The TELEM program for teens grades 8-12, offers participants the opportunity to learn about social justice issues and to build relationships that make a difference in people’s lives. In this program model, participants volunteer at one service site over a sustained period of time, giving them the chance to build consistent and meaningful relationships with people at their service site. TELEM teens volunteer with their Jewish peers, enabling them to build a stronger Jewish identity through this shared experience. The TELEM curricula offer the chance to learn in more depth and to think critically about social justice issues from a Jewish perspective. TELEM programs are organized through area synagogue and temple supplementary schools, day schools and youth groups.
Goals
- To make meaningful service-learning possible for all Jewish teens in Greater Boston.
- To help Jewish teens develop a lifelong interest in volunteering that is a fundamental part of their Jewish identity.
- Through the TELEM peer group experience, to develop a deeper connection to their Jewish community and peers.
- To assist our service partners in reaching their goals and fulfilling their missions.
Pillars
- Service is on a sustained basis at one service site.
- Service that fulfills a real need and is necessary to help our service partners fulfill their missions.
- Service that is as people-centered and relational as possible.
- Service that challenges a participant’s assumptions about others/clients, that brings participants out of their comfort zones into a new and different community.
- Curriculum that enhances and parallels the service experience. Both introductory and track-specific curricula are written with a Jewish perspective.
- Immersion in a Jewish peer group experience.
Jewish Partner Organizations
- Congregation Agudath Achim, Taunton
- Congregation Beth El, Sudbury
- Congregation Or Atid, Wayland
- Congregation Kerem Shalom, Concord
- Rashi School, Dedham
- Temple Aliyah, Needham
- Temple Beth Am, Framingham
- Temple Beth David, Westwood
- Temple Beth Elohim, Wellesley
- Temple Beth Shalom, Needham
- Temple Chayai Shalom, Easton
- Temple Emanuel, Newton
- Temple Isaiah, Lexington
- Temple Israel, Natick
- Temple Israel, Sharon
- Temple Ohabei Shalom, Brookline
- Temple Shalom, Medford
- Temple Sinai, Brookline
- Temple Sinai, Sharon
