The 12 high school seniors gathered at San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El on Monday to give short speeches to rabbis and their families.
Parents and Jewish leaders developed the weekly educational program — sponsored by the Jewish Community Federation, the Bureau of Jewish Education and several local synagogues — to create a smoother transition from b’nai mitzvah and confirmation to adulthood. But many of the teens were less interested in cracking books than in socializing with old friends from day school, shul and Israel trips.
Caught between the need to study and the desire to socialize, the 169 youths, ages 14 to 18, decided to restyle the program on their own terms.
“We felt like we were wasting our time [in the program] because we really wanted to be visiting with each other rather than participating in another structured activity,” said Julie Bernstein, a senior at Lick-Wilmerding High School.
Added University High School senior Dan Frost, “We created our own curriculum and showed the teachers what had to happen to keep kids showing up.”
The good-kids-turned-rebels-with-a-Jewish-cause decided that, rather than pursue still more concepts, they most needed a project that allowed them to use the Jewish learning they had been storing since Sunday school, Bernstein said.
They began to research a variety of community service projects that would allow them to volunteer weekly throughout the semester.
After exploring a number of possibilities, they discovered the Richmond Hills Family Center on Geary Boulevard. The shelter for homeless people with children needed volunteers to engage the facility’s kids in activities while their parents received career development help.
During their visits, the teens taught the kids arts and crafts, card games and computer activities and helped them with homework.
“We would go there about 6 p.m., do stuff in the playroom and give them some attention,” Frost said.
The experience was educational and social, he said, noting that the project satisfied both the chavurah administrators and the kibitzing teens.
“It was a good opportunity for them to demonstrate their own initiative and what it takes to put a project together and make it happen,” said Rabbi Martha Bergadine, director of the High School Havurah. “Throughout the year it was student led, though the teacher facilitated it.”
While classes and meetings for the High School Havurah have concluded, the community service group plans to continue working at the shelter, Frost said.
“We’ve taken it to the next step and are kind of doing it on our own,” Bernstein said.
The high-schoolers also persuaded chavurah administrators to incorporate a social period during their Monday-night schedule.
Revital Heller, a senior at Drew College Preparatory School, found more in the chavurah’s existing curriculum to hold her interest. The 17-year-old has attended a Jewish day school, lived in Israel and is active on a regional level with United Synagogue Youth. Despite her fluency in Jewish affairs, Heller said she still found the chavurah’s curriculum to be challenging.
“I took a Talmud class this year and then I took some more intensive Jewish studies and really appreciate finding a level that suits me,” she said.
Just as important, Heller felt the program helped San Francisco teens to create community with other Jews their age.
“Most of the Jewish teens [in the program] don’t see the need to find a Jewish youth group or center. There’s a lot of Jews who don’t have the same religious connection [as many of the kids in the program].
“It’s nice for people in the secular Jewish community to come to this.”