Category: Education

Earlier this year, seven TE teens were able to attend the L’taken seminar of the Religious Action Center in Washington, DC with Rabbi Farbman. We are grateful to TE’s Rabbi Brieger Youth Fund, Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven, and Barbara Rosenthal Memorial Fund for making this trip possible for our teens. Below are some of their reflections on their experience.

Sarah: This February, I was privileged to take part in a very transformative and life-changing four-day seminar called L’taken, meaning “to repair.” The annual program is run by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. It is held in Washington DC, where hundreds of Jewish teens come together from across the country to learn about the many prevalent issues negatively affecting our society and to lobby on Capitol Hill urging congressmen/women to support and pass important/essential bills. We also included an insight into how Reform Jewish beliefs relate to the importance of passing the bills. The topics included reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, gun control and safety, mental health, antisemitism. My group specifically focused on encouraging officials to pass a bill allowing better mental health resources for students throughout the country.

In addition to lobbying and learning about our country’s prominent issues, we were able to visit many museums and monuments throughout DC. We visited the Jefferson Memorial, the Capitol, the MLK Memorial, and the Air and Space Museum. The most powerful experience for me was visiting the Holocaust Museum. Thanks to the Barbara Rosenthal Fund, I was able to visit the museum for a second time. Walking through it again still gave me chills. Seeing the individual names and pictures of victims throughout the halls always makes it very hard for me to understand how such a terrible massacre could have existed. The museum itself has great importance in our society today. Its purpose is not only to memorialize the millions of victims heartlessly murdered during the Holocaust but to also educate people on its terrible existence and how it can be prevented in the future. The world must learn, reflect, and never let it happen again.

Maya: The L’Taken seminar was an amazing experience that I am so grateful to have participated in. I am usually not very interested in topics of policy and government, but this program was engaging, fun, and showed me that standing up for issues that I am passionate about is so important. Writing a speech about mental health policy in the United States and its intersection with Judaism to later present to our district representatives gave me the chance to shed light on an important issue that I care about. It also allowed me to figure out how I am personally connected to a much larger and widespread issue throughout the nation, as well as learn about my friends’ perspectives in order to collaborate on the speech. Not only did this program teach me so much about policy in the US, it also was so amazing to see and connect with so many other Jewish teens from around the country. During Shabbat services, it was interesting to hear so many familiar melodies that we sing at TE, as well as variations of them that other people in the room were more familiar with. This, as well as meeting new friends during group activities and meals were great ways to connect with other people throughout the program.

Lucy: L’taken was an amazing weekend and such a worthwhile experience. I got so much closer with all of my peers at TE and we all learned so much. I’m so grateful that I was able to participate. During the program, I learned so much. One night we did a lobbying simulation where we got to be in smaller workshops based on what we were most interested in and got a chance to lobby our senators and representatives. For my speech, I chose to write about criminal justice reform with an old friend from Congregation Mishkan Israel, the congregation that we went to the event with and did most of our programs together. I gained so much useful knowledge about public speaking, working quickly and under pressure. After our trip, I decided to join the Religious Action Center’s teen social justice fellowship and I am excited to continue to work with them. 

Katie: I had a fantastic time at L’taken. I really enjoyed working with my peers on this incredible experience. We had the privilege of hearing from many different influential speakers, including Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker who survived being held hostage in the Colleyville synagogue. His bravery gave significant meaning to why we were all there, which was to start and create change. Our goal of learning to influence and make change was challenging at times, but the L’taken staff helped us advocate for our important causes and made it fun and interesting. Additionally, I made a lot of new friends and improved my connections with my peers. I am extremely thankful to everyone who made this trip possible, I gained lots of new leadership skills that I will use going forward. 

This 10+ session course is offered to those looking to learn how to read Hebrew and feel more comfortable in the synagogue services.

Sundays | October 23 & 30, November 6, 13 & 20, December 4, 11 & 18, January 15, 22 & 29, February 5 & 12.
10 am – 11 am (after the Asephah).

PLEASE REGISTER BY OCTOBER 21. PLEASE CONTACT OLGA MARKUS IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

Olga Markus was born and raised in the former Soviet Union and played an active role in resurgence of Jewish life and practice there in the early 1990s. Olga holds a Master’s Degree in Russian Language and Literature and an MA in Religious Education from University of London. Olga has over 20 years of experience as a Jewish educator and non-profit professional, with diverse international involvement in Jewish education, project and grant management, and vision-driven program design. In her professional career Olga worked as Senior Educator at West London Synagogue in London, UK; Regional Director of Education for the World Union of Reform Judaism in Russia; Educator in Residence at the Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington DC, and Assistant Executive Director at the Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations in New York City. She is passionate about Jewish learning, values, practice, Israel, and community life. Olga is proud to be  a member of Temple Emanuel community and is excited to work with dedicated TE lay leaders and professional team to help TE Religious School go from strength to strength.