Spotlight Youth

The visually impaired are active, accomplished, and independent members of our community. But can they play lacrosse? Now they can, thanks to an inclusive invention by one Jewish teen with a passion for the popular sport and tikkun olam, repairing the world. A Rising Student and Athlete Gabrielle Kiewe is a senior at Schechter School of Long Island in New York, a K-12 Jewish Day School powered by T-STEAM curriculum...

Hannah Weiss People across North America are boosting their sustainability efforts to honor a beloved member of our community, Hannah Weiss. The 19-year-old perished in a plane crash in Costa Rica on New Year’s Eve 2017, along with her parents, Mitchell and Leslie, and 16-year-old brother, Ari, who was a USY chapter president at Congregation B'nai Israel in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Weiss family members were wel...

Elianna Sokoler of Southern California’s Temple Aliyah was one of four Americans who had the chance to test their knowledge of the Tanach in Israel. After endless hours of daily studying, note taking and memorizing the most minute details, everything finally came together earlier this year for now-college freshman Elianna Sokoler of Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills, California. Elianna represented the United States in ...

In the United States, more than half a million people face homelessness. Most Americans have at least encountered somebody who is battling homelessness—whether it was giving a friendly nod while passing them on the street or stopping to share spare change. Earlier this year, teens from New York’s Westchester Jewish Center saw homelessness through a different lens as they spent a week giving back to the growing homeless p...

When people picture what it means to live in a diverse society, many envision individuals of all races, religions and genders coming together in harmony. But as 17-year-old Jordan Tralins recently pointed out to her synagogue Congregation B’nai Israel of St. Petersburg, there’s another component of diversity that can’t be overlooked—ability. During Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month in February, Jordan too...