Hi,

My name is Pam Connolly. My family and I have been members of PCS for
the past six years. My youngest daughter Katie became a Bat Mitzvah in
March 2007, after attending the PCS Hebrew School from the age of nine.
For Katie, and our entire family, this experience was a truly
meaningful and joyful rite of passage. At the time I was really struck
with  how  deeply connected Katie was to being Jewish, and to the
significance of the ritual she was taking part in. At no point in the
process did I have the sense that she was simply going through the
motions, as was the case for me when I was Bat Mitzvahed in 1972! What
a huge accomplishment it was for her to learn all the prayers, torah
portion, and haftorah! And what a huge weight was lifted after the day
came and went (for me too!) and everything went swimmingly. And then
the air cleared-- no more hebrew school, no more private lessons with
Nilli, no more... connection to being Jewish?
 

I did not want this valuable connection to get lost for Katie. In my
travels a friend of mine told be about J-teen, a group of  Westchester
Jewish teens that meet and perform community service in places around
Westchester, the New York metropolitan area, and beyond. After learning
about a mother-daughter mission they were planning to Baton Rouge,
Louisiana to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, I asked Katie if
she would like to go, and she did. It was such a wonderful experience
for her on so many levels-- first to be with other Jewish kids from
other towns, to see that not everyone in this country lives the same
way that she does, and to see that ultimately, she has the power to
make a difference-- she can help repair the world. Louisiana was a very
powerful experience, but J-teen continues to do other things, more
locally, on an ongoing basis.
 

The program is run by Tracey Bilski and Abbe Marcus, and the thing that
stands out about it is they make it fun. They plan events and trips
that provide service to the community at the same time as being fun.
And so, Katie wants to go. She wants to be with these other teens from
other towns, teens like her who care about repairing the world. She
feels empowered and cool, and Jewish, and really as a parent, what more
could one wish for? I wanted to share this story with you because if
you are looking for a way to have your child stay connected to their
Jewishness and the spirit that was sparked at PCS, this is a wonderful
vehicle. I am enclosing some further information.
 
If you have any questions, please call me!

Thanks for listening!

Pam Connolly
PCS J-teen Coordinator
914-449-6035