“If teens really are the leaders of tomorrow, it is important to be well rounded and knowledgeable,” said Gerad Bandos, 16.
Therefore Bandos, a member of the local B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, is one of the teens who helped plan “Getting to Know You,” the Milwaukee-area Jewish community’s first “Jewish Teen Day of Discovery” event.
It will be held Sunday, Jan. 30, at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center. Admission is free.
The program, which will begin at 9:30 a.m., allows teens to choose to attend two one-hour-long discussion sessions on a wide range of topics, including Israeli cooking, Jewish music, Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), Israeli self-defense, Jews and tattoos, and halachic perspectives on homosexuality.
Participants will also enjoy a pizza-and-ice-cream lunch and a performance by The Moshe Skier Band, a religious Jewish group that “has a pretty hard rocking sound,” according to JoAnne Gaudynski, teen programming coordinator for Coalition for Jewish Learning, the education program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and one of the event’s sponsors.
Gaudynski said the most important aspect of the day is that “it’s been planned by teens for teens. We’ve had a lot of involvement with them telling us what they want.”
“We’ve been getting a very good response,” she said. “This is one of the first teen events that draws from the whole community. We have a phenomenal lineup of people coming in, from all walks of life.”
Gaudynski added that she’s been told by some of the event’s co-sponsors that teens from Chicago will be attending.
Steven Baruch, Ph.D., executive director of CJL, said that “the biggest complaint” about the event is that there are “too many good choices” of topics for teens to choose from.
“We’re very excited that we’ve been able to put together a great program. To a great extent that is because the teens had a lot to say,” while planning the day, Baruch said.
One of the ways they determined the topics for the event was through an interactive Web site that Bandos designed where teens could vote for their favorite topic choices.
The idea for the first Jewish Teen Day of Discovery came from the adult version, which is now in its fifth year.
“There are many Jewish teens that don’t know enough about their Jewish identities, and consequently suppress their Jewish identities to the point of non-existence,” Bandos said.
“We really needed to do something for teens,” Baruch said. “We had enough response that we formed a teenage education think tank. This is one of the ideas that came from that.
“We hope that it will lead ultimately to some other opportunities for teens to study. It is part of other things that we hope to develop.”
Dani Bachar, 17, is also a member of BBYO who was involved early in the program’s development.
Bachar said she thinks such events are important because “kids who aren’t tied to anything can learn and enjoy it and not feel like they are being lectured. They can learn about anything that interests them.”
Bachar said her father is helping with the cooking session, and she plans to assist him, while also taking advantage of other activities in the program.
The Jewish Teen Day of Discovery is co-sponsored by BBYO, Beth Torah Religious School, Lake Park Synagogue, Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee, National Conference of Synagogue Youth, SHFTY (Congregation Shalom’s youth group) and Congregations Anshai Lebowitz, Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, Emanu-El of Waukesha, Shalom Religious School and Sinai.
For a complete list of sessions, contact Gaudynski at 414-962-8860.
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