Tayarim Connect brought together 20 middle-school students for SukkahFest at the Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando. Sixth- through eighth-grade students from all over the community built edible sukkot out of candy, played kickball and icebreaker games, and created a YouTube video. The short YouTube video is titled the “Lulav Shake” (modeled after the Harlem Shake) and was filmed in the sukkah behind the Roth JCC. The video can be viewed on the Roth JCC’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/orlandojcc).

Tayarim Connect’s goal is to create a community of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders through social and meaningful experiences that will serve as a gateway to continued involvement in Jewish life. It focuses on social, service, and Judaic activities for pre- and post- bar and bat mitzvah youth. Offering a variety of programs, Tayarim Connect enables teens to explore different areas of leadership, community service, and Jewish values.

Two high-school students helped lead programs at SukkahFest. Taylor Harris (a sophomore at Virtual School) and Brandon Levitt (a sophomore at Winter Park High School) helped bridge the gap between middle school and high school. “I had a lot of fun hanging out with the middle-school teens! I was so surprised by how creative their edible sukkot turned out!” Taylor said.

The next Tayarim Connect event is paired up with the Roth JCC’s Saturday Night Out program on Oct. 19. Teens will eat dinner at the JCC and then leave after dinner for a fun night out. Past nights out have been to places such as bowling, laser tag, ice skating, etc. This event is great for families with children in elementary and middle school because it allows them to drop all off the children at one place, and also for all of the children to enjoy programs for their specific age groups.

For more information, contact Lory Conte at LConte@bbyo.org.