Adolescence – What exactly is going on?  

It’s a fun “get to know you” session in a family setting, with the teen and one or both parents and the facilitator. We discuss what it means to be 12/13 years old, and ask what adolescence is. We try to understand whether the teens really feel that significant changes occur at this age, and hear from their parents about what they experienced around their Bat/Bar Mitzvah year.

During the session, we will establish expectations for the continuation of the journey and will also familiarize ourselves with two tools that will accompany us throughout the program. The “personal and group map” will accompany us through all the sessions, and on it the participants will artistically express the processes they undergo either separately or together. The second tool is a personal online scrapbook that participants will receive that will accompany them throughout the process and in which they will record the various personal tasks they’ll receive.

“And You Shall Tell Your Son or Daughter…” – What pieces of identity am I made of? 

“Like a Russian doll / a doll within a doll within a doll / tucked within me are my mother and my grandmother and her mother and grandmother / all of our generations in a solid line / like an avenue of power” – Dalia Kava, Israeli poet

We will look at our personal identity puzzle and what unique pieces it consists of. How is the fact that I am at the same time American, Israeli, Jewish, and a teenager with my own personal interests and passions all tie together and form the unique puzzle that is me.

During this session, which will in part be one-on-one and in part with the participants’ family members, we will explore what we gain from each “puzzle piece” as well as what is passed down from our grandparents to our parents and then to us, as well as what we choose to take with us to our own future homes. Seeing all these as the qualities that will serve as a source of strength and inspiration that will accompany the participants from now on.

“Lech Lecha”- Adolescence and Bar/Bat Mitzva as a transition to a new realm 

This session is the first to take place in a group setting that will introduce the participants to one another. It will allow them both to share things they’ve created in the first two sessions, as well as open up the discussion to themes that are more easily discussed with peers rather than family. 

We will explore the motif of “Lech Lecha” (“Go from your country, your people, and your father’s house…”) in our lives, symbolizing the need to part from various things and people in our lives in order to mature, become independent, and fulfill our goals. Along with the personal aspect of the theme, we will take a look at the geographical journeys made by our ancestors, parents, and ourselves – and what impact those journeys have had on our identity and what we identify as and with.

“We Can Be Heroes?!” – On leadership and our ability to impact the world 

We will open this group session with the participants each sharing an anecdote wherein they faced difficulty and overcame it. We will focus on the “overcoming,” what qualities do we already possess, and who are the people in our circle of support.  

From there we will turn to our various sources of inspiration, both universal and Jewish. We will acquaint ourselves with stories of young people who showed leadership in complex situations. We will discuss leadership with a focus on strong role models with the goal of understanding the strengths of each participant that they can use to be a trailblazer – leading and being a leader.