#HanukkahBashRI a big hit with teens

Julia Keizler, Amy Vogel and Roxane Robin enjoy themselves at the Hanukkah party. At right are photos from the photo booth.

The dream of a communitywide Jewish teen event came true Dec. 14 when more than 30 teens gathered at the Dwares JCC to enjoy fun and food.

They spent a few hours with activities such as a gaga pit, games with prizes and a photo booth. The $10 admission included food from the Chubby Chickpea food truck. Fun and friendship was the name of the game, all in a relaxed atmosphere. Everything was designed to help all the groups get to know one another. “It was a great event. Teens were tweeting from the event,” said Jana Brenman, director of teen engagement at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

The teen and adult representatives are working hard to establish a more unified and vibrant community, and expect this will be the first of many events. With broad involvement, they hope to build up teen participation and activism within the community, setting the foundation for Jewish involvement as adults.  As Penina Satlow, one of the teens organizing the event, pointed out, “We’re also hoping to reduce the segregation of the local Jewish community as a whole.”

Jewish teens in greater Rhode Island have a number of social groups to join. Synagogue-based groups include the NCSY (Orthodox), USY (Conservative), and PROVTY and CRAFTY (Reform). Others are BBYO (non-denominational and the oldest teen group in the country), Camp JORI (which holds periodic gatherings during the year) and the athletics-oriented Maccabi.  Up to now, these groups have had little contact and association with one another, especially in Providence.  Recent drops in membership and attendance rates at nearly all the youth groups have emphasized this separation, and many groups have struggled to keep a critical mass of teens involved.

This past summer, Brenman led an effort to change that with events open to all local teens regardless of affiliation. In September, teen and adult representatives of all the groups met and decided to start with a Hanukkah party. “The teens made all the decisions about food and activities for this event,” she said. “Teens are looking forward to planning more communitywide events.”

With reports from PENINA SATLOW.