Updated May 6
As the debate over the Israel-Hamas war has grown uglier, Jewish teens have been under a lot of pressure both in school and online.
That’s why the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto shifted a new pilot program that focuses on life skills for juniors and seniors in high school to also help them learn to handle antisemitism.
The PREP (Pride Renewal Education Purpose) Fellowship — a program aimed at teaching teens to be independent, resourceful and prepared to stand up for themselves as young adults — was due to begin in January. But after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and spike in antisemitism worldwide, program leaders decided to start it in November to give extra support to the first group of participants.
As the pilot program nears the end of the first year, two members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus presented PREP Fellowship with a symbolic pot of money in the form of a giant check in late April. The money, which was appropriated in the 2023-2024 state budget’s general fund, covers the first two years of the pilot program.
“We are very proud of the impact that it has had for teens participating in the program this year,” Zack Bodner, CEO of the OFJCC, told J. “One after another participant has told us what a huge difference the program has made in their ability to navigate tough conversations and speak up for themselves.”
Noam Lazarov, a junior at Fremont High School, was one of nine teens who joined the first year of PREP.
The program taught “invaluable skills, not only in advocacy and for my empowerment as a Jewish person, but also in everyday conversations and internal conflicts. I learned how to communicate effectively. I learned how to recognize bias,” he said in a statement. More importantly, he added, it taught him how to become a leader who can create “change in my lifetime.”
In twice-monthly workshops, teens covered subjects such as building healthy relationships, balancing their mental health and handling antisemitism.
PREP aims to help students figure out “how can I take care of myself, how can I live in community with others,” program manager Lara Walklet told J. Teens also got plugged into a vast range of helpful organizations, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
The program was originally envisioned with a different purpose — as a skills training program for high schoolers not heading directly to college and instead planning to join gap-year programs, including those in Israel — and was expected to launch in January.
But priorities shifted after Oct. 7 and the resulting war. “It didn’t make sense to promote gap years in Israel,” Walklet said.
There also seemed to be a growing crisis closer to home.
“The need to help teens who were experiencing antisemitism was so great,” she said.
OFJCC pushed up the start date to November and pivoted toward helping any teen, regardless of their plans after high school.
Each teen who completes the free program earns a no-strings-attached $360 stipend and can also receive a certification as a “mental health first-aid responder,” meaning they have been trained on how to spot and deal with mental health crises around them.
“This is just taking it from a theoretical level to an actual practical level,” Walklet said.
Walklet is already recruiting for the next cohort, which starts in November. The program is open to teens of any background, even though all of but one of the first year’s participants are Jewish. The teens just need to be able to meet in person at the OFJCC, where most of the workshops are held.
“This important program will help local students in developing resiliency, which is a crucial skill for all young people, and particularly vital as antisemitic incidents have dramatically increased on college campuses and in society,” state Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) said in a statement. He joined state Sen. Josh Becker (D-San Mateo) to present the symbolic check to PREP.
“The impact on the teenagers in the program has been substantial,” Becker told J. “Now proven, the program is ready to expand.”