Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

The educators of the Jewish Teen Education Network invite teens in 8th to 12th grades and their parents for an evening with international award-winning speaker Scott Fried from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, at Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland.

“Finding Our Place in the World” is JTEN’s first community-wide program for both teens and parents. The JTEN educators said Fried is the perfect person to deliver this message, having touched more than a million people through his lectures, humanitarian work and publications. His message to teens is a powerful one of responsibility, self-confidence, love and self-respect.

Fried’s discussion will focus on the question, “What does it mean to ‘be enough’?” Using his own story of living with HIV for more than 31 years, Fried will offer answers to this important question in order to stimulate personal emotional growth and self-empowerment. Teens and parents will explore the self-limiting beliefs and negative feelings that interfere with a teen’s ability for self-acceptance while using Jewish imperatives, such as B’zelem Elohim and Pikuach Nefesh, to help teens find their place in the world.

Some of the major themes explored will include accepting our contradictions, becoming accountable, creating a healthy support system, the importance of gratitude, living with emotional pain, choosing mercy and gratitude, and the essentials of “being enough.”

JTEN is a program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. For the past several years, JTEN’s programming has focused on external issues facing teens in our world: Israel, social action, community, politics, anti-Semitism and bullying.

“Now more than ever, the world can be a confusing place, and this year, we decided to turn our programming inward to focus on a teen’s sense of self, how they fit in, how they find their own place and meaning in the world,” said JTEN educator Rabbi Joshua Neely of Temple Israel.

Before speaking with teens and parents together on Feb. 11, Fried will hold a special breakout session for parents while teens engage in icebreaker activities lead by JTEN youth directors from Congregation of Reform Judaism, BBYO and Congregation Ohev Shalom.

Teens and parents can register now through Feb. 6 at http://www.jfgo.org/ourplace. This program is offered free of charge by the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando and the JTEN Educators, made up of education professionals from BBYO North Florida Region, Congregation Beth Am, Congregation Ohev Shalom, Congregation of Reform Judaism, JOIN/JSU, Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation, Temple Israel and Temple Shir Shalom.