competition designed to teach about food scarcity and raise money for the homeless, or simply settling in for [...]

“I thought about switching to a 1:1 tutor for Hebrew, because we had extracurriculars… But my son made us change his extracurricular schedule, because he wanted to see his friends online.” To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure it would be possible to create a meaningful community online on a Tuesday afternoon. After so much time online in the past year-and-a-half, children and adults alike were “zoomed” out. And yet, our CYE team knew that with students returning to school and extracurriculars, we had to make our T’filah (prayer) curriculum accessible to as many Stephen Wise students as possible. Furthermore, the opportunities for students to join us from home, message us privately via chat, and showcase their creative spirit with avatars and filters, give students tools for expression and connection that can often be lacking in-person. Thus, T’filah Tuesdays were born, a weekly online class that prepares children to lead and participate in Jewish [...]

“Out of the blue, late last night, my child bopped into the kitchen to ask me if I knew that once Abraham had served a meal with both milk and meat in it… We then had a most interesting conversation about whether that was actually a violation of kashrut if the laws of kashrut hadn't yet been written. Talk about an unexpected Sunday night conversation, and a complete 180 from any other synagogue based experience he's had. Thank you for creating that!” Among the many options available to children enrolled in our Center for Youth Engagement is our weekly Shabbat Torah Study, a class that brings together children from grades 3-7 for an in-depth study of the parashah, the weekly Torah portion. By studying alongside one another and, quite often, parents as well, children discover the richness of our tradition while learning to question assumptions, embrace new and challenging viewpoints, and integrate Jewish tradition into [...]