We are Jewish feminist leaders dedicated to supporting the emotional development of Jewish teens, helping them grow into their fullest selves and work toward equity. In recent years, we’ve seen deep concern among Jewish parents about their teens’ moral and emotional development amid a divisive political and social climate where power is viewed as a zero-sum game. We know a different model is not only possible but necessary for our young people and our community.

Our work through Moving Traditions and jGirls+ Magazine, both funded by the Hadassah Foundation, is dedicated to realizing this alternative approach to power and leadership. We are invested in raising a new generation of leaders guided by explicitly Jewish and feminist values—ideals that we hope teens learn are inseparable.

jGirls+, which joined Moving Traditions earlier this year, is an online literary magazine written by Jewish girls and nonbinary youth. It amplifies young voices and creates a supportive community to engage with new ideas and lift each other up as they lead social change. The magazine’s editors
and photographers are also teens, who receive training to prepare them for these roles, and for leadership in the broader world. Interactive, experiential workshops that often include Jewish text study focus on such areas as racism and antisemitism, nonviolent communication and different views about Israel and Palestine.

Moving Traditions makes Jewish learning relevant and meaningful to youth, providing curricula and training to 250-plus partner organizations annually through such initiatives as a Rosh Hodesh program; B-Mitzvah Family Education for preteens and their parents; and Kulam, a curriculum that frames Jewish wisdom in social-emotional learning. In addition to the workshops for the jGirls+ leaders, Moving Traditions offers two other in-person fellowships: Kol Koleinu, for feminists in 9th through 12th grade to build community and activism skills; and Kumi, for 10th to 12th graders to challenge racism, antisemitism and other manifestations of oppression.

Our organizations joined together behind the shared vision that every young person deserves the social, emotional, spiritual and feminist grounding to pursue personal wholeness (shleimut),
build their own Jewish community committed to lovingkindness (chesed) and pursue a just world (tzedek). The great sage Hillel taught that the essence of Judaism is to treat others as you would be treated, which is a guidepost for leadership.

How can we be our strongest if we’re not cultivating all voices and potential? How can we claim to believe that we’re all created in God’s image, b’tzelem Elohim, if we’re not honoring everyone? Restoring dignity for all is essential for creating a more inclusive Jewish life and fulfilling the principle of tikkun olam, repairing the world, the inherently Jewish act of social justice.

Our teens learn that feminist leadership—or what we just call “leadership”—means using power to create space for those on the margins; working collaboratively and sharing resources; weaving community; mentoring the next generation; and making choices that are best for the largest number of people and for the planet.

As one recent alum shared at her jGirls+ online graduation, “jGirls+ Magazine has taught me how to learn and lead in parallel, and that those two ways of interacting in a space are actually most effective when they’re one and the same.”

Jewish communities are becoming increasingly divided, particularly over domestic politics and Israel, antithetical to the idea that all Jews are responsible for one another.

Our work cultivates civil interaction among young people with different identities, backgrounds and perspectives. Across our programs, teens bring their varied viewpoints and lived experiences together to grapple with topics such as what it means to be a Jew, antisemitism and Zionism. Exposure at a formative age to diversity of opinions, options and experiences within a respectful learning environment encourages open-mindedness, tolerance and collegiality. All this promotes the value of elu v’elu—making room for multiple viewpoints.

While we can’t immediately change what teens see in the news and on social media, we can provide training and resources that espouse a radically different definition of power. That starts with modeling something different—teaching routes to success that are kind, moral and mutually uplifting. We hope this approach to power will reverberate into Jewish communal spaces and beyond. 

Shuli Karkowsky is the CEO of Moving Traditions. Elizabeth Mandel is the founder of jGirls+ Magazine and the new vice president of feminist programs at Moving Traditions.