here - Temple Beth El

BESTY
TEEN COMMUNITY
A soulful place for
friends,
friends
fun, and
fun
becoming
the leader you were
meant to be.
2013-14 Program Brochure
Temple Beth El
of South Orange County
The Samueli Center for Progressive Judaism
2A Liberty ● Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 ● 949.362.3999 ●www.tbesoc.org
What it is
BESTY Teen Community:
a soulful place for friends, fun, and becoming the leader you were meant to be.
A SUPPORTIVE PLACE TO BE WHO YOU ARE
BESTY’s primary value is that at all of our events, you feel
like you can be yourself. We know that in high school,
there is a pressure to fit in and it is some mes difficult to
feel welcomed. Our teen leadership board, youth director,
and rabbis are deeply commi ed to crea ng an inclusive
space where your unique presence and contribu on is
appreciated.
A SOULFUL PLACE
The unique opportunity of a synagogue community is
a place to explore what is meaningful and important in
life. Our BESTY teen leadership board will pick a handful
of topics that our teen community wants to explore and
will offer some fun events with our warm and spiritual
rabbis to discuss. Our Shabbat Club experiences in
our youth lounge and at people’s homes are informal
environments for singing and celebra on.
A FUN PLACE
Whatever fun ac vi es you envision, we can make
a reality. Everyone month, we’ll come together for an evening
in our youth lounge, various weekend ac vi es, including include
Broomball overnights, professional sport ou ngs, Yogurt and a
Movie, our infamous Club night, and many more....
A PLACE FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Many teen programs are just places to connect socially and hang out.
Our perspec ve is that teens have an important contribu on to make to
our synagogue community and the wide world. BESTY is unique in that
our core programming fulfills middle and high school community service
requirements. In both the 8th Grade Tzedakah Board and 9th-12th Grade
Teen Leadership Program, teens learn the skills necessary to transform
vision into ac on, supported by the wisdom of our Jewish tradi on.
Page 2
The Big Events
9th-10th Grade Fall Retreat
New York Trip
October 25-27, 2013
Camp Hess Kramer, Malibu
An opportunity for a weekend with friends to bond
deeper, enjoy sports, dance, music, art, Shabbat, and
much more. This retreat is a joint Temple Beth El and
TALIT retreat, so we will enjoy programs with just our
BESTY 9-10th graders, as well as the larger Orange
County Jewish Teen Community.
April 9 - 13, 2014
Expand your world with your BESTY friends. The
i nerary will include the Empire State Building, Ellis
Island, Statue of Liberty, Museums, a Broadway show,
Central Park, Shabbat on the upper westside, and a
window into Jewish NewYork. 11th and 12th graders
who are enrolled in the Teen Leadership Program with
good a endance are eligible to a end this trip.
BESTY Club Night
3rd Annual
Tzedakah Board Banquet
Saturday, November 30th, 2013 - 8 pm
Dress to the nines; rock out to a professional DJ with
laser lights, win big at casino games, including high
stakes dreidel, drink mocktails, connect with great
people. Win the raffle of assorted gi cards and movie
ckets to keep you busy this winter vaca on.This is a
club scene, the real deal, especially designed for you.
Bring friends, Jewish or not.
Extra casino chips, raffle ckets, and refreshments are
available for purchase.
Friday, May 16, 2014
7:15 pm following services
Join our 8th Grade Tzedakah Board for an inspiring
Shabbat dinner and learn about how our eighth
graders consensually decided what social issues they
wanted to address, how they chose and evaluated
different non-profit organiza ons, and their ul mate
decision where to grant thousands of dollars.
Graduation and Mitzvah
Recognition Evening
June 13, 2014
A Friday evening dinner and Shabbat service
celebra ng our teen leaders and gradua ng seniors.
Our teens will be recognized for their commitment,
crea vity, teaching skills, ability to connect with
younger students, and contribu ons to the
community.
Page 3
8th Grade Tzedakah Board
The 8th Grade Tzedakah Board is a philanthropic
founda on of eighth graders who are willing to
commit me outside of school to engage in ques ons
of how to fix our broken world. In this influen al
and dynamic program, par cipants will learn about
Jewish wisdom on charitable giving and social change,
financial literacy, and modern philanthropy, and then
award $4,000 - $10,000 to organiza ons that they
deem effec ve in making the world a be er place.
Being part of the 8th Grade Tzedakah Board will give
you the following:
• Greater sophis ca on about money and how it can
be leveraged to make posi ve change in the world.
• Deeper knowledge about how the wisdom of
Judaism can inform your decisions about money and
how to use it for prosperity for all.
