Chaverim Shabbat Oneg

This past Saturday, Chaverim had the chance to get together as a group for some fun after services. We played games in the gym like kickball and football, and we learned together. We discussed items present within Beth Shalom’s sanctuary and what similar items we would have found in the Mikdash. It was an afternoon filled with fun and games, as well as some really great discussions about this connection. We are looking forward to our next Shabbat oneg where we will get another opportunity to learn and play together!

6th-12th Grade Snow tubing night!

Last week, 6th-12th graders from both Beth Shalom and Beth El had the chance to go snow tubing at Wildwood Highlands. The snow and cold didn’t stop us from having a blast flying down the hill! With frosty breath and big smiles, we warmed up next to a campfire right next to the tubing run afterwards. This was an amazing night out with friends from all over and we can’t wait for more programs together in the future!

Chaverim Goes Bowling!

Sunday, January 19th was our Chaverim Bowling afternoon. Everyone had an awesome time perfecting their technique at Forward Lanes! Strikes, spares, and smiles were all we saw that day. Can’t wait for our next Chaverim event in March where we will get the chance to make our own grogger, just in time for Purim!

 

See you then!

Last week, Chaverim got together in the youth lounge to watch the Steelers play their game in London!

Although the outcome of the game wasn’t what we had hoped for, everyone had an awesome time. We had the chance to make our own Steelers jersey, cool Steelers jewelry, play football in the gym, and eat ice cream. We even got our pictures taken as Ben Roethlisberger! Can’t wait for our next event this upcoming Saturday, October 12; board game extravaganza in the youth lounge from 12:30 – 2 PM! See you there.

Evan

Last Sunday Atid Went To The Children’s Museum And Had An Awesome Time!

After meeting in the youth lounge for lunch we were on our way to the Children’s Museum. We played in a 3 level maze, learned about creating electrical circuits, launched parachutes to the ceiling, and experimented with water flow. It was a great time and we can’t wait for our next Atid event!

 

Evan

Kadima went Sukkah hopping last night!

Last night, Kadima had it’s own awesome Sukkah hop. We visited four different Sukkot and had some yummy treats at each. A heartfelt Todah Rabah goes to out to Frayda Cohen, Lynn Berman, Brenda Kurland, and Lorraine Mackler for hosting!

Chag Sameach!

Evan

 

This past Saturday, USY held it’s first text study of the year and went on their Sukkah hop!

For the first half of this year, USY has decided to delve further into the Chanukah story for it’s Saturday morning text study. With Chaukah coming so early this season, and it coinciding with Thanksgiving, it seemed only fitting to look closer at a story that many of us know well to see what else we can uncover. (Amazingly, this is the first time it’s happened since President Lincoln established Thanksgiving in 1863 and it is also the last time it’ll happen until the year 79,811.) 

After Kiddush, USY set out on their Sukkah hop. Not even the rain could deter us from having a great time. We ate some delicious food, sang, and had a lot of fun. A big Todah Rabah goes out to the Leib’s and the Manspeizer-Cohen’s for hosting us and providing some yummy treats. Can’t wait until next year for another Sukkah hop!

Chag Sameach

Evan

First USY Open Lounge!

Last night was the first USY open lounge of the year. This gave the teens a chance to re-connect with friends after the summer and relax with us in our youth lounge. We had pizza, snacks, intense games of Jenga, and some wild, crazy, and creative games in the gym. We all had a really great time and it was the perfect way to kick off the year. Can’t wait for our next program, our Sukkah hop on September 21st!

See you all then!

Shana Tova and Have an easy fast!

Evan Silverstein

First Kadima Open Lounge of The Year!

Yesterday Kadima had it’s first open lounge night of the school year and what fun we had! We had some intense Wii Mario Kart action, pizza, basketball, pool, foosball, and some great time getting to know each other.

We also had the chance to meet our new Youth Director, Evan Silverstein, our Kadima Advisor, Dorit Adams, and our Chaverim/Atid advisor, Zach Schaffer! It was a great time and we can’t wait for the next lounge on Tuesday, September 24th when we get to to go on our Kadima Sukkah Hop!!

Intense Wii Mario Kart Action

End of Year Kadima and USY Programs!

On Sunday, June 2, we ended a great year of programming for Kadima and USY with two fun programs, both outdoors on a beautiful day!

In the afternoon, Kadima met at the Yoffees’ house for a BARBEQUE! We played board games, painted fingernails, hung out in the yard, and enjoyed lots of snacks and (parve) cake with our grilled burgers, hot dogs and veggie dogs!

It was a really delicious way to end our year together:

In the evening, USY met at the Rosenfelds’ house for their final banquet of the year! We watched the video yearbook compiled by Samantha Linder, enjoyed lots of snacks and s’mores from the fire pit, uninstalled our Executive Board for 2012-2013 and installed next year’s board for 2013-2014!

And of course, we took lots of photos of our last event together. Many more can be seen in the BSUSY Facebook group.

In the fall, the Youth Department welcomes a new Youth Director, Evan Silverstein, who has recently moved to Pittsburgh from Colorado and can’t wait to meet the families of Beth Shalom. Evan is currently staffing a teen trip to Israel for several weeks over the summer, and will be  beginning at Beth Shalom in mid-July.

He grew up at the Jewish summer camp GUCI in Indiana, and graduated from Indiana University before spending a couple of years teaching snowboarding to many different age groups in Colorado. He’s very excited to dive into Jewish youth group programming here at Beth Shalom, and to get to know you.

Carolyn will be moving to Jerusalem in August to spend a year studying at Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, before returning to the Pittsburgh Jewish community next June. She will also be participating in Yeshiva University’s Certificate in Experiential Education over the course of next year. She’s excited for the opportunities ahead, but will truly miss the Youth Department at Beth Shalom.

Thank you for a great year,

and have a wonderful summer!

See you soon!