“Withhold not help from the needy when it is in your power to render it.” -- Book of Proverbs
Do your part to make the world a better place. You will grow by giving to others. Community service hours can be documented. Local, national and international options are open to you. Spend your spring break laying water lines to bring clean water to a community in a developing country, or help to fight deforestation. If you want to stay local, join teens from other religious and ethnic groups right here in Suffolk County for Unity in the Community -- a day of hands-on community service. There are lots of options, just be sure to do something!
American Jewish Society for Service Make a difference this summer. Build low-income houses, live with other Jewish teenagers and explore a new corner of the U.S. in this six-week summer camp work project. AJSS can help to find the right program for you.
Expand your horizons. Meet people who enjoy the same interests as you. Study your favorite subject at a university level -- film, Torah, ethics, science, Israel and politics – just to name a few. Financial aid is available for many of these programs.
Berkshire Institute for Music and Art (BIMA) BIMA is a summer arts program for Jewish teenagers. We offer four core areas of artistic study: music (jazz/ chamber/choral), painting, creative writing or theater. Our mission is to guide students as they develop their imaginative and artistic faculties and explore the relevance of Jewish tradition to students’ lives. BIMA is committed to the value of a serious and dynamic encounter between artistic expression and Jewish life. At Brandeis University.
CAJE Teen Leadership Kallah The Teen Leadership Kallah is a part of the annual Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education. It is for teens who share an interest in becoming Jewish educators that are students entering grades 10-12 or their first year of college. Our participants are housed in the Duke University dormitories.
Youth group is so much fun that you don’t even realize that it is transforming. Some of the greatest leaders in our country learned their skills as teenagers in their youth group. You meet tons of people from our area, and then go on regional events where you make even more friends! If you are one of the only Jewish kids in your class, this is the place to find people who are just like you.
BBYO With more than 18,000 members and 80 years of experience, BBYO is known as the largest and most effective provider of identity-building and leadership development programs for Jewish teens.
Mountain climbing, biking or organic farming. Do it for the environment; do it because you are Jewish. The programs listed here give you hands-on opportunities to do something to save our planet.
Hazon Bike Rides and Training Rides Jewish environmental bike rides use Jewish tradition in an inventive way -- to raise environmental awareness in the Jewish community, to raise money for Jewish environmental projects, and to deepen people's understanding of Jewish tradition.
Project Adamah – Teen Leadership Institute Project ADAMAH is a 1-2 week residential summer program for Jewish teens that integrates agriculture, community building, leadership training, and outdoor Jewish communal living. Participants spend their days working on an organic farm, participating in outdoor adventure activities, and partaking in a variety of projects that foster creative self- expression.
Journalism
Use your writing ability to make your voice heard. Fresh Ink gives you the opportunity to get your articles published in the Jewish Week. Write on For Israel trains a select group of high school juniors to become advocates for Israel through journalism.
Fresh Ink (Jewish Week) Fresh Ink is a special Jewish Week supplement written for - and by - high school students. Teens can write, shoot photography or illustrate articles.
Oznia: A Blog of Israel Things Written by high school students, for high school students, Oznia is a collective of young bloggers and activists, dedicated to gathering exciting, engaging and challenging nuggets about Israel and Zionism.
Write On For Israel Write On For Israel is an intensive and exciting two-year program that trains a select group of high school students to become advocates for Israel through journalism. A project of the New York Jewish Week newspaper, Write On For Israel teaches students about Israel, Zionism and the Arab-Israeli conflict and empowers them to become effective advocates through writing, broadcasting and public speaking. Culminates in a free trip to Israel.
Politics
Jews make up one of the most politically active communities in the United States. We also work hard to build bridges with other religious and ethnic groups. The programs listed here give you the opportunity to engage directly with your peers in other minority groups, to lobby for your beliefs on Capitol Hill, and to travel to other countries to meet Jews of other nationalities.
AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) Contact Michael Glassman at or 202-639-5219
American Jewish World Service – Delegations Delegations travel to El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras or Nicaragua. Participants are involved in work projects such as planting, digging ditches for the laying of water lines and working in an arboretum designed to counteract deforestation. They study social justice and international development through a Jewish lens.
Meet Jews from all over the world. Explore your Jewish roots. Volunteer in a developing country that needs your help. Challenge yourself in the great outdoors. Go to Israel! Combine your interest in sports or writing with travel. Never have there been such a variety of travel opportunities for teens. From Bulgaria to Poland to Italy and Israel, the world is out there for you to discover!
American Jewish Society for Service Make a difference this summer. Build low-income houses, live with other Jewish teenagers and explore a new corner of the U.S. in this six-week summer camp work project. AJSS can help you to find the right program for you.
American Jewish World Service Participants work for seven weeks with an AJWS partner organization in a rural area in the developing world. Projects require intense physical labor (approximately seven hours a day, five days a week). Structured discussions occur at least four times a week, and opportunities abound for cross-cultural exchange and community building within the group.
Photography, music, painting, creative writing, sculpture, theater and dance. High quality arts programs are offered in a Jewish context. Whether for fun or to develop your portfolio, the opportunities are there for the taking.
What Interests You? 