• Connec on to other TBE teens around the mission
of making a difference in the world.
• A remarkable extracurricular
ac vity on your resume to help
open the door for college and
other job posi ons when you
reach that stage.
8th Grade Tzedakah Board
will meet on two Tuesday
Meet
Me
ets
ts tw
two
o
nights each month from
Tuesdays a
6:30-8:30pm. Besides
month from
registra on, par cipa on
6 30
6:
30-8:30p
0pm
m
will entail a student
contribu on of $100 to a
group fund. While you as
parents may need to help with this amount, it is our
hope that your child be able to contribute some or all
of their own money to this fund. The group fund will
be matched by an anonymous donor and students
will have the opportunity to par cipate in a group
fundraising ac vity to increase the fund amount.
Madrikhim in Training
(MIT)
An opportunity for 8th graders who want to stay
connected to our Shabbat community to begin to
acquire the leadership skills necessary to become
a madrikh - teacher in training. You will meet with
the Madrikhim mentor for 30 minutes at 4pm at the
beginning of Shabbat Chai and then will be assigned
a classroom to observe. All MIT’s
will gather for 15 minutes at the
end of Shabbat Chai to share and
learn about their experiences in
the classroom.
Page 4
9-12th grade TEEN LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
The Teen Leadership Program is open to 9th-12th
grade teens where we learn how to transform vision
into ac on. In this program, you will learn leadership
skills such as: public speaking, leading a discussion,
planning an age-appropriate lesson, or program,
excellent communica on skills while con nuing to
develop Jewish knowledge that is personally relevant
and meaningful.
You have the opportunity to deepen your Jewish
thinking and learning by planning and execu ng a
“program” to engage others. You can choose be a
“Madrikh” where you plan a:
• 25 minute lesson for 3-5th grade or 6-7th Grade
Shabbat Chai
• 15-30 minute lesson in individual Shabbat Chai
classroom
There are other op ons for leadership besides being a
madrikh. You can:
• Lead an ac vity for a BESTY program
• Create Jewish educa onal content for online
interac on
• Create a visual display to showcase Jewish themes
at TBE
• Share Jewish content through songleading at
Shabbat Chai programs
• Run a BESTY board mee ng.
• Teach computer class for older members of the
congrega on
• Helping organize and be a resource for the Temple
library
• Develop storytelling skills to prac ce with all
different ages in the synagogue.
• Peer Counseling
Teen Lea
Teen
Te
Lead
dershi
ders
de
hip
hi
p Prog
Progra
ram
m al
allllows
lows you
you
u to
to
fulfill community service requirements for your
school, keeping you
connected to your friendss
at Temple Beth El.
It meets two
Tuesdays a month
from 6:30-8:30pm
Page 5
Ongoing Events
Shabbat Club
tuesday Lounge Night
We gather for a Friday night Shabbat dinner six mes
a year. Half of our gatherings are in the comfort of
member’s homes and half take place in the Youth
Lounge a er services.
This community building evening including games,
movies, homework space, holiday celebra ons,
special presenta ons. Occurs once a month.
Deep Questions with the Rabbi
Special Holiday or
Weekend Events
In our teen community, we celebrate holidays
like Purim, Sukkot, or Simchat Torah our way with
dance par es, games at parks, costume par es and
fashion shows. Special events also include Broomball
overnights, professional sports events, bowling and
mini golf, Yogurt and a Movie, etc...
Our BESTY leadership board will plan a series of
events with our Temple Beth El rabbis to explore deep
ques ons and life’s mysteries.
Passport to Regional Youth Events
As Temple Beth El is affiliated with both Reform
and Conserva ve Na onal Movements, the BESTY
community is both the local NFTY Reform teen
chapter and the USY Conserva ve teen chapter.
BESTY members can choose to par cipate in the
Regional Youth Events, allowing them to make
friendships with an even wider group of teens. In
addi on, BESTY and Bureau of Jewish Educa on’s
TALIT program have synergis c programming,
allowing our teens access to the wider Orange County
Jewish Teen Community.
Page 6
PROGRAM FEES
PROGRAM
COST
BESTY ONLY
$136
8TH GRADE TZEDAKAH BOARD
(Includes BESTY membership and MIT)
TEEN LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
(Includes BESTY membership)
Madrikhim in Training
(Includes BESTY membership)
$665
$665
$136
Registration for our teen community will be available after May 15
on our temple website under the tabs Social/BESTY Teens
Please don’t hesitate to contact Rabbi K’vod Wieder at
kvod@tbesoc.org with any questions
Page 7
949/ 362.3999
2A Liberty
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
www.TBESOC.org