20 January 24 • 2019
jn
jn

Torah, Fun, Friends

Aish Detroit launches new group for girls.

S

ometime all it takes is one con-
versation to start a movement. 
It was a cozy fall Sunday after-
noon. I had invited two of our Aish 
Sunday School assistants, Hannah 
Berger and Sophia Bernzweig, to my 
house to settle a debate over whether 
homemade sprinkle cookies could 
be made better than bakery sprinkle 
cookies. (Spoiler — yes, they can, and 
I’
m happy to share the recipe.) 
As we were baking and schmooz-
ing, the conversation led to how our 
Sunday School assistants (many of 
them our own b’
nai mitzvah gradu-
ates) could get the most out of their 
time at Aish on Sundays. 
As the ideas kept coming, I quickly 
grabbed a pen and paper and told 
Sophia to start writing. Within a few 
minutes, we had a whole list of mean-
ingful activities and things to learn. I 
realized right away this was too big to 
integrate into Sunday School, and it 
was just big enough to become its own 
movement. 
 
There has been an ongoing struggle 
within our community to keep post-
b’
nai mitzvah teens Jewishly engaged. 
According to the recent Federation 
population study, we are losing a drastic 
50 percent of children from pre-b’
nai 
mitzvah programs to post. More star-
tling is that this has been consistent 
with earlier studies (2005, 2010) and, as 
of yet, no one has been able to reverse 
the trend. 
The following Sunday, we called a 
meeting for our students in fifth grade 
and up as well as our assistants. We 
asked them about an idea of a new 
group for girls their age. They loved 
it. Things moved quickly after that; a 
name was picked, TFF: Torah, Fun, 
Friends, a time and date were set, and 
flyers were printed for our first event. 
We were excited; we knew it was a good 
idea. But only once the flyers were post-
ed did we realize how important the 
idea was. We received many calls and 
emails from parents who were so excit-
ed to see a program willing to fill this 
gap in programming.
On Sunday, Dec. 16, more than 15 
girls attended our first TFF kickoff 
event. We played a fun ice breaker 
game to get to know each other. We 

had girls there from eight different 
schools. We enjoyed a pizza dinner 
while Rachel Rosenthal spoke to the 
girls about the important mitzvah of 
V’
ohavta L
’
reiacha Kamocha, loving 
your neighbor as yourself. Her message 
to them: Before we can love another, we 
have to first learn to love ourselves. We 
wrapped up with fun donut decorating 
activity and a raffle. The girls left with 
a mini nail polish for a parting gift and 
lots of smiles. 

GETTING TEENS TO THINK JEWISHLY 
Today’
s teens are faced with pressures 
and anxieties that adults even a decade 
older can’
t fathom. The Jewish learning 
aspect of TFF provides a way for our 
teens to process their life through a 
Jewish lens. To create a tether to their 
Jewish identity that can, God willing, 
carry them through the mayhem of 
middle school and beyond. 
Our next event is scheduled for 
Sunday, Jan. 27, from 5:30-7 p.m. at 
Aish Detroit, 25725 Coolidge Hwy. in 
Oak Park. We will focus on the mitzvah 
of chesed, lovingkindness, as we pack 
lunches for the Lunches of Love pro-
gram of Detroit Chesed Project. A deli-
cious dinner will be served. We will also 
be running a sock drive at the event. 
Anyone who brings a pair of socks to 
donate will be entered into a raffle. 
There is no cost to come. ■

Shaina Weiss is the educational coordinator for 
young families at Aish Detroit For more infor-
mation about TFF, contact her at shainaweiss@

aish.com.

jews d
in 
the

SHAINA WEISS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Girls at Torah, Fun,
Friends decorated donuts 
at last month’
s event.

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