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)

Teen Tikkun

gram and the friendships gen-
erated by the AJE teen unity
mission to Poland, Lazar and
leaders in NCSY approached the
AJE with the idea for Teens for
Tikkun Olam.
In addition to organizing
weekly volunteer activities,
Lazar will help place teens in-
terested in other volunteer op-
portunities. He is also starting
an incentive program, with reg-
ular volunteers eligible to win

Jeff Lazar hopes a new volunteer program
will foster unity among Jewish youth.

JULIE WIENER STAFF WRITER

I

ikkun Olam, repairing the
world, is a Jewish concept
embraced by all denomi-
nations.
Adjust the second word slight-
ly, and you have "tikkun am," re-
pairing a people.
Seasoned volunteer Jeff Lazar
is hoping to do both at the same
time, through a new program he
is coordinating called Teens for
Tikkun Olam.
Under the auspices of the
Agency for Jewish Education
(AJE), the program will bring
together local teens from a vari-
ety of youth groups and schools
for volunteer activities at Jew-
ish and secular agencies
throughout metropolitan De-
troit. It is being funded through
a $23,000 grant from the Ben
Teitel Charitable Trust, says
AJE executive director Howard
Gelberd.
In addition to streamlining
volunteer placement and teach-
ing about tikkun olam, Lazar
hopes the program will enable
teens of different moments to fo-
cus on shared goals.
"I hope it will form unity" said
Lazar, 22, who is Orthodox but
grew up Conservative. "Usually
everyone concentrates on dif-

ferences, but I'd like to concen-
trate on the areas [like tikkun
olam] that are not differ-
ent. It's an opportunity to
build friendships."
Gerald Cook, trustee of
the Ben Teitel Charitable
Trust, said the biggest
reason his foundation de-
cided to fund the program
is the focus on unity.
"This will be a wonder-
ful opportunity for Jews
of all movements to meet
each other and get to
know each other person-
to-person in an environ-
ment that stresses what
they have in common, not
what divides them," said
Cook, who is Conserva-
tive. "This effort will help
bridge some of the gaps,
and then maybe the teens
can teach the adults a
thing or two."
Teens For Tikkun
Olam grew out of Lazar's
work coordinating a
Thursday night chesed
(kindness) program for
National Council of Syn-
agogue Youth (NCSY).
Inspired by the success
of NCSY's volunteer pro- Jeff Lazar: Volunteers and unity.

prizes, and he is asking teens to
get involved in planning special
events, like a clothing drive.
Educators from a number
of programs -- including Akiva
Hebrew Day School, Temple
Shir Shalom, Congregation Shir
Tikvah and Beth Abraham
Hillel Moses — will be encour-
aging their students to get in-
volved, and activities with the
Jewish Association for Residen-
tial Care (JARC), Yad Ezra and

Menorah House are already in
the works.
Funding is guaranteed for a
year, after which the program
will undergo evaluation and
seek new sources of support.

❑

Teens For Tikkun Olam will
have its first event on Thurs-
day, Sept. it For information,
call Jeff Lazar at AJE, (248)
354-1050.

.

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