Teen Programs and Pathways to Confirmation
Mishkan Shalom is proud to offer meaningful experiences to our students in grades 8 – 12. This year we are offering our signature teen programs with Teen Coordinator Holli Goldenberg and Rabbi Shawn
2023- 2024 Dates:
October 2
2 - Teen brunch @ Rabbi Shawn’s 11:30-1 - intro games/leadership
November 12 - Jewish Relief Agency in the morning with school - we will meet there at 10am
December 10 - Hanukkah party and open mic - teens will be invited to the candle lighting/dinner then we will do an open mic for any kids who want to participate
January 21- JT Waldman Comic Workshop
February 11- Jewish Disability Awareness Month Praying with Lior screening and question/ answer session with Lior
March 24- Purim Carnival help, annual carnival with Congregation Or Hadash
April 7- Guest speaker on the topic of immigration
May 5- End of the year celebration
Pathways to Confirmation
Rabbi Shawn Zevit Rabbishawn@mishkan.org
Mishkan Shalom offers a Confirmation ceremony for students completing 10th or 11th grade every year at Shavuot, generally in May or June on a Shabbat morning.
In Jewish tradition, Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies focus on an individual child becoming a Jewish adult, while Confirmation ceremonies focus on a community of young adults confirming their commitment to Judaism and Jewish living.
Confirmation studies teach young adult Jews that they are entering a sacred community in which they can question, challenge, and debate Jewish questions without being judged. The confirmation model also encourages youth to work together as a community to contribute to the world around them. Confirmation emphasizes the importance of communal participation in Judaism. Our Mishkan teens working towards Confirmation study with the Mishkan rabbis in a program called “Leadership Seminar.”
Because we offer different options for students for programming for teens in 8th - 10th grades, we have outlined the following guidelines for reaching Confirmation:
8th grade:
Teen participates in at least one teen program: Food for Thought, Teen Social group or Teen Leadership Seminar.
9th grade:
Teen participates in at least two teen programs: Food for Thought, Teen Social group, Teen Leadership Seminar or being an aide in the Congregational School.
10th or 11th grade:
Teen participates in Teen Leadership Seminar and is encouraged to participate in at least one other teen program or project in the area of social justice and Jewish life. Generally each of the three programs meet on a designated day or days once a month.
Confirmation will take place in the spring of 10th or 11th grade near the holiday of Shavuot. The Confirmation service is a creative one in which teens work with the rabbi and may lead parts of the service, read Torah and share their thoughts about being Jewish.
