Section archive - Informal Education

The New York Incubator for Immersive Jewish Summer Experiences for Teens, a joint project between The Jewish Education Project and UJA-Federation of New York with support from the Jim Joseph Foundation, is a four-year initiative that will launch 16 innovative Jewish summer programs designed for teens from the New York Metropolitan area. Together with a broad-based publicity campaign and marketing training for existing program providers, this initiative will elevate the brand of Jewish summer experiences for New York teens. By the end of summer 2018, approximately 1100 teens will have participated in these groundbreaking experiences, with a yearly projection of 460 program spots for these experiences moving forward.

Rose Community Foundation (RCF) in Denver, CO announced the launch today of a multi-faceted Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Initiative, supported by a four-year matching grant up to $2,256,015 from the Jim Joseph Foundation. The collaborative initiative has five key components and is designed both to increase the number and diversity of high school age Jewish teens participating in Jewish education and engagement experiences, and to deepen the quality and diversity of those experiences. The grant was awarded within the framework of the Jim Joseph Foundation’s national-local funder collaborative, a group of funders interested in working together to expand and deepen community-based Jewish teen education and engagement.

When Argentina plays its opening-round matches in the World Cup, Mariano Schlez of Buenos Aires will be screaming his support from the stands. But taking in his home country’s matches in Brazil isn’t all that will be occupying Schlez for the first fortnight of the month long soccer spectacle. Also filling his calendar are 14 “Jewish” events that he and his wife have organized in seven of the host cities. They include Shabbat evening prayers, beach soccer games leading into Saturday night Havdalah services, pickup games and Jewish heritage tours. Their goal is to bring together international Jewish visitors already united by a passion for soccer – known throughout the world, but not in America, as football.

Roman Polonsky, Director of The Jewish Agency for Israel's Russian-Speaking Jewry Unit, noted that the organization is expanding its summer camp activities in Ukraine this year and will be dispatching more Israeli counselors to the camps than in previous years. 'It is important that we reach as many children and young people across the country as possible, in order to provide them with a meaningful experience and a break from the goings-on in the country,' said Polonsky.