The Latest from BZBI

Learning with our Teens about Homelessness and Building a Home for God

March 23, 2016

This past Shabbat morning, all of us gathered in the sanctuary for services stood up from our seats for the culmination of the weekly Torah portion- the reading of the last verse of Exodus. For weeks, Jewish communities worldwide have been reading about the building of the Mishkan- the Tabernacle that would sit at the center of the Israelite camp in the wilderness, serving as a dwelling place for the Divine Presence in the midst of the people. Finally, we read last week of the structure’s completion, culminating in a cloud descending over the Mishkan, and God’s Presence filling it.

After we returned the Torah to the ark, I eagerly headed downstairs to join BZBI’s teenage members in a conversation about homelessness, inspired by the Mishkan and the morning’s Torah reading. I was excited to participate in Teaching Torah to Teens- a monthly gathering that was launched at BZBI last fall, created and facilitated by our community engager, Terri Soifer- a skilled educator.

Each month our teens meet and engage in the study of “living Torah,” addressing a wider range of pressing issues using the weekly parashah as a springboard. Each session is co-facilitated by a different teacher, including members of our clergy and guest speakers from various local non-profit organizations.

This was my first opportunity to join the teens as a “guest teacher,” and it was a pleasure. I joined a group of 15 thoughtful and enthusiastic young members of our shul in a discussion of Judaism’s response to homelessness. Together we read biblical and rabbinic texts about what it means to be a citizen and how Jewish law requires us to response to the needs of those around us. The teens explored some difficult questions, for example: Do we have the same obligation to address the needs of our neighbors as we do for other citizens of Philadelphia? In what ways is Jewish practice meant to sensitize us to the needs of others?

I have had the pleasure of getting to know these teens over the past two years- visiting their classes, schmoozing with them around the building and teaching many of them for their bat/bar mitzvahs. In that short time I have watched them grow and mature. I was moved last Shabbat to see the seriousness with which they explore the most pressing questions of how to live a meaningful Jewish life and how to be an engaged and responsible member of the communities in which they live, informed by the Jewish wisdom and values that they’ve encountered here at BZBI. I always look forward to learning with, and from, the students here at BZBI.

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