Page 57 - Indulge October/November 2016

c Mmitzuvnaihtystusdeernvtiscteakperoonjects
By Abby Trachtman
As his bar mitzvah approached at Temple Beth El in
Allentown, Matthew G. decided to volunteer at Camp
Camelot for Children.
“Matthew loves working with small children and he has his
own special needs as well,” his mom said. “I liked that camp
was accessible to him.”
“I was a buddy to a camper who had the same thing as me;
he had a brace on his leg,“ Matthew recalled.
The Give a Mitzvah, Do a Mitzvah program encourages
bar and bat mitzvah students — those approaching the age
of 13 for boys and 12 for girls — to do a special project that
helps others in a meaningful way. Students raise money or
awareness, or volunteer as part of
the transition to adulthood during
the mitzvah process. The program
is coordinated by the Jewish
Federation of the Lehigh Valley.
Students also make their first who draw upon their experience as camp counselors to make
adult donation to the Jewish
Federation’s Annual Campaign
for Jewish Needs.
To find out how to get your
Jewish tween or teen started on
a path to a bar or bat mitzvah
project, contact the Jewish
Federation at 610-821-5500 or
visit www.jewishlehighvalley.
org/mitzvah.
Finding the religious cho
for you By Stephanie Bolmer
You want your kids to get into
a good school, but what about
a good religious school? The
Lehigh Valley has plenty of
possibilities when it comes to
after-school Jewish religious
training.
“Our real strength is
our inspiring faculty, who
make religious school
a memorable, fun, and
relevant experience in which kids are happy
to be participating,” Alicia Zahn, religious school director of
the conservative Temple Beth El in Allentown, said of their
program. The synagogue also hosts a pluralistic high school
program called Shalshelet, open to 10th through 12th graders
from throughout the community.
At Congregation Keneseth Israel, a Reform congregation in
Allentown, many of the teaching sta are local college students
their lessons interactive and engaging.
Chabad of the Lehigh Valley o ers a dynamic program that
attracts students from across the Valley to their Allentown
location for Sunday morning classes.
The Congregation Brith Sholom-Bnai Abraham Religious
School (both conservative, located in Bethlehem and Easton,
respectively), o ers a strong Jewish education emphasizing
critical thinking and including art, music, movies and more.
Also in Easton is the Temple Covenant of Peace religious
school, which is Reform and draws not only from the Lehigh
Valley but also from eastern New Jersey.
And, if private Hebrew instruction is more your speed,
Reconstructionist Congregation Am Haskalah o ers it.
See Pages 23-24 to learn more about local synagogues.
19jewishlehighvalley.org