The last few days have been unlike anything we’ve ever experienced as a Jewish community, and we know that our teens find themselves with questions that need to be answered and and feelings that need be processed.

This Sunday, from 10am-12pm, we welcome all 8th-12th graders (including any teens who are not enrolled in OTRS*) to this community event with Shy Ashkenazi, Dean Bagdadi and Rabbi Kalender, for a facilitated conversation about what is happening in Israel. Shy is a former community shaliach, a seasoned educator with a degree from George Washington University in Israel Education, and, having served as our music specialist last school year, he is also a familiar face to many of our OTRS students and within the community at large. Dean is in his second year as our community shaliach at the Pozez JCC.

This will be a program in three parts—basic history/vocabulary (how did we get here and what do these words and names mean?), what happened and is happening, and questions/reactions. We will begin with some boundary setting which will include naming that there are things teens may have seen/read/heard about that aren't going to be a part of our formal presentation, but we will have resources available to help them process those things, including an open invitation to meet with our rabbis to continue the conversation. We will also talk about social media and the role it plays in our teens' lives as it relates to Israel.

*All OTRS students enrolled in OTRS Tichon and Confirmation classes will be a part of this discussion. In addition, any OTRS madrichim who would like to join the conversation at 10:00am are encouraged to do so.