Congregation Beth El has a thriving teen program, which has included memorable collaborations in this past year with Israel Congregation of Manchester and Congregation Beth Israel in North Adams (a Jewish tour of Boston, an overnight working at an organic farm in Manchester, etc.). We also have once monthly classes in Jewish ethics with the Rabbi, and have had bridge-building events with our teens and Muslim teens who are exchange students from abroad. The goal of our Teen programs is to endow teens with positive associations with Judaism, but also to help build their qualities of menschlikeit – to give them guidance in what can be tough years in helping them become good members of the larger human tribe. Through partnering with other synagogues, teens will make memories “doing Jewish”, and building a network of friends in the surrounding towns that can “do Jewish” with them outside of our programming...The goal of our programming is to give our teens an expansive Jewish experience: a way to break down the distinctions between Judaism and their regular “secular” lives, and to offer them diverse and creative ways to plug into Judaism.  

Congregation Beth El of Bennington and Israel Congregation of Manchester's Trip to the Battenkill River and Telion Holon Organic Farm

Boston Trip with Congregation Beth Israel of North Adams on Sunday, April 15th 2007